Beyond Gender: Critical Practice in Social Work Education (Report‪)‬

Defining Social Work The social work profession is characterised by an exploration of the nexus between the individual and society, the contextualising of individuals and events, a focus on the vulnerable and those who interact with them, and a concern with bringing about constructive change (McDermott 1996, 6). Noble and Briskman (1996, 51) similarly define social work as a profession which "is concerned about those people who are the most isolated, the disenfranchised and the poor in society". A primary purpose of social work education is to raise students' awareness of the causes of social and economic inequality in order for them to practice effectively, understanding the links between individual problems and structural causes. Dominelli (1997) argues that helping social workers understand the structural causes of inequality is an integral part of education.