A Rudimentary Survey of the Social Work Profession

Social work is a noble profession and those persons who pursue this career do so with the highest intentions to serve as a designated helping agent applied to any individual or socially problematic area in order to make the world a better place.

The field of social work is broad in scope and experience; therefore, this introductory book will focus upon delineating a basic outline of some key work-related areas and issues associated with describing the overall functionality of the profession utilizing a realistic and empirical approach. This book will examine some key areas such as: how is social work defined and what are the purposes of practicing social work? Also, it will outline a brief history of the profession’s origins and growth; identify those types of social work organizations and employment opportunities in the field; identify some sociological and psychological theories utilized by social workers to administer assessment and therapeutic care on behalf of clients and to explain greater macro social problems. Also, this book will highlight those issues associated with the profession of social work that undermine its credibility and overall utility to achieve intervention-helping goals, and explore how social problems are defined, theoretically understood and addressed for the purpose of alleviation. This book will examine the assessment criterion (the five areas of being human) that a social worker will utilize to organize an accurate assessment of a client’s problems or needs; intervention strategies; client self-determination rights in helping to complete the assessment and intervention processes successfully, and those ethical issues associated with the practice of doing social work. Lastly this book will explore the vital processes associated with developing a viable nonprofit social services organization.

In summation, one of the final purposes of this book is to help the social work student understand that the most effective social worker is that helping agent whose primary purpose is to help alleviate clients’ problems/needs rather than having the omnipotent ability to outright eradicate clients’ problems or needs.