Social casework

Social worker

Description
Competencies	Bachelor's degree for generalist practice Graduate/postgraduate degree or diploma for advanced specialization practice Licensure exam
Related jobs	Social worker (generalist) Addictions social worker Anti-discrimination/oppression advocate Care manager Case manager Child and youth care social worker (CYC) Clinical social worker Community/rural development worker & officer Correctional social worker Forensic/court social worker Counselor and therapist Family welfare worker Gerontological social worker Health care manager Health service manager Housing coordinator Human resource & labour relations manager Human rights advocate Industrial social worker International welfare worker Legislative aide Medical/hospital social worker Military social work officer Parole and probation officer People with disabilities advocate Police social worker Poverty reduction worker & officer Psychiatric/mental health social worker Refugee worker School social worker Social justice aide Social media ethics advocate Social policy and planning officer Social service manager Welfare officer Women's rights advocate

Social work is an academic and practice-based professional discipline that seeks to facilitate the welfare of communities, individuals, families, and groups. Underpinned by theories of social science and guided by principles of social justice, rights, collective responsibility, and respect for diversity, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance well-being. Social work tries to promote social change and grassroots empowerment of people and aids in socioeconomic development, social cohesion, and liberation from abuse and oppression. A practicing professional with a degree in social work is called a social worker.

The practice and profession of social work has a relatively modern and scientific origin, and is generally considered to have developed out of three strands. The first was individual casework, a strategy pioneered by the Charity Organization Society in the mid-19th century. The second was social administration, which included various forms of poverty relief – 'relief of paupers'. Statewide poverty relief could be said to have its roots in the English Poor Laws of the 17th century, but was first systematized through the efforts of the Charity Organization Society. The third consisted of social action – rather than engaging in the resolution of immediate individual requirements, the emphasis was placed on political action working through the community and the group to improve their social conditions and thereby alleviate poverty. This approach was developed originally by the Settlement House Movement.

This was accompanied by a less easily defined movement; the development of institutions to deal with the entire range of social problems. All had their most rapid growth during the nineteenth century, and laid the foundational basis for modern social work, both in theory and in practice.

Professional social work originated in 19th century England, and had its roots in the social and economic upheaval wrought by the Industrial Revolution, in particular the societal struggle to deal with the resultant mass urban-based poverty and its related problems. Because poverty was the main focus of early social work, it was intricately linked with the idea of charity work.

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