Social Work as a Profession

It’s Social Work Week in the Philippines. The celebration commemorates the anniversary of the Republic Act 4373, otherwise known as the Social Work Law. The passage of the Social Work Law on June 19, 1965 has regulated the practice of social work and the operation of social welfare agencies in the Philippines. Subsequently, it has created a new interest in social work and in the field of social welfare. Incidentally, the date falls on the birthday of the Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

While the celebration is national in scope as endorsed by the association of professional social workers, the dynamism is more felt in Iloilo and the whole Western Visayas where the annual celebration has been institutionalized by virtue of provincial resolutions/ordinances. This year’s theme is Social Workers Responding to the Challenges of the Time. The choice has been inspired by the theme for World Social Work Day on March 15, 2011 - “Social Work voices responding to global crisises: Together we develop the Agenda!“

The celebration is a good opportunity to blog about social work. Contrary to perennial misconception, social work is a profession. While it started from charitable act, the welfare activities have emerged and joined the noble professions in the world. As a start of this series of blogs on the subject, I am presenting in toto the international definition of social work as adopted by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) in Montréal, Canada, July 2000

DEFINITION*

The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.

COMMENTARY

Social work in its various forms addresses the multiple, complex transactions between people and their environments. Its mission is to enable all people to develop their full potential, enrich their lives, and prevent dysfunction. Professional social work is focused on problem solving and change. As such, social workers are change agents in society and in the lives of the individuals, families and communities they serve. Social work is an interrelated system of values, theory and practice.

VALUES

Social work grew out of humanitarian and democratic ideals, and its values are based on respect for the equality, worth, and dignity of all people. Since its beginnings over a century ago, social work practice has focused on meeting human needs and developing human potential. Human rights and social justice serve as the motivation and justification for social work action. In solidarity with those who are dis-advantaged, the profession strives to alleviate poverty and to liberate vulnerable and oppressed people in order to promote social inclusion. Social work values are embodied in the profession’s national and international codes of ethics.

THEORY

Social work bases its methodology on a systematic body of evidence-based knowledge derived from research and practice evaluation, including local and indigenous knowledge specific to its context. It recognises the complexity of interactions between human beings and their environment, and the capacity of people both to be affected by and to alter the multiple influences upon them including bio-psychosocial factors. The social work profession draws on theories of human development and behaviour and social systems to analyse complex situations and to facilitate individual, organisational, social and cultural changes.

PRACTICE

Social work addresses the barriers, inequities and injustices that exist in society. It responds to crises and emergencies as well as to everyday personal and social problems. Social work utilises a variety of skills, techniques, and activities consistent with its holistic focus on persons and their environments.

Social work interventions range from primarily person-focused psychosocial processes to involvement in social policy, planning and development. These include counselling, clinical social work, group work, social pedagogical work, and family treatment and therapy as well as efforts to help people obtain services and resources in the community.

Interventions also include agency administration, community organisation and engaging in social and political action to impact social policy and economic development. The holistic focus of social work is universal, but the priorities of social work practice will vary from country to country and from time to time depending on cultural, historical, and socio-economic conditions.

* This international definition of the social work profession replaces the IFSW definition adopted in 1982. It is understood that social work in the 21st century is dynamic and evolving, and therefore no definition should be regarded as exhaustive.

SOCIAL WORKERS RESPOND TO GLOBAL SOCIAL CRISISES

We yield today's blog to the relevant press release in relation to the celebration of the World Social Work Day, today, March 15, 2011. We join the social workers worldwide in this celebration. Long live the social workers!

Social Workers in All Nations Called to Promote International Poverty and Human Rights Agenda on World Social Work Day

BERNE, Switzerland—Social Workers around the world will join together to celebrate World Social Work Day on March 15, 2011. This annual event, celebrated on the third Tuesday in March, focuses on social work contributions to society and is part of an on-going dialogue about how to address challenging social conditions worldwide.

The theme for World Social Work Day 2011 is “Social Work voices responding to global crisises: Together we develop the Agenda!“

Every day, Social Workers respond to individual and family crises—they open doors for service users and offer solutions for a wide range of problems. But social workers are also skilled in analyzing the frameworks of social conditions, and know how to change them to foster a more dignified life for all people, in all communities.

The Social Work profession helps nations respond to economic and social changes that disproportionately affect vulnerable people and communities. Working in partnership with many other professions, Social Work promotes the social welfare of individuals, groups and communities, facilitates social cohesion in periods of change, while supporting and protecting the most vulnerable members of society.

True social development can only come through global interaction. Although most social work practice is local, the impact of social work leadership is inarguably international. Those suffering the most under the current global financial crisis are the poorest people in every country—those least likely to recover from the devastation.

“Billions have been spent saving banks across the world. It is unfair and outrageous that the price for this bailout is to be paid by the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. For example, while billions have been spent to stabilize banks, the total budget for the UN World Food Programme has been reduced by half.” says Gary Bailey, president of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW).

IFSW and its member organizations believe that efforts made to save the banks have resulted in very few financial commitments by the industrialized world to reach the UN’s Millennium Development Goals for ending world poverty.

At the 2010 Hong Kong World Conference, Social Workers from all over the world gathered to begin a process to develop a Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development for the next decade. Thousands came together with the belief that the world can be changed for the better if the profession stands together—advocating for the dignity and worth of every person, calling for a more just world, and celebrating the importance of human relationships in a healthy environment.

This Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development challenges the profession’s leaders to:

*Ensure nations meet the most basic human rights to food and shelter, clothing and medical care for all their people.
*Raise awareness about poverty as a human rights violation in all countries.
*Implement the IFSW Policy on Poverty Eradication.
*Champion the Social Protection Floor Initiative of the UN which ensures universal
social protection to health, education, shelter and security, as pledged in the Universal *Declaration of Human Rights.
*Demonstrate improvements in people’s lives.

The Agenda is a joint effort between the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), and the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW).

Next year, on World Social Work Day 2012, the Social Work Global Agenda will be submitted to the United Nations Secretary General. At the same time, regional social work groups will submit the Agenda to international organizations, such as the African Union, the European Union, Mercosur, ASEAN, and others. National social work groups will also be called upon to submit the Global Agenda to their respective governments.

IFSW invites its membership , service users, colleagues in other professions and all those with a concern for the health of local, national and global communities on March 15th, 2011 World Social Work Day 2011 to not only celebrate the many achievements of the profession on all continents, but also to help build interest in making the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development a reality.