Key Abilities of a Social Worker

Cultural awareness, knowledge acquisition, and skill development are three important abilities that a social worker should have at their disposal at all times. Cultural awareness delves into accepting and embracing other cultures and ethnic groups despite the worker's history and experiences. Knowledge acquisition says it all, where a social worker should always have an ongoing education about the rapidly changing society we live in today. Finally, there is skill development which takes knowledge acquisition and puts it to use in the field.

Culture shapes exactly how people feel the world, yet it's not necessarily the easiest term to define. Culture is a set of values, social practices, and types of expression held in common by several grouped people. People in the group generally identify themselves and/or are also identified through outsiders in accordance with ancestry, language, and practices. Typically, culture is usually determined through ethnicity, although it may also be determined by criterion such as geography, religion, and socioeconomic standing. The truth is, some individuals identify themselves like a culture simply because have identical gender roles, sexual orientation, physical or mental capacity, and academic or professional expertise.

Knowledge acquisition boils down to understanding and mastering the ideals of social science. Learning and critically thinking about cultural diversity (and their values) is an important ability of any social worker. Necessity calls for learning a client's customs and traditions to avoid any uncomfortable situations or possible offense. Doing so otherwise would be showing the signs of ignorance, and being so will not create what a social worker is to represent. The education for a social worker should be ongoing to be able to adapt and cope with situations when they arise. A perfect example of how our society has changed so rapidly in the last fifty to sixty years: we went from social conformity to social