Social Work as a Developing Profession
1. Social Work as a Developing Profession
Social Work as a Profession * What is a profession * No clear definition of the term profession * Describing its attributes * By most criteria and definitions, social work meets the requirements * Greenwood’s trait-attributes (1957) 1. Systematic theory * Worked hard to develop this attribute * Continuing – complexity of humanity and other factors * Process of knowledge development (process model) 2. Authority & 3. Community sanction * Power/control model becomes useful * Only one of several professions (such as education, nursing) concerned with social functioning * before licencing laws, it was not possible to identify who is the social worker (unqualified persons) * identification strongly tied with Bachelors or Masters degrees * hence authority, community sanction and recognition of an area of expertise * Social Work Regulation Bill (June, 2004) legislation in Malta
4. Ethical Codes & 5. Culture * Provided through associations of Social Workers * Social work is a developing profession Development of Social Work as a Profession * 5 concepts are important in the development of Social Work knowledge 1. Assessment 2. Person in environment 3. Relationship 4. Process 5. Intervention
Pre – 1920 * The beginning of professional social work was a response to the social milieu of the early 20th century when new immigrants were of concern to the larger society. * First attempts were made to begin to establish social work theory. First major statement made by Mary Richmond in “Social Diagnosis” (1917). * She developed the original framework for the assessment model - but used the term ‘diagnosis’ from the medical model
* It was a period when the social sciences, particularly sociology, were highly influential on social work theory and practice. * In Social Diagnosis, emphasis was on a broad study of
Social Work as a Profession * What is a profession * No clear definition of the term profession * Describing its attributes * By most criteria and definitions, social work meets the requirements * Greenwood’s trait-attributes (1957) 1. Systematic theory * Worked hard to develop this attribute * Continuing – complexity of humanity and other factors * Process of knowledge development (process model) 2. Authority & 3. Community sanction * Power/control model becomes useful * Only one of several professions (such as education, nursing) concerned with social functioning * before licencing laws, it was not possible to identify who is the social worker (unqualified persons) * identification strongly tied with Bachelors or Masters degrees * hence authority, community sanction and recognition of an area of expertise * Social Work Regulation Bill (June, 2004) legislation in Malta
4. Ethical Codes & 5. Culture * Provided through associations of Social Workers * Social work is a developing profession Development of Social Work as a Profession * 5 concepts are important in the development of Social Work knowledge 1. Assessment 2. Person in environment 3. Relationship 4. Process 5. Intervention
Pre – 1920 * The beginning of professional social work was a response to the social milieu of the early 20th century when new immigrants were of concern to the larger society. * First attempts were made to begin to establish social work theory. First major statement made by Mary Richmond in “Social Diagnosis” (1917). * She developed the original framework for the assessment model - but used the term ‘diagnosis’ from the medical model
* It was a period when the social sciences, particularly sociology, were highly influential on social work theory and practice. * In Social Diagnosis, emphasis was on a broad study of