Little is known and said about social workers, the things they
do and where they come from. It is fascinating the things you hear doing rounds
about what social workers do in society, some may not have encountered one
except in the social media. Maybe you have heard about social workers as
baby-snatchers, social welfare workers, or someone across the street with no
degree or certification but serving people. One is left to wonder, who exactly
is a social worker and what do they do, do they have to go to school to be
social workers? A few years ago I was clueless about social work and social
workers and I understand why there are misconceptions out there because society
has trained us to consume what is easily available to us. With just about two
years encounter with social work practice, I have come to learn that there’s so
much in social work than what meets the eye.
Recently a friend who is
a social work graduate told me that his colleague mentioned that social workers
go to school to study common sense issues, I bet the colleague was glad that
she let out her thoughts even though my friend did not know how to respond to
this and kept his cool. This is just one of the many misconceptions about
social work profession that shows that many people are not aware of the
academic requirements of social workers. Another scenario I have encountered is
where one of our clients at the psychiatric unit asked my supervisor about
where the husband would go after the discharge, how he would get there and who would
help her make all the arrangements and my supervisor’s response was that, “I
will have that taken care of”. The client was very surprised and so she asked
my supervisor, “what exactly do you do?” Social work practitioners are normally
confronted with similar questions all the time because they are like a jack of
all trades in particular areas.
In the USA, social work profession operates under the statues of
the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) whose mission is to enhance the
well-being of people, help meet their basic needs and empower especially the
vulnerable, oppressed and poor. The NASW also provides the code of ethics which
contains the values, ethical principles, standards and responsibilities of
social workers that guide the profession. Social work professional education and
standards are monitored by the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE). I believe that other regions of the world
have a particular way in which these structures are organized to ensure that
the profession is credible. From these structures one would clearly tell that
social work profession is a profession that would not be easily shaken from its
base.
To be a social worker one needs a bachelors, masters or doctoral
degrees to work in different capacities in the society as well as a license to
deal with particular areas of practice for instance the Licensed Clinical Social Worker to provide diagnosis and therapy especially in mental health, substance abuse and dependency, as well as child abuse. Some of the areas social
workers practice are; the infamous child welfare, mental health, abuse and
neglect, geriatrics care, policy development, school social work, homeless
related issues, public welfare, refugee resettlement, veterans as well as
corrections and parole. In all these areas social workers work to meet the needs
of the populations they are working with for example; providing therapy, linkage to resources, employment
services, advocacy, interventions, placement and resettlement, service
coordination and inter-organizational collaboration, research, and direct
provision of services. Social workers are expected to know the
available resources to meet the numerous needs of their clients.
Just in case you are wondering whether social work is a prestigious or money laundering profession, think no further. I have been looking out for a news item, in fact just a headline that speaks volumes about the pay as well as the profession to no avail. In a recent article I came across the top seven jobs that are worth investing in and your guess is as good as the truth, social work is not one of them. That does not mean that social workers are not required, it just shows where most people would rather invest i.e. in job that have high returns. There will always be a demand for social workers in any society as long as children are born, people age, mental illness exists, policies need to be made or changed, abuse and neglect is rampant, the borders are still open to people from other countries, and many other issues need the attention of a social worker. Social workers earn just a decent wage but that's not what drives them; they are driven by the
passion to serve and their desire for social justice for all.
