What is Social Work?
International Definition of Social Work: “The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of human behavior 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.
Social workers work with a huge range of people, including children, young people, adults and older people, who need support for any reason. These could include parents and children who are struggling in the face of deprivation, disability, or abusive behaviour; young adults who are finding it hard to handle the pressures of living independently; people with a disability, mental illness or those with a learning disability. Social workers work with these people to help them understand, tackle, and find solutions to the difficulties that they face. Some of the work of social workers is defined in law, for example child protection or adoption. All of it involves working with a wide number of people, including family members and friends, and other professionals such as police and doctors. They may work in the community or in residential care either for a Local Authority, a charity (eg the NSPCC or Barnados), an Independent Provider (eg running a residential care home) or for a variety of d
