Social work contributes to human development.
Social work is a profession that seeks to promote the development of healthy human bonds and promote social changes that result in greater well-being for people. Social workers, in this way, act on certain factors related to the interactions of individuals with the environment.
It can be said, therefore, that social work is oriented to the relationships that subjects maintain with their environments. The purpose of this job is that each human being can develop fully: by extension, social work achieves changes in communities.
The social work qualification
In many universities around the world, the degree in Social Work is within reach, which is part of the branch of Social and Legal Sciences .
Those who complete this training and obtain their degree will be able to perform one of the eleven basic functions that these professionals are considered to have:
- Direct care , which is about caring for individuals who are in a situation of risk or social danger.
- Teacher , teaching classes in social work training centers.
- Mediation , enabling the parties involved in a conflict to reach a point of agreement.
- Evaluation , to certify the results achieved in certain actions.
- Research , to discover a specific reality.
- Preventive , to avoid situations that may cause problems for individuals or groups.
- Planning . With this function what is indicated is that you must order and plan the steps to take in a specific action.
- Social insertion , to ensure that certain individuals or groups can be part of society in a healthy way.
- Supervision , controlling that students who are pursuing a degree in Social Work are working adequately to achieve it.
- Managerial . In this case we are referring to when he is in charge of being in charge of a specific center or service.
- Coordination , so that different parties involved in the same project work towards the common result they intend to achieve.
A graduate in Social Work can fulfill these functions while working in women's care services, health centers, day centers for the elderly, shelter services or children's centers, for example.
The protection of women's rights is part of social work actions.
Forms of intervention
The design of strategies to encourage the intervention of people and groups in public life, training to achieve individual autonomy and the management of economic resources are some of the tasks carried out by social workers.
A social worker , for example, can meet with family members to help them resolve their conflicts through dialogue. Suppose that a couple that has an 8- year-old biological child decides to adopt a 13 -year-old child. As part of the adoption process, Justice orders that a social worker visit the family home once a week to analyze coexistence and to help these people overcome different obstacles that may arise.
Social work is also very important in prisons to contribute to the resocialization of people who are deprived of their liberty for a crime. The goal, in this case, is for individuals to effectively reintegrate into society once they serve their sentences.
Social work, in short, implies community intervention in a broad sense. Through service planning, policy development and social assistance, it seeks to promote the empowerment of individuals and guarantee human rights.
Working with groups or working with families and individual therapy are some forms of crisis intervention and case management. Ultimately, experts try to eliminate social inequality so that those who suffer from poverty, marginalization or other problems can progress.
Social work is key in the protection of minors at risk.
History of social work
The history of social work begins in Ancient China . The philosopher Xun Zi is mentioned as the pioneer in considering, in the 2nd century BC. C. , that life in society establishes by itself a discipline that makes possible the emergence of reason and good.
In the Roman Empire , the importance of solidarity and beneficence was emphasized, focusing on the relevance of reciprocal good treatment and childhood education and respect for the rights of the child for social well-being .
Thus, from social assistance we moved to social service and then arrived at the notion of social work. This concept refers to awareness, planning and community action to contribute to the development of people and societies . The purpose is to overcome marginalization or domination and achieve autonomy.
Over the years, social work became a discipline that is part of the social sciences . In this way, today it is a degree that requires about five years of university training to specialize and be prepared to assume its functions.