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Professional Social Work
Social Work constitutes one of the major professions within the network of human services. Its goal is to assist in the resolution of problems in social functioning by helping individuals, families, groups, and communities to define and cope with their problems and needs and to realize their potential to the fullest. Concomitantly, an additional goal is to effect changes in the environment in order to reduce inimical and restrictive forces and to provide adequate resources to meet human needs. These efforts encompass individual counseling, family therapy, group activity designed to change attitudes and behavior, mobilization of constituencies for social action, and engagement in social policy formulation in governmental bodies.
Professional social work in the United States evolved from the efforts of people of conscience in the late 19th century. That era's movement toward social responsibility had its monuments in many innovations that now are historyin the first settlement houses, in the first programs of foster child care, and in the pioneer training programs to assist families to deal with the crushing burdens of poverty and exploitation. The profession's skills were forged in part by the crises of two world wars and a protracted depression.
The Depression of the 1930s also brought to the consciousness of Americans the widespread and societally induced problems that millions of their fellow citizens faced, most of which were not of their own making. It became apparent that only the federal government could take on the responsibility to care for the disadvantaged and to be sure that all people were treated equitably and effectively. It was through the social and economic legislation enacted in the '30s that social work was able to take on its professional functions of alleviation, amelioration, and restoration in cooperation with the policies of the federal government.
The period of the 1960s was noteworthy for a new recognition of human needs and a resultant expansion in delivery of human services. A succession of progressive legislation directed toward opening opportunities to the disadvantaged and meeting long-neglected human needs was enacted and implemented. American society took cognizance of the necessity for providing for social justice to all its citizens, and social work played a major role in effectuating this change.
A period of expansion of programs in social welfare and social service began in the 1960s and continued through the 1970s as the federal and state governments understood and responded to their responsibility for providing for the general welfare and assisting all citizens in achieving their potential. Community mental health centers were established; deinstitutionalization of long-term residents of state hospitals was promoted; communal living arrangements and halfway houses proliferated; Community Action Programs, Head Start Centers, day care programs, all under the aegis of the Poverty Programs, flourished; services to the elderly mushroomed; and a variety of training programs were initiated for people on welfare and for social service workers working in welfare and public assistance.
By the early 1980s, there developed a de-emphasis on federal responsibility for the provision of social services, which was coupled with high unemployment and the problems attendant upon joblessness and role loss: increases in homelessness, mental illness, family violence, substance abuse, family break-up, and suicide. It became apparent that social work services were urgently needed to deal with these individual, familial, and societal problems, as social work had been called upon in the past to assist in alleviating social distress.
Coming to the end of the 20th century, the School faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities for meeting old and new social and human needs. Our society continues to be plagued with the problems of homelessness; hunger; chemical and substance abuse; crime; unemployment and underemployment; spouse, child, and elder abuse; physical and mental health problems; among many others. The loss of equilibrium within families attempting to adapt to an ever-changing society continues to challenge social work's knowledge, skills, and values. American society will continue to be directly affected by changes in the international environment: in trade, in political structures, in shifting alliances, and will need to deal with large national budget deficits and the conservative leanings of a society that feels itself beleaguered all of which have a direct impact on the well-being of individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations within the society. As the institutionalized response to meeting social need, social work remains the profession par excellence to serve the individual within the context of the social environment.
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