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The 1958 Working Definition of Social Work Practice, developed by a subcommittee of NASW’s Commission on Practice and chaired by Harriet Bartlett, was based on five core components: Value, Purpose, Sanction, Knowledge and Method (NASW, 1958). The definition was described as a constellation of components that were not unique separately, but together were thought to include the whole of social work and all its specializations. A year later, the Boehm Curriculum Study (1959) specifically identified social functioning as the goal of social work. Although the Working Definition identified the concept of interdependence between individuals in their societies, it was Boehm who clearly articulated the primary focus of social work to be on social interactions between people and their environments. Together these two reports framed mid-century progress toward the recognition of social work as a distinctive relationship-centered profession.
The brief nature of the Working Definition statement did not provide background information on why the selected components were considered necessary for the definition of social work practice. Nor was there an explanation in the statement on how the components could be networked as a constellation to give social work a common conceptual framework. To get some of the background information one must read Bartlett’s Common Base of Social Work Practice (1970), especially chapter four (pp. 51-61).
The Working Definition did not include information that identified the ontological foundations of the philosophical concepts that were included as part of the Value component. The contents of the Purpose component projected the impression that a Newtonian mechanical worldview respecting the normative state of inertia was used to define healthy social functioning as a state of equilibrium and social dysfunction as a state of disequilibrium. The contents of the Knowledge component, on the other hand, hinted at a complexity worldview respecting the dynamics of non-linear predictability and the absence of absolute truths in understanding human social functioning. The Method component described the orderly and systematic nature of intervention procedures that one would expect in this kind of social change process. However, there were no linking statements in the document to show how the systematic nature of a problem-solving process was connected with the systemic and qualitative patterns of the philosophical concepts in the Value component. The statement was also silent on how the interdependence between these components might be displayed as a holistic constellation of components.
This paper will address the Working Definition from an ontological and 20th century science perspective. Ontological for the purpose of this paper is defined as the study of the nature of reality – the worldviews that guide the sciences and professions. Twentieth century science, sometimes referred to as postmodern science, is defined as the discoveries that marked a scientific shift away from the dominance of a Newtonian worldview, which is premised on the belief that all entities in their original state exist independently in space and time.
The Working Definition will
also be addressed in the context of an updated definition of social work
approved by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW, 2000)
and the recently approved national scope of practice statement by the Canadian
Association of Social Workers (CASW, 2000). The challenge of reworking
the Working Definition is discussed in the context of a proposed holistic
conceptual framework for social work, which is derived from a naturally
occurring system that Buckminster Fuller discovered to be nature’s minimum
whole system (Fuller, 1969). Fuller devoted most of his adult life using
physical artifacts of this holistic system to advance his life long vision
of making “the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible
time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the
disadvantage of anyone”. With perhaps a more modest intent in mind, I have
used an abstract artifact of nature’s minimum whole system to help advance
the profession’s quest for a common conceptual framework and its goal of
social well being for all of humanity.
For the Madison meeting six social workers (Anne Minahan, Allen Pincus, Robert Morris, Shirley Cooper, Walter R. Dean Jr., and William Reid) were commissioned to write five papers. After the meeting four social workers (Armando Morales, Bernece Simon, Neil Gilbert, and Chauncey Alexander) prepared reaction papers to the issues raised in the commissioned papers.
Minahan and Pincus (1977) addressed the development of a conceptual framework directly. They articulated three value sets to generate five problem areas of concern to social work and five corresponding objectives of social work practice. Their paper identified the importance of using “the dual concepts of resources and interaction with the social environment to explicate the objectives of social work and activities of social workers” (p. 347). They acknowledged the importance of generalist and specialist social workers but emphasized that all social workers should acquire and retain a broad social work orientation before advancing to a specialist form of practice.
Dean, on the other hand, was deeply concerned that social workers had retreated into privatization and were neglecting concerns about economic, social and political redistribution of resources. Dean (1977) identified the danger of Western cultural values that emphasize the uniqueness of the individual as a contributing factor in social work’s drift away from social activism. He was quite strident in stressing that social workers cannot “ignore the political philosophies that support all social welfare programs” and pointed out that “the kind and type of social services delivery systems are determined by the attitudes that produce those services” (p. 373). Morales (1977 was equally strident in his reaction paper. He was concerned that the conceptual framework of social work was shrinking from identifying the need in poor communities for a social worker to have the “knowledge and skills to do clinical work and who is able as well to intervene via social action on larger community systems” (p. 387). Simon’s (1977) reaction paper was quite blunt in stating that the conceptual frameworks in all the commissioned papers were like blind men trying to describe an elephant based on which part of the animal they handled. “None could describe the elephant as a whole” (p. 394). She was concerned that the variations found in the commissioned papers reflected the growing proliferation of personal practice frameworks in social work practice. Her assessment concluded that there was the basis for a common conceptual framework but the time had not arrived.
Alexander (1977) spoke directly to the possibility of a unitary conception in his reaction paper. Like Simon, he was concerned that social work had not yet developed a “unitary conception reflecting a consensus of practitioners” (p. 407). Alexander was especially concerned that the commissioned papers “reconstructed and repeated the dichotomies and perceptions that have continued to spread doubt and dissension in the social work profession” (p. 407). His proposal for a unitary conception incorporated work from The Common Base of Social Work Practice (Bartlett, 1970) building on Boehm’s statement that articulated the profession’s social functioning goal and its relationship-centered focus on the connections between people and their environments. Alexander recommended “psychosocial functioning” as a more appropriate term that reflected the goal and relationship-centered focus of social work practice. Alexander offered his own version of a common conceptual framework with five components: purpose, mission, practice, objectives and specialization. He defined social work practice “as a professionally guided system that engages people and their social units in change activities to alter their psychosocial functioning for the purpose of improving the quality of life” (p. 413).
The O’Hare (Chicago Airport) Meeting focused on the identified need for a “real agreement on the purpose and objectives of social work” (Minahan, 1981, p. 5). The invited participants to this meeting were asked to prepare comments and critiques on the Working Statement on the Purpose of Social Work (p. 6). Although the purpose statement was directed to the promotion or restoration of mutually beneficial interactions between individuals and society to improve the quality of life for everyone, it retained the core belief of self-determination that connects social work to a deterministic worldview. On the other hand, the underlying beliefs in the statement were clearly grounded to the principle of mutuality. The expectation of individuals contributing to their own well-being and the well-being of others was explicitly stated along with the expectation that societal institutions and services should be guided by values that honor the importance of providing equality based opportunities and resources for the well-being of all people. The section of the statement on objectives was clear about social work’s focus on person-and-environment in interaction but it was not explicit in stating that social work is a relationship-centered profession. The six objectives in the statement were logical extensions of the purpose and beliefs sections. The statement was specific in recognizing that practice options in social work included work with different client units – an individual, a family, a group, a community or an organization. However, it was less explicit in identifying methods of practice that are used to achieve benefits for people, who do not have a defined client status, as a recognized part of social work practice. The statement identified that the target of change varies in social work. However, the focus was placed on specific units of attention - clients, others in the environment or both - instead of on the relationships that need to be changed to benefit expected beneficiaries, whether they are specific clients or other categories of people striving for social well being. Or alternatively, on identifying modifications that are needed by particular units of attention that would change person and environment relationships in the direction of social well being for clients or other expected beneficiaries.
Participants from special
areas of social work practice prepared comments and critiques of the statement.
Coulton (1981), from a health focus, wanted the environment component to
include physical dimensions, including space, climate and facilities. She
identified the need to understand social functioning in the context of
role functioning in relationship to other role expectations and/or in relationship
to the roles of others. Morales (1981), from the perspective of work with
third-world people, argued for an ecosystems model (informed by ecology
and general systems theory) to frame the focus of social work practice
on interactions between person and environment elements. He supported Carol
Meyers in believing that the traditional “methods framework has been used
to maintain social work’s denial of what had to be done with regard to
broad social problems.” Meyers (1981), from an educator’s perspective,
stressed that social work needs to define its purpose through a definition
of its domain rather than through tasks. In her mind, defining the profession’s
domain would lead to improved abilities to select interventions that are
not alien to social work values and to evaluate practice interventions
that work or don’t work. Brieland (1981), in a summary article, defined
domain as special areas of practice (e.g. family and children’s services)
that are recognized as a domain of social work. Domain was not defined
as the area or scope in which social workers practice that can be differentiated
from the domains of other professions or disciplines. Longres (1981) in
a reaction article wanted more recognition of radical practice and drew
attention to the need for an informing body of knowledge that would recognize
social structures as constantly changing rather than static systems.
A longstanding interest in the question of a comprehensive framework led me to search for an organizing structure that could be used in identifying common conceptual components in social work. I was introduced to the work of Buckminster Fuller and his discovery of nature’s minimum whole system, the geometric tetrahedron, which is also the molecular structure of the carbon atom - the essence of life (Fuller, 1992; Fuller and Dil, 1983; Fuller, 1982; Fuller, 1975; Fuller, 1969). Fuller was an American of many contrasts and apparent dichotomies. Among a long list of descriptors he was known as a comprehensive generalist, an engineer, an inventor, a visionary, a scientist, a maverick, a gentle revolutionist, an anti-academician, an amiable lunatic and a prophet (Lichtrenstein and Krausse, 1999). To some, his understanding of geometrical thinking was unscientific and irrelevant. To others, he had a deep awareness of how the quality of life could be improved around the world and therefore he was seen as a 20th century Renaissance person. His life in many respects was experiential evidence of the co-existence and complementarity of perceived opposites in living systems.
The four-dimensional features of the tetrahedral system, the tension-compression dynamics of its interconnected parts, and its capacity to model the unfolding complexity of minimum whole systems suggests that it might be the organizing structure that can be used to develop a common conceptual framework for the profession. A more detailed explanation of this system is provided elsewhere (Ramsay, 1994; Ramsay 1999); however, a brief elaboration is provided to underscore its potential as an organizing structure for social work.
Fuller discovered a universal coordinate system, which he named "synergetics” that cut across and underpinned all scientific disciplines. Synergetics is a triangular and tetrahedral system that employs 60-degree coordination, which is “nature's way of physically packing elements together” (1975, pp. 22-23). Synergetics rejects all axioms as "self-evident"; every thing must be experientially verifiable. Fuller's discovery was based on the findings of physicists who found that nature is always most economical and therefore did not function according to man's 90-degree angle (X Y Z axis) coordinate system; instead it works from a 60-degree coordinate system (Fuller, 1969, p. 95). Synergetics is the exploratory approach of starting with the whole. It is based on a generalized principle that the behaviors of whole systems are unpredicted by the behavior of their parts taken separately. The strategy of a synergic approach is radically different from the traditional strategies of differentiating out parts of a system to study their behaviors in isolation from the whole system.
Evidence from Fuller’s work showed that a system must always have insideness and outsideness.. In a human system context the identification of a system begins first with the discovery of self or of "otherness." A living system begins with awareness. If there is no otherness there can be no awareness. If there is no insideness and outsideness, there can be no life or thought.
Fuller discovered the simplest whole system experience of the universe to be geometrically tetrahedral; a unique system-defining set of interdependent and related parts consisting of four (4) elements, four (4) faces, and six (6) connecting interrelationships. A tetrahedral system (natural system) is nature's minimum "set of elements standing in interaction" that constitutes a whole experience. Anything less than a tetrahedral is not whole. A tetrahedral system provides a geometric way of thinking in which basic properties of the system are invariant (do not change) when undergoing transformations. Users of this system can be taught to recognize, quantify, qualify and evaluate any discrepancies in the elements and interrelationships of a system.
What one takes from an understanding of tetrahedral systems is the need to have a minimum of four “somethings” (e.g. components) interconnected in a holistic constellation to provide a tetrahedral ‘whole’ for a common conceptual framework. Each component can be unfolded or multiplied into its own minimum system (or more) complexity and reconfigured to show the progressive complexity between the components. The dynamics of the geometric dimensions allow the framework to be used in varying degrees of complexity without compromising the minimum requirements of a whole system. A common conceptual framework in social work would therefore need a minimum of four components interconnected with each other. Each component would not be unique by itself, but together they could include the whole of social work, all its specializations and the relevant bodies of knowledge from the humanities and sciences that are needed to inform the practice of social work. In the context of the 2001 Kentucky Conference I would argue that the time is now right to identify a common conceptual framework for social work and a working definition that would be acceptable to the profession, internationally, nationally, regionally and locally.
Working from the assumption that a four-dimensional conceptual framework would be acceptable or deemed to be common to the profession, I will proceed to the next challenge and propose four concepts that could be universal to the profession. My suggested concepts come from three substantive but quite different sources. Bartlett’s Common Base of Social Work Practice (1970); Kenneth Wilber’s Eye to Eye:The Quest for the New Paradigm (1990); and Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1970).
Bartlett’s common base, which in effect was a triangular constellation, had three core components: a central focus on social functioning, a broad orientation to people being served, directly or indirectly, and an interventive repertoire of professional interventions. She described the importance of professional use of self but didn’t give it the status of a core component.
Wilber explored three realms of knowledge – the empirical realm of the senses, the rational realm of the mind, and the contemplative realm of the spirit. Wilber argued that any kind of discipline or profession could be considered a science provided it had a distinguishable domain (the central focus described by Bartlett) and a methodology (Bartlett’s interventive repertoire) of arriving at knowledge claims that are open to being challenged and refuted.
Kuhn introduced the concept of paradigm as a way of identifying communities of like-minded groups engaged in any form of disciplinary or professional endeavor. A paradigm component in a common conceptual framework would identify a community of like-minded people who adhere around common questions, problem interests, values, ethics, sanctions, practice approaches, methods of inquiry and validation, curriculum contents, and a declared orientation toward people.
From the above sources, I
developed three of four proposed common concepts: domain, paradigm and
method. Domain of Social Work Practice will include the social functioning
focus that is now generally described as social work’s person-in-environments
area of practice. I would further suggest that person-in-environments is
now the common description of social work’s domain around the world, although
the expression of this domain is still being debated (e.g. person-in-environment
[PIE], environment-in-person [EIP], person:environment [P:E]). My contribution
to this debate is to propose person-environment network (PEN) or person-environments
constellation (PEC). Paradigm of the Profession will include Bartlett’s
broad orientation toward people being served and identify social work as
a community of like-minded people who have a shared understanding of the
profession and how it is practiced. Method of Practice will identify the
professional interventions and particular modalities of practice that are
informed by multiple theoretical perspectives and “evidence-based” in today’s
parlance and open to refutation. The fourth concept, Domain of Social Worker/Practitioner,
comes from Bartlett and the work of many others in social work, past and
present, that consistently identify the significance of a social worker’s
own person-in-environment system and its impact on their practice of social
work. In this respect, the concept of domain is used twice: Domain of Social
Work Practice and Domain of Social Worker/Practitioner. Together this constellation
of interconnected components transforms Bartlett’s ‘common base of social
work’ from a two-dimensional triangular conception to a four-dimensional
tetrahedral conception that I suggest forms the ‘common whole of social
work’ as a conceptual framework for social workers world-around.
Assuming that the person-in-environments
domain is common to the whole of social work, one can unfold this component
into its minimum four-fold complexity. Social well being from a World Health
Organization (WHO) perspective on a healthy quality of life is the primary
concern of the social work profession. Central to this concern is a vision
of just and civil societies throughout the world (Witkin, 1999). The person
element in varying configurations generally refers to developmental, demographic
and social functioning status of individuals in family, groups and communities.
The environment concept includes elements in societies that enhance or
impede the development of individual and collective social well being.
In particular, these elements generally include less formal natural support
networks and more formal societal structures, which together with the person
element are shaped by a variety of societal norms and expectations in the
form of influential attitudes, beliefs, customs, policies and laws. Social
functioning is social work’s way of measuring and assessing the strengths
and problems of people performing their social roles in the context of
how their respective societies provide structural supports and opportunities
to help them perform these roles. The social functioning of people in their
environmental contexts offers a strong indication of their social well
being and the level to which the structural institutions that affect them
provide a just and civil society live in. Based on the relational importance
of “others” in social well-being, I have identified the core elements of
social work’s four dimensional person-in-environments/person-environments
network domain to be 1) person, 2) personal otherness, 3) resource otherness,
and 4) validator otherness (Ramsay, 1994). The purpose statement component
of a reworked Working Definition would evolve out of the common base of
social work’s domain of practice.
The paradigm component incorporates the broad orientation nature of practice that Bartlett identified and includes generalist and specialist prepared practitioners committed to a common person-in-environments domain. It also houses the Knowledge component of the Working Definition. Knowledge in social work practice is drawn from indigenous traditions, humanities and sciences (and not just the Western sciences) to advance the development of common human rights, distributive justice and sufficient societal structures for individual, family and community social well-being in all human societies. To this end, social workers are expected to respect the value of cultural and ethnic diversity and strive to alleviate discrimination, oppression, poverty and other forms of social injustice, even when it is in the guise of cultural and ethnic diversity. The Working Definition was silent on the ontological foundations of social work knowledge. In addition to drawing on supporting knowledge for practice, from social work and elsewhere, social workers need to understand the reality-defined base of the knowledge they are using. Does it come from a mechanistic worldview that treats all things as independent entities separate in space and time? Or, does it come from an ecological and organic worldview that treats all things as deeply interconnected in space and time? (Capra, 1996; Margulis and Sagan, 1997).
The fact that social workers have practice options that allow them to work directly with client groups, indirectly through other environment elements, or both provides a way to conceptually identify its broad orientation to people being served whether one practices as a generalist or specialist. The systems conceptions of Pincus and Minahan (1973) provide a way to place a social worker’s change agent action(s) within the paradigm of the profession component and identify three interconnected practice options that are common to the whole of social work:
Similar to the above example,
the Working Definition components can be cross-checked with the components
of the common conceptual framework for incongruencies and areas in need
of revision. Possible changes in two areas are offered as examples. The
Value component identifies “equilibrium” and “disequilibrium” as normative
terms to describe healthy social functioning and problematic functioning
respectfully. The use of these terms needs to be reexamined in the light
of 20th century developments in the sciences that identify the flexibility
and robustness of far-from-equilibrium states as the scientific metaphor
for healthy social functioning (Kellert, 1993; Briggs and Peat, 1999).
At the other end of the continuum, equilibrium is understood as a static
condition that describes problematic functioning, including death of the
system or person. The Knowledge component, on the other hand, identifies
the difficulties of applying methods of intervention using a knowledge
base that is predicated on assumptions of precise and linear predictability.
The appropriateness of this inclusion in the Working Definition can now
be supported with even more evidence from the sciences of complexity (e.g.
chaos theory) that wasn’t readily available to social work at the time
of the 1958 definition.
In her post-Working Definition
book, Bartlett (1970) stressed that “in the long run, it is more important
to build a viable theoretical structure for the profession as a whole than
to be swayed by political currents and academic fashions of the moment”
(p. 47). My work over several years has tried to work from this premise.
The discovery of a geometric structure that reflects both the simplicity
and complexity of holistic systems provided the foundation for building
a conceptual framework that would be common to social work practice anywhere
in the world and allow for cultural and knowledge-based adaptations to
fit with the people being served. The structure itself is atheoretical
and invariant so that political variances, academic fashions and a range
of theoretical perspectives can affect or inform the components at any
time but the fundamental nature of the common whole of social work will
not be altered. The four-dimensional and interconnected nature of the common
whole model provides the underlying structure for a common conceptual framework
of four core components: Domain of Practice, Paradigm of the Profession,
Domain of Practitioner, and Methods of Practice. Each of these components
can be unfolded in more complex systemic networks or systematic processes
to represent the important elements and phases of working with people in
difficult and challenging social situations. Within the unfolded complexity
of the common conceptual framework the comprehensive nature and complexity
of social work can be identified and the original elements of the Working
Definition can be examined and assessed as to their 21st century relevance.
With an international definition in place along with national variations
and a common conceptual framework, social workers will leave schools of
social work around the world with Bartlett’s long held dream that they
will have “an initial grasp of social work’s full scope and content” (1970,
p. 83).
DEFINITION*
The social work profession
promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the
empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories
of human behaviour 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.
COMMENTARY
Social work in its various
forms addresses the multiple, complex transactions between people and their
environments. Its mission is to enable all people to develop their full
potential, enrich their lives, and prevent dysfunction. Professional social
work is focused on problem solving and change. As such, social workers
are change agents in society and in the lives of the individuals, families
and communities they serve. Social work is an interrelated system of values,
theory and practice.
Values
Social work grew out of
humanitarian and democratic ideals, and its values are based on respect
for the equality, worth, and dignity of all people. Since its beginnings
over a century ago, social work practice has focused on meeting human needs
and developing human potential. Human rights and social justice serve as
the motivation and justification for social work action. In solidarity
with those who are dis-advantaged, the profession strives to alleviate
poverty and to liberate vulnerable and oppressed people in order to promote
social inclusion. Social work values are embodied in the profession’s national
and international codes of ethics.
Theory
Social work bases its methodology
on a systematic body of evidence-based knowledge derived from research
and practice evaluation, including local and indigenous knowledge specific
to its context. It recognises the complexity of interactions between human
beings and their environment, and the capacity of people both to be affected
by and to alter the multiple influences upon them including bio-psychosocial
factors. The social work profession draws on theories of human development
and behaviour and social systems to analyse complex situations and to facilitate
individual, organisational, social and cultural changes.
Practice
Social work addresses the
barriers, inequities and injustices that exist in society. It responds
to crises and emergencies as well as to everyday personal and social problems.
Social work utilises a variety of skills, techniques, and activities consistent
with its holistic focus on persons and their environments. Social work
interventions range from primarily person-focused psychosocial processes
to involvement in social policy, planning and development. These include
counselling, clinical social work, group work, social pedagogical work,
and family treatment and therapy as well as efforts to help people obtain
services and resources in the community. Interventions also include agency
administration, community organisation and engaging in social and political
action to impact social policy and economic development. The holistic focus
of social work is universal, but the priorities of social work practice
will vary from country to country and from time to time depending on cultural,
historical, and socio-economic conditions.
* This international definition
of the social work profession replaces the IFSW definition adopted in 1982.
It is understood that social work in the 21st century is dynamic and evolving,
and therefore no definition should be regarded as exhaustive.
Adopted by the IFSW General
Meeting in Montréal, Canada, July 2000
Social work's primary concern is the social well-being of all people equally valued with the importance of their physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Social work pioneers were among the first to address the significance of deeply connected relationships that constitute the social context of people’s lives. Out of this rich heritage social work is recognized for its familiar “person-in-environment” perspective, which characterizes the unique relationship-centred focus of the profession. Parallel advances in other fields now provide significant support for the on-going advancement of social work as a relationship-centred profession with a repertoire of person- and environment-oriented methods of practice.
The purpose of the National
Scope of Practice Statement (NSPS) is to foster a growing understanding
of the social work profession. The NSPS is a reference for social workers,
CASW member associations, students in social work, those served by social
workers and the community at large to inform the public and promote an
accountable, effective profession. The statement is prepared as a consultation
document. It can be used in part or whole to assist in meeting the information
needs of diverse audiences, including legislators and those served by social
workers, who may require or prefer a plain language statement that briefly
and concisely describes the scope of social work (Appendix 3).
The person-in-environment domain gives social work a common organizing framework and a holistic context for its mission and vision. The global vision of social work is a world consistently working toward social justice and well-being for all citizens. The central mission is to have social workers engaged in activities that will improve social well-being structures and enhance individual, family and community social functioning at local, national and international levels.
The primary focus of social
work practice is on the relationship networks between individuals, their
natural support resources, the formal structures in their communities,
and the societal norms and expectations that shape these relationships.
This relationship-centred focus is a distinguishing feature of the profession.
Like other professions in
Canada, accredited baccalaureate education is considered the first professional
practice degree, preparing social workers to practice as generalists. Preparation
for specialized practice and research advances in social work is provided
at graduate (Masters) and post-graduate (PhD) levels. In some provinces,
the social work community includes practitioners with diplomas from community
colleges. Community college education generally provides diploma graduates
with approved transfer credit opportunities to continue their social work
education at the baccalaureate level.
Contemporary practice methods are based on a systematic process of problem solving which empowers individuals, families, groups and communities to identify and use their own problem solving skills in order to improve their life situations, and requires social workers to simultaneously address broader social issues which affect people’s ability to obtain needed resources.. The practice method is facilitated through the application of social work values, ethical principles and practice skills to accomplish the core functions of social work.
• helping people obtain basic
human need services;
• counseling and psychotherapy
with individuals, families and groups;
• helping communities/groups
provide or improve social and health services; and
• participating in relevant
legislative and social policy processes.
Practice methods in social
work are those commonly used by qualified social workers (Appendix 1) or
identified as restricted activities limited to social workers with specific
qualifications (Appendix 2). Social work practice activities used to accomplish
the core functions include direct practice with clients, community organizing,
advocacy, social and political action, policy development and implementation,
education, and research and evaluation
Greene, Roberta and Watkins, Marie (Eds.) (1998). Serving Diverse Constituencies: Applying the Ecological Perspective. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Karls, James and Wandrei, Karen (Eds.) (1994). Person-in-Environment System: The PIE Classification System for Social Functioning Problems. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Kemp, Susan, Whittaker, James and Tracy, Elizabeth (1997). Person-Environment Practice: The Social Ecology of Interpersonal Helping. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Pincus, Allen and Minahan, Anne (1973). Social Work Practice: Model and Method. Itasca, IL: F.E. Peacock.
Sheafor, Brad, Horejsi, Charles, and Horejsi, Gloria (1994). Techniques and Guidelines for Social Work Practice (3rd Ed.). Boston: Allyn and B
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