The Role of Social Work in National Development

Abstract

Defining social work entails describing the roles and functions of social workers. Although many attempts have been made to define social work, there have been some disagreements in trying to come up with a universal definition of social work. Thus, without a general agreement on what constitutes social work, it is difficult to definitively delineate what the roles and functions of social work are or should be. The apparent failure to reach an agreement on what social work is partly accounts for the gap between what social workers say they want to achieve and what they are practically able to achieve ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk ). According to Cree (2003:3), “it is almost impossible to find a simple definition of social work with which everyone is likely to agreeâ€. Be that as it may, various scholars have attempted to develop definitions of social work, ranging from the seemingly simple and straightforward ones to the relatively complex and comprehensive, including the following.

According to Farley and Smith (2006:7), “social work is an art, a science, a profession that helps people to solve personal, group (especially family), and community problems and to attain satisfying personal, group, and community relationships through social work practiceâ€. Probably the most comprehensive, authoritative and most widely used definitions of the concept is the one that states that social work is “a profession which 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" (International Association of Schools of Social Work: 2001).

KEY WORDS   Social Work, Development, Methods, Primary,Secondary