The main tasks of professional social workers are case management (linking clients with agencies and programs that will meet their psychosocial needs), medical social work, counseling (psychotherapy), human services management, social welfare policy analysis, community organizing, advocacy, teaching (in schools of social work), and social science research.
Professional social workers work in a variety of settings, including: non-profit or public social service agencies, grassroots advocacy organizations, hospitals, hospices, community health agencies, schools, faith-based organizations, and even the military. Other social workers work as psychotherapists, counselors, or mental health practitioners, normally working in coordination with psychiatrists,
psychologists, or other medical professionals. Additionally, some social workers have chosen to direct the focus their efforts on social policy or academic research towards the practice or ethics of social work. While the emphasis has varied among these task areas in different eras and countries, some areas have been the subject of controversy as to whether they are properly part of social work's mission.
United States
In the United States of America, leaders and scholars in the field of social work have debated the purpose and nature of the profession since its beginning in the late 1800s. Workers, beginning with the settlement house movement, have argued for a focus on social reform, political activism, and systemic causes of poverty. Social workers of the Settlement House Movement were primarily young women from
middle-income families and chose to live in lower-income neighbourhoods to engage in community organizing. These workers sometimes received stipends from charitable organizations and sometimes worked for free. In contrast to the settlement house movement, the friendly visitors were women from middle-income families who visited (but did not reside among) families in lower-income neighbourhoods. Friendly visitors emphasized conventional morality (such as thrift and abstinence from alcohol) rather than social activism.
Others have advocated an emphasis on direct practice, aid to individual clients and families with targeted material assistance or interventions using the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental diseases DSM-IV. While social work has been defined as direct, individual practice in the last quarter of the twentieth century, there is a growing resurgence of community practice in social work. Of broad and growing significance are the relationship counseling and Relationship Education movements which seek to assist in interpersonal social skill building which can be of great societal value in promoting marriage and family stability. Relationship education and counseling primarily aid the majority of individuals who are free of pathology or who have found that DSM-IV based services are ineffectual. This majority can benefit from education and exposure to relationship skills that have not otherwise
been discussed and distributed by social services in this time of weakened family, church, and societal conventions. Another new development in social work is the focus on informatics (Parker-Oliver & Demiris, 2006). For many social workers, the use of any online technology is problematic due to persistent concerns about privacy. However, other social workers recognize that clients are going on line for many purposes. Some schools of social work, such as University of Southern California are offering courses to build informatics skills at the graduate level.
Community practice is the new term of art for what used to be known as \practice\social work. Community practice includes working for change at the systems level, including human services management (administration, planning, marketing, and program development); community organizing (community development, grassroots organizing, policy advocacy); social policy and politics; and international social development.
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest and most recognized membership organization of professional social workers in the world. Representing 150,000 members from 56 chapters in the United States and abroad, the association promotes, develops and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW also seeks to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through its work and advocacy.
Although membership is generally not required for licensure, NASW survey data give a rough idea of how social workers are employed in the US. According to NASW: Nearly 40% of NASW members say that mental health is their primary practice area. The health sector employs 8% of NASW’s members, and 8% practice in child welfare or family organizations. Six percent of NASW members say school social work is their primary practice area, and another 3% work primarily with adolescents. (NASW, 2005) These figures are significantly confounded by the fact that NASW members are primarily licensed practitioners working in the clinical arena, and the fact that many social workers in the field do not actually hold a degree in social work. NASW is usually concerned with issues like licensing, reimbursement, etc., that are not relevant to child welfare practice, for instance.
Within the mental health field, social workers may work in private practice, much like clinical psychologists or members of other counselling professions often do. Social workers are often in the position of recommending the use of
psychopharmaceutical agents, though not prescribing them. The increasingly
widespread usage of these agents in the U.S. has received little scrutiny by the NASW, despite that fact that these drugs are prescribed far more heavily in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world. Social workers in private practice may take direct payments from clients and may also receive third-party reimbursement from insurance companies or government programs such as Medicaid. Insurance reimbursement for mental health services involves the designation of the recipient of services as
mentally ill, or more specifically a label is assigned from the DSM-IV, the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental illness. This assignment, when recorded to an individual's medical history can prove to be a significant impediment to future pursuits. It can raise the cost to the individual for health or nursing home insurance; it can be the basis of denial for life insurance; and it can limit an individual's professional choices, such as in health care, motor vehicle operation, or airplane piloting.
Private practice was not part of the social work profession when it began in the late 1800s. It has been controversial among social workers, some of whom feel that the more lucrative opportunities of private practice have led many social workers to abandon the field's historic mission of assisting disadvantaged populations. The private practice model can be at odds with the community development and political activism strains of social work.
Social workers in mental health may also work for an agency, whether publicly funded, supported by private charity, or some combination of the two. These agencies provide a range of mental health services to disadvantaged populations in the US. Some social workers are child welfare workers, a role that looms large in the public's perception of social work. This role contributes to a negative view of social work in the U.S., since child welfare authorities can remove abused or neglected children from the custody of their parents, a practice that is fraught with controversy and sometimes with scandalous incompetence. Many child welfare workers in the US do not in fact have social work degrees (though all caseworkers in most states have at least a Bachelor's degree in a related field).
Some states restrict the use of the title social worker to licensed practitioners, who must hold a degree in the field. Such restrictions are a high legislative priority of NASW. United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom and elsewhere, a social worker is a trained professional with a recognised social work qualification, employed most commonly in the public sector by local authorities.
Spending on social services departments is a major component of British local government expenditure.
In Social care UK, the title \worker\is protected by law (since 1 April 2005) and can be used only by people who have a recognised qualification and are registered with the General Social Care Council (in England), the Scottish Social Services Council, the Care Council for Wales (Welsh: Cyngor Gofal Cymru), or the Northern Ireland Social Care Council.
The strategic direction of statutory social work in Britain is broadly divided into children's and adults' services. Social work activity within England and Wales for children and young people is under the remit of the Department for Children, Schools and Families while the same for adults remains the responsibility for the Department of Health. Within local authorities, this division is usually reflected in the organisation of social services departments. The structure of service delivery in Scotland is different.
Within children services some social workers are child protection workers, a role that looms large in the public's perception of social work. This role contributes to a negative view of social work in the UK since child protection workers for local authorities can remove suspected abused or neglected children from the custody of their parents, a practice that is fraught with controversy and media criticism. In mental health care, social workers can train to become an Approved Mental Health Professional, involved in the application of the Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended by the Mental Health Act 2007) in England and Wales. Though now open to other professions, this involves a contributing a social care perspective to Mental Health Act assessments and is predominantly a social worker role.
In 2007, the General Social Care Council launched a wide-ranging consultation, in concert with a number of other social care organisations, to agree a clear
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professional understanding of social work in the UK
The topic is “ role of the professional socoal work”.
Professional social workers have a strong tradition of working for social justice and refusing to recreate unequal social structures.A professional social worker not only cater to individual needs,but also maintain the transforming society.Today many social workers internationally have strong connections with social and political movements
Professional social workers work in a variety of settings, including: non-profit or public social service agencies,grassroots advocacy organizations,hospitals,hospices ,community health agencies,schools, faith-based organizations,and military,.
The role of social workers is psychotherapists, counselors and mental health practitioners. Meanwhile,some social workers have chosen to direct the focus their efforts on social policy or academic research towards the practice or ethics of social work.
The main tasks of professional social workers is case management ,medical social work , counseling ,human services management, social welfare policy analysis ,community organizing ,advocacy ,teaching ,social science research.
(以上是原文中的)
（以下是我自己写的，你可用可不用）
The role of socoal workers require noble spirit of professional ethics ,recognized non-profit professional ,coordinating the relationship betwween the individual and the environment ,utilizing the resources freely ,group collaboration ,helping themselves and helping others ,upholding democracy ,and respecting for individuality. (到时候看答题的篇幅决定这段要不要写)
专业英语主楼328 社会政策主楼224 社会福利 西二508 社会保障 西二410
专业英语，4题，全部用英文回答。2题论述，一题自己的资料，1题是选别人的。还有2题是考基本知识。 社会保障
1、社会保险2、社会救济3、老年社会保障4、医疗社会保险5、失业6、工伤保险7、生育保险8、军人社会保障9、残疾人社会保障 1、社会保障制度的功能2、目前农村养老社会保险存在的主要问题3、农村养老保障的必要性4、医疗社会保险的特点5、失业预防的主要措施6、工伤保险制度普遍遵循的主要原则
7、妇女就业保障的主要内容8、残疾人社会保障的内容 1、我国城镇医疗保险制度及其改革 2、公式S=Sa/G= (Sa/W)*(W/G)表达的意义
社会福利思想
我国社会福利内容，世界社会福利思想发展历程，《济贫法》，德国社会保险，贝弗里奇计划，福利国家及其困境，福利多元化发展，第三条道路政治目标，功利主义，基数效用，序数效用。每一个时段相应的内容要仔细看下，福利思想发展的各个时期是重点。