Social Work Profession
- LAST REVIEWED: 14 December 2009
- LAST MODIFIED: 14 December 2009
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0068
- LAST REVIEWED: 14 December 2009
- LAST MODIFIED: 14 December 2009
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0068
Introduction
Social work literature discusses how the profession’s history was organized in an effort to address problems related to poverty and individual and family problems. The problems related to swift industrial growth included, but were not limited to, poverty, individual and family problems, child welfare, immigration and emigration, and racial and gender disparities. These problems continue to challenge the country despite major policy and practice interventions. The profession’s caring or helping thrust is well covered; however, a component of social control also exists. Major national events helped shape the social welfare policies that social work professionals implement. There were internal debates relative to a working definition, professionalization, licensure, stronger evidence for best practice, and boundary maintenance. There has been growth in social welfare and its professional arm, social work, since the beginning of the 20th century. However, the United States is called a reluctant welfare state. The entry reviews social work’s first professional century, including its origins, present context, trends, and challenges for the future.
General Overviews
There are several overviews of the profession, but content is also often included in discussions relevant to social welfare since social work is its major professional arm. White 2008 presents a comprehensive overview, some twenty-two chapters covering history, advances in theory, technology, scope of practice, and international concerns. Hopps and Lowe 2008 contributes an expository statement on the status of the profession. This work updates both the eighteenth and the nineteenth editions of the encyclopedia. Austin 2000 and Morris 2000 offer more zealous critiques of the profession. Austin 2000 notes that the initial thrust of the profession was services to children and families and that this remains the case. There is advocacy for greater focus on research to inform practice that can thereby enhance the field’s potential for leadership. Morris 2000 suggests that the growth of the interpersonal practice domain has occurred at the expense of social change and social justice. Like Austin 2000, Morris 2000 also makes a case for a new focus of the profession (as he warns) if it is to move beyond production of “mid-level facilitators.” Wilensky and Lebeaux 1965 is an analytical presentation of 20th-century forces on the family, the growth of social welfare and social work, and the consequences of professionalism. Hopps and Morris 2000 examines the successes and limitations of social work in the 20th century. The University of Minnesota has an archive dedicated to the history of social work. All of the entries are useful for students, educators, and practitioners at any part in the social work education continuum.
Austin, David M. 2000. Greeting the second century: A forward look from a historical perspective. In Social work at the millennium: Critical reflections on the future of the profession. Edited by June Gary Hopps and Robert Morris, 18–41. New York: Free Press.
Examines social work in the 20th century and concludes that children and families were the focus of service, which remains the most distinctive practice domain. Approaches grew largely out of a paradigm that started in the 1900s. Research that can provide policy-relevant information for professional leadership must become a primary agenda.
Hopps, June Gary, and Tony B. Lowe. 2008. Social work profession overview. In The Encyclopedia of social work. 20th ed. Vol. 4. Edited by Terry Mitzrahi and Larry E. Davis, 144–156. New York: Oxford University Press.
Covers much of that presented in the nineteenth edition but focuses more on the boundary conundrum, national and international employment trends, supply, demand and areas of practice, workplace violence, diversity, and recommendations from the 2005 Social Work Congress. Up-to-date references are presented.
Hopps, June Gary, and Robert Morris, eds. 2000. Social work at the millennium: Critical reflections on the future of the profession. New York: Free Press.
Several leading professionals make clear what the future path ought to be if a wide spectrum of concerns challenging the profession is addressed so that social work’s historical mission can be achieved.
Morris, Robert. 2000. Social work’s century of evolution as a profession: Choices made, opportunities lost; From the individual and society to the individual. In Social work at the millennium: Critical reflections on the future of the profession. Edited by June Gary Hopps and Robert Morris, 42–72. New York: Free Press.
A critical overview of the profession’s first century that explicates how the growth and dominance of the interpersonal domain occurred at the expense of social change or social justice. It is predicted that, given its current direction, the profession will be represented in institutions but in a limited role as “mid-level facilitators” in light of its generic education focus and not as leaders.
University of Minnesota School of Social Work. Social Work History Archives.
A unique resource for studying the history of social services in the United States at a national level. Its collections are available to all interested researchers at the Elmer L. Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
White, Barbara W., ed. 2008. The profession of social work. Vol. 1 of Comprehensive handbook of social work and social welfare. Edited by Karen M. Sowers and Catherine N. Dulmus. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Presentations on comprehensive content covering the development of social work, including the scope of social work practice, advances in theory, and research technology as practiced today. Specific topics include history, education, credentials and professional regulation, evidence-based practice, and international practice. Entries on major fields of practice are explicated. This is a four-volume series.
Wilensky, Harold L., and Charles N. Lebeaux. 1965. Industrial society and social welfare. New York: Free Press.
A contribution analyzing the impact of industrialization, urbanization, capitalism, specialization, technology, and stratification and the resulting social problems as well as how private and public social welfare, social work, developed and grew. Residual and institutional conceptions of social welfare were noteworthy.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Abolitionist Perspectives in Social Work
- Abortion
- Adolescent Depression
- Adolescent Pregnancy
- Adolescents
- Adoption
- Adoption Home Study Assessments
- Adult Protective Services in the United States
- African Americans
- African-Centered Social Work
- Aging
- Aging out of foster care
- Aging, Physical Health and
- Alcohol and Drug Abuse Problems
- Alcohol and Drug Problems, Prevention of Adolescent and Yo...
- Alcohol Problems: Practice Interventions
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
- Anti-Oppressive Practice
- Asian Americans
- Asian-American Youth
- Assessment
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Baccalaureate Social Workers
- Behavioral Health
- Behavioral Social Work Practice
- Bereavement Practice
- Bisexuality
- Brief Therapies in Social Work: Task-Centered Model and So...
- Bullying and Social Work Intervention
- Canadian Social Welfare, History of
- Case Management in Mental Health in the United States
- Central American Migration to the United States
- Child Maltreatment Prevention
- Child Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment
- Child Poverty
- Child Sexual Abuse
- Child Welfare
- Child Welfare and Child Protection in Europe, History of
- Child Welfare and Parents with Intellectual and/or Develop...
- Child Welfare Effectiveness
- Child Welfare, Immigration and
- Child Welfare Practice with LGBTQ Youth and Families
- Children
- Children of Incarcerated Parents
- Christianity and Social Work
- Chronic Illness
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Adult Lesbians
- Clinical Social Work Practice with Males
- Cognitive Behavior Therapies with Diverse and Stressed Pop...
- Cognitive Processing Therapy
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Community
- Community Development
- Community Policing
- Community-Based Participatory Research
- Community-Needs Assessment
- Comparative Social Work
- Computational Social Welfare: Applying Data Science in Soc...
- Conflict Resolution
- Council on Social Work Education
- Counseling Female Offenders
- Criminal Justice
- Crisis Interventions
- Cultural Competence and Ethnic Sensitive Practice
- Culture, Ethnicity, Substance Use, and Substance Use Disor...
- Dementia Care
- Dementia Care, Ethical Aspects of
- Depression and Cancer
- Development and Infancy (Birth to Age Three)
- Differential Response in Child Welfare
- Digital Storytelling for Social Work Interventions
- Direct Practice in Social Work
- Disabilities
- Disability and Disability Culture
- Disasters
- Divorce
- Domestic Violence Among Immigrants
- Early Pregnancy and Parenthood Among Child Welfare–Involve...
- Eating Disorders
- Ecological Framework
- Economic Evaluation
- Elder Mistreatment
- End-of-Life Decisions
- Epigenetics for Social Workers
- Ethical Issues in Social Work and Technology
- Ethics and Values in Social Work
- Ethnicity
- European Institutions and Social Work
- European Union, Justice and Home Affairs in the
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Finding Evidence
- Evidence-based Social Work Practice: Issues, Controversies...
- Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs
- Families
- Families with Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Parents
- Family Caregiving
- Family Group Conferencing
- Family Policy
- Family Services
- Family Therapy
- Family Violence
- Fathering Among Families Served By Child Welfare
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
- Field Education
- Financial Literacy and Social Work
- Financing Health-Care Delivery in the United States
- Forensic Social Work
- Foster Care
- Foster care and siblings
- Gay Men
- Gender, Violence, and Trauma in Immigration Detention in t...
- Generalist Practice and Advanced Generalist Practice
- Grounded Theory
- Group Work
- Group Work across Populations, Challenges, and Settings
- Group Work, Research, Best Practices, and Evidence-based
- Harm Reduction
- Health Care Reform
- Health Disparities
- Health Social Work
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1900–1950
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1950-1980
- History of Social Work and Social Welfare, pre-1900
- History of Social Work from 1980-2014
- History of Social Work in China
- History of Social Work in Northern Ireland
- History of Social Work in the Republic of Ireland
- History of Social Work in the United Kingdom
- HIV/AIDS
- HIV/AIDS and Children
- HIV/AIDS Prevention with Adolescents
- Homelessness
- Homelessness: Ending Homelessness as a Grand Challenge
- Homelessness Outside the United States
- Housing
- Human Needs
- Human Trafficking, Victims of
- Immigrant Integration in the United States
- Immigrant Policy in the United States
- Immigrants and Refugees
- Immigrants and Refugees: Evidence-based Social Work Practi...
- Immigration and Health Disparities
- Immigration and Intimate Partner Violence
- Immigration and Poverty
- Immigration and Spirituality
- Immigration and Substance Use
- Immigration and Trauma
- Impact of Emerging Technology in Social Work Practice
- Impaired Professionals
- Implementation Science and Practice
- Indigenous Peoples
- Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Supported Employmen...
- In-home Child Welfare Services
- Intergenerational Transmission of Maltreatment
- International Human Trafficking
- International Social Welfare
- International Social Work
- International Social Work and Education
- International Social Work and Social Welfare in Southern A...
- Internet and Video Game Addiction
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy
- Intervention with Traumatized Populations
- Interviewing
- Intimate-Partner Violence
- Juvenile Justice
- Kinship Care
- Korean Americans
- Latinos and Latinas
- Law, Social Work and the
- LGBTQ Populations and Social Work
- Life Span
- Mainland European Social Work, History of
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Management and Administration in Social Work
- Maternal Mental Health
- Measurement, Scales, and Indices
- Medical Illness
- Men: Health and Mental Health Care
- Mental Health
- Mental Health Diagnosis and the Addictive Substance Disord...
- Mental Health Needs of Older People, Assessing the
- Mental Health Services from 1990 to 2023
- Mental Illness: Children
- Mental Illness: Elders
- Meta-analysis
- Microskills
- Middle East and North Africa, International Social Work an...
- Military Social Work
- Mixed Methods Research
- Moral distress and injury in social work
- Motivational Interviewing
- Multiculturalism
- Native Americans
- Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders
- Neighborhood Social Cohesion
- Neuroscience and Social Work
- Nicotine Dependence
- Occupational Social Work
- Organizational Development and Change
- Pain Management
- Palliative Care
- Palliative Care: Evolution and Scope of Practice
- Pandemics and Social Work
- Parent Training
- Participatory Community Based Research
- Personalization
- Person-in-Environment
- Philosophy of Science and Social Work
- Physical Disabilities
- Podcasts and Social Work
- Police Social Work
- Political Social Work in the United States
- Positive Youth Development
- Postmodernism and Social Work
- Postsecondary Education Experiences and Attainment Among Y...
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Poverty
- Practice Interventions and Aging
- Practice Interventions with Adolescents
- Practice Research
- Primary Prevention in the 21st Century
- Productive Engagement of Older Adults
- Profession, Social Work
- Program Development and Grant Writing
- Promoting Smart Decarceration as a Grand Challenge
- Psychiatric Rehabilitation
- Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Theory
- Psychoeducation
- Psychometrics
- Psychopathology and Social Work Practice
- Psychopharmacology and Social Work Practice
- Psychosocial Framework
- Psychosocial Intervention with Women
- Psychotherapy and Social Work
- Qualitative Research
- Race and Racism
- Randomized Controlled Trials in Social Work
- Readmission Policies in Europe
- Redefining Police Interactions with People Experiencing Me...
- Refugee Children, Unaccompanied Immigrant and
- Rehabilitation
- Religiously Affiliated Agencies
- Reproductive Health
- Research
- Research Ethics
- Restorative Justice
- Risk Assessment in Child Protection Services
- Risk Management in Social Work
- Rural Social Work in China
- Rural Social Work Practice
- School Social Work
- School Violence
- School-Based Delinquency Prevention
- Services and Programs for Pregnant and Parenting Youth
- Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Adults
- Sexual and Gender Minority Immigrants, Refugees, and Asylu...
- Sexual Assault
- Single-System Research Designs
- Social and Economic Impact of US Immigration Policies on U...
- Social Development
- Social Insurance and Social Justice
- Social Intervention Research
- Social Justice and Social Work
- Social Movements
- Social Planning
- Social Policy
- Social Policy in Denmark
- Social Security in the United States (OASDHI)
- Social Work and Islam
- Social Work and Social Welfare in East, West, and Central ...
- Social Work and Social Welfare in Europe
- Social Work Education and Research
- Social Work Leadership
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Contributing to the Cla...
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries contributing to the fou...
- Social Work Luminaries: Luminaries Who Contributed to Soci...
- Social Work Practice, Rare and Orphan Diseases and
- Social Work Regulation
- Social Work Research Methods
- Social Work Theory
- Social Work with Interpreters
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Strategic Planning
- Strengths Perspective
- Strengths-Based Models in Social Work
- Substance Use Disorders
- Suicide
- Supplemental Security Income
- Survey Research
- Sustainability: Creating Social Responses to a Changing En...
- Syrian Refugees in Turkey
- Systematic Review Methods
- Task-Centered Practice
- Technologies to Improve Social Work Practice and Education
- Technology Adoption in Social Work Education
- Technology for Social Work Interventions
- Technology, Human Relationships, and Human Interaction
- Technology in Social Work
- Terminal Illness
- Terrorism
- The Impact of Systemic Racism on Latinxs’ Experiences with...
- Transdisciplinary Science
- Translational Science and Social Work
- Transnational Perspectives in Social Work
- Transtheoretical Model of Change
- Trauma
- Trauma-Informed Care
- Triangulation
- Tribal child welfare practice in the United States
- Unions
- United States, History of Social Welfare in the
- Universal Basic Income
- Veteran Services
- Vicarious Trauma and Resilience in Social Work Practice wi...
- Vicarious Trauma Redefining PTSD
- Victim Services
- Violence
- Virtual Reality and Social Work
- Welfare State Reform in France
- Welfare State Theory
- Women and Macro Social Work Practice
- Women's Health Care
- Work and Family in the German Welfare State
- Workfare
- Workforce Development of Social Workers Pre- and Post-Empl...
- Working with Non-Voluntary and Mandated Clients
- Young and Adolescent Lesbians
- Youth at Risk
- Youth Services