Human geography and questions for social work education

Abstract

Despite a sometimes implied lead, in the social work literature, of social work training over health training in the area of values, since the decline of community social work in the 1980s health training has developed a focus upon the physical environment which seems set to leave social work education trailing behind in the area. This paper therefore explores inter - professional overlap in the area of human geography, and in particular its relation to professional identity and the core social work value of social responsibility. Finally, it outlines ways of raising awareness of the physical environment among social work students, and in doing so seeks to break free of the placement/learning environment dichotomy and link social responsibility to the campus experience itself.