Inter and Intra Professional Social Work Differences: Social Works Challenge

Abstract

Social work historically has had two overarching domains. One domain is concerned with communities and policy development, the other with direct practice involving individuals, groups and families. Both the macro and micro domains are infused with concerns of social justice and advocacy. Conflict in the profession between social justice and casework began over a century ago, with early social work leaders Mary Richmond and Jane Addams. Controversy within the profession continues today. This paper will present many of the differing viewpoints within the ever-changing kaleidoscope of the profession. The paper will objectively present the issues of debate regarding micro and macro foci and recent debates related to professionalization, licensure, and the education of social workers. It will challenge readers to critically think about their own practices and view points. The synergy of the profession is much more than either people changing or society changing. As a profession we must move beyond the discord to the embodiment of harmony. The problem of AIDS will be discussed in order to demonstrate the challenges of working at both the micro and macro levels.

El derecho a la salud y la política social precarizada: desafíos de la dimensión terapéutica en el trabajo social

“…Según Greenwood (2014) éstas se diferencian en cuanto a la preparación, la aplicación de pruebas psicométricas, la inclusión del contexto en la intervención y el salario recibido. Autores como Epple (2007), aseguran que el TSC se está ejerciendo sin la preparación especializada requerida, responsabilizando a los programas de formación de este hecho. Sin embargo, Cohen (2003) plantea que no existen estudios empíricos que hayan demostrado que el tratamiento ofrecido por una u otra profesión es mejor.…”

The psychological goods on clinical social work: a content analysis of the clinical social work and social justice literature

“…For example, pressures from the sociopolitical environment may adversely impact clients' psychological well-being (Freud, 1999;Wakefield, 1998). An 'upstream' approach emphasizes how clinical social work helps to foster internal change that may lead to empowerment and social and political change efforts among clients (Epple, 2007).…”

Some social implications of psychoanalytic theory: a social work perspective

“…Some psychoanalytic clinicians are guilty of the reverse, not unlike those structuralists who believe all personal problems originate outside the individual. Furthermore, psychoanalytic theories that were at one time profoundly socially and politically critical are today often stripped of their emancipatory potential, taking on a decidedly conservative quality (Kovel, 1988;Danto, 2009;Epple, 2007).…”