Social Work: What Is It
The following definitions could be seen as revolutionary, I found this definition in a paper written by Deepak Nayak where he sighted some Indigenous Authors on defining social work. One is Sushil Chandra (1954) defined social work as “a dynamic activity undertaken by public or private effort in the implementation of social policy, with a view to raise the standard of living and to bring about social, economic, political, and cultural wellbeing of the individual, family, and group with society irrespective of its stage of social development.”
Social work can also be defined as stated in the above image, transformative justice for survivors. This to me screams revolutionary social work as it is a means of speaking for those that have no voice for themselves yet. This is the type of social work I am interested in doing I want to be on the front lines helping the law makers set laws in place for the underserved population of our society. Revolutionary social work can also be defined as serving the reentry population as well as the parents navigating the systems for disabled children.
We can go beyond competency to foster critical thinking by using our own judgment and siting right for wrong then challenging those thoughts as well. Going beyond your own belief of right and wrong in the meaning of what is truly just in society and what is not. We could go so much further as a society if we allowed ourselves to speak from place of true justice and not from a place of monetary gain. These are principals that I hold dear and ascribe to what social work is to me.
Ian Miller
Hi Keyda,
First, I really liked the Venn Diagram you used with the two phases overlapping at sustained involvement. If possible, could you cite where that came from? I would like to read more into that visual representation.
The first chapter of our text, gave the most generalist, even minimalist definition to the question: “Social work, what is it?”. I feel like you see social work as being the work that we do for others having to be coupled with a lot of personal work/growth that is guided by principles and values that are either our own or those that we view as linear to ours. I honestly agree completely.
I have had the opportunity to work in two different jobs that focused on helping people of opposite sides. One job was working for a reentry program. In that program, some of the clientele had been incarcerated for sexual crimes against children. In another job I was working in a child advocacy center, helping families who had child victims of sexual abuse connect to community resources. Both of those jobs required a very empathic approach to the populations we served but for very different reasons. Our principles have to be greater than the circumstances of those we serve. I really appreciate the experience I gained in both positions, and in a way I feel that has been the greatest lesson I have learned in social work yet. Seeing the world through the lens of helping out both offenders and victims of the same types of crimes.
Christine Ryan
Speaking for those who have no voice at all.
This stood out to me in the chapter and your presentation. You can feel the passion in your interpretation and seeing you in action helps change the laws and how we help our community.
In the chapter, I was drawn towards, “More than ever social work requires a broad knowledge base in order to effectively meet the needs of others but also to help clients find hope in the process. Finding hope is essential to the social work practice as hope helps to empower diverse populations facing unique challenges (Clark & Hoffler, 2014).
I have been pushed down and had no voice. I realized others were also being silenced and I had that calling to stand up and fight the man. Push against the grain and get answers to all the hard questions.
I like the last table you added with the awareness rising and how move to critical moves.
Elizabeth Jackson
Hi, Keyda,
I like the approach you took to defining social work. A cultural lens is important because it allows us to expand our cultural competence. Understanding and respecting diverse cultural perspectives, values, and norms is crucial for social workers to be effective in their practice. I like the diagram you used about raising awareness because that is one of the center goals for social workers. Great work!
Sean McCrossin
I feel like only recently were we able to put a proper name on “revolutionary social work”. The idea of revolution has always existed yes, but adding social work adds elements of depth that I felt was missing before. Because it’s more than fighting back against the man, it’s also as you said a cultural lens that we have to take into account. Since we are all human, we are different humans. These ideas can co exist that gives everyone a voice. I also appreciated your usage of imagery throughout the blog as I was able to better understand what I am reading which obviously hits the nail on the head.
Deandra Nicholai
“speaking for those that have no voice for themselves yet.” I really like that. I think that is a big deal and working to help those who have no voice for themselves is very important. I, myself, have experienced not owning my voice and being afraid to use it. I enjoyed your blog! You did a good job!
Mel Maendel
I really like the definition in the first part of the blog that was given. I do agree when you said that it was a revolutionary definition. I like the part of the definition describing social work as a dynamic activity preformed by the public and private efforts. To me this changes the way we look at social work as a whole. Instead of stating social work as a job or career it sets it in a frame to say it is an effort made by the public and other institutions to continuously create and work toward a safe better environment for all. Which is what social work is all about and should be look at as.