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Social Work Profession
- Professional social workers assist individuals, groups, or communities
to restore or enhance their capacity for social functioning, while
creating societal conditions favorable to their goals. The practice
of social work requires knowledge of human development and behavior,
of social, economic and cultural institutions, and of the interaction
of all these factors.
- According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS), social work is one of the fastest growing careers
in the United States. The profession is expected to grow by 30%
by 2010; currently, nearly 600,000 people hold social work degrees.
- Social workers are highly trained and experienced professionals.
Only those who have earned social work degrees at the bachelor’s,
master’s or doctoral levels, and completed a minimum number
of hours in supervised fieldwork, are “professional social
workers.”
- According to the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), 22,163
junior and senior students were enrolled in baccalaureate social
work programs in 2000; there were also 20,369 full-time and 13,446
part-time students enrolled in master’s degree programs.
In the same year, 15,007 individuals graduated with MSW degrees
and 11,773 graduated with BSW degrees. In addition, 229 doctoral
degrees in social work were awarded in 2000. Currently there are
over 8,000 social work professors teaching in the United States.
- Social workers help people overcome some of life’s most
difficult challenges: poverty, discrimination, abuse, addiction,
physical illness, divorce, loss, unemployment, educational problems,
disability, and mental illness. They help prevent crises and counsel
individuals, families, and communities to cope more effectively
with the stresses of everyday life.
- Professional social workers are found in every facet of community
life—in schools, hospitals, mental health clinics, senior
centers, elected office, private practices, prisons, military,
corporations, and in numerous public and private agencies that
serve individuals and families in need. They often specialize in
one or more of the following practice areas:
- According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA), professional social workers are the nation’s largest
group of mental health services providers. There are more clinically
trained social workers—over 190,000 in 1998—than psychiatrists,
psychologists, and psychiatric nurses combined. Federal law and
the National Institutes of Health recognize social work as one
of five core mental health professions.
- Over 40% of all disaster mental health volunteers trained by
the American Red Cross are professional social workers.
- There are over 170 social workers in national, state and local elected office, including two U.S. Senators and eight U.S. Representatives. These include: Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY), Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH), Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA).
- Today, 48 special interest social work organizations contribute
to the vitality and credibility of the social work profession.
Resources:
Web: For additional information about social workers,
search the 2002 Occupational Outlook Handbook on the Bureau of Labor
Statistics website: www.bls.gov. Also visit www.socialworkers.org
for more information about the profession.
Video: “Social Work: The Profession that
Makes a Difference” produced in partnership with Tina Pederson
and Documentary USA by the NASW California Chapter.
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