Knowra Social work Social work Social work is a profession and academic discipline that supports well-being, addresses social problems, and advances social justice through direct practice and broader social change.
Social casework : A method of social work that helps individuals address personal and social difficulties through a professional relationship. Shows how individualized support turns assessment into a collaborative helping process.
Child welfare : Public and private systems and services intended to protect children and support their safety and development. A major practice area involving family support, protection, and decisions about child safety.
Charity Organization Society : A nineteenth-century movement that coordinated charitable aid and investigated poverty through organized local agencies. Represents a precursor that shaped casework and systematic aid to individuals.
Psychotherapy : The treatment of psychological distress through structured conversations and other therapeutic methods. Often overlaps with social work, but does not inherently address social conditions or resource access.
Social work ethics : Principles and standards that guide social workers’ responsibilities, decisions, and relationships with people and communities. Addresses tensions around confidentiality, self-determination, professional power, and competing duties.
Strengths-based practice : An approach that builds on people’s capacities, resources, relationships, and aspirations rather than defining them by deficits. Explains how social workers can support change without reducing people to their problems.
School social work : Social work practice in educational settings that supports students’ well-being, learning, and access to services. Shows how social workers address barriers to learning within schools and families.
Settlement movement : A reform movement in which volunteers lived in poor urban neighborhoods and worked alongside residents to improve conditions. Shows the community-based tradition alongside individualized charitable assistance.
Psychiatry : A medical specialty concerned with diagnosing and treating mental disorders, including through medication. Contrasts social work’s broader social and environmental remit with a medical specialty.
National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics : The professional ethical code adopted by the U.S. National Association of Social Workers. Sets out a prominent U.S. framework for professional conduct and social justice commitments.
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