Social work is unique in the following ways: it may focus attention on any problem or cluster of problems; it involves a focus on targeting any aspect of the environment; it involves advocacy and active intervention; and it involves emphasis on and adherence to a core of professional values and ethics.
The purposes of social work are the following: to enhance the problem-solving and coping capacities of people; to link people with systems that provide them with resources, services and opportunities; to promote the effective and humane operation of these systems; and to contribute to the development and improvement of social policy (Kirst-Ashman and Hull, 1993, p. 7). Social work helps people in need by using all available ethical means possible.
In my examination of social work as a profession and the settings in which social work is practiced, I visited several organizations: Inland Regional Center, San Bernardino's Community Hospital's Adult Day Health Care Center and Daybreak Alzheimer's Care Center, Guadalupe Home Foster Family Agency, and the Southern Regional Office of the State Department of Mental Health's Conditional Release program (CONREP).
In each of these agencies, the role of the social worker, while unique to each location, entailed very similar social work practice activities. Social workers in these settings are employed to implement some form of intervention and/or treatment program for the poor, disadvantaged, disenfranchised and disabled.
Most of the social workers use some form of either case management or other systems approach. They assess the individual, identify available resources, develop a services plan, implement the service plan, coordinate resources and services from collaborating agencies, and document the services rendered.
Although these agencies are reflective of the traditional settings and roles, social workers also work in other settings such as schools, busines...