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Social work is a profession concerned with helping individuals, families, groups and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being. It aims to help people develop their skills and their ability to use their own resources and those of the community to resolve problems. Social work is concerned with individual and personal problems but also with broader social issues such as poverty, unemployment and domestic violence.1 Social workers work in a variety of settings including family services agencies, children’s aid agencies, hospitals, school boards, correctional institutions, welfare administration agencies, government departments and private practice. They provide services as members of a multidisciplinary team or on a one-to-one basis with the client. The duties performed by social workers vary depending on the settings in which they work.2 According to the College's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, the scope of practice of the profession of social work means the assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of individual, interpersonal and societal problems through the use of social work knowledge, skills, interventions and strategies, to assist individuals, dyads, families, groups, organizations and communities to achieve optimum psychosocial and social functioning and includes, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the following: (i) The provision of assessment, diagnostic, treatment and evaluation services within a relationship between a social worker and a client; (ii) The development, promotion, management, administration, delivery and evaluation of human service programs, including that done in collaboration with other professionals; (iii) The provision of professional supervision to a social worker, social work student or other supervisee; (iv) The provision of consultation services to other social workers or professionals in relation to the activities described in paragraph (i) above; (v) The development, promotion, implementation and evaluation of social policies aimed at improving social conditions and equality; (vi) The conduct of research or provision of education regarding the practice of social work, as defined in paragraphs (i) to (v) above and (vii) below; and (vii) Any other activities recognized by the College. In Ontario, in order to use the title Social Worker or Registered Social Worker or to hold out expressly or by implication that you are a social worker, you must be registered with the College. Typically, members of the College have obtained a Bachelor of Social Work degree (B.S.W.), a Master of Social Work degree (M.S.W.) or both. In Ontario, a B.S.W. program is four years in duration and an M.S.W. program is a further one to two years.
1 Taken from the Canadian Association of Social Worker's "The Social Work Profession." The complete document can be found at www.casw-acts.ca. 2 Ibid.
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