사회복지사의 성년후견제도 인식을 통해 본 전문후견사회복지사의 역할과 과제

Abstract

This study attempted to explore the roles and tasks of professional guardianship social workers as human rights advocates through a survey on the perception of social workers on the adult guardianship system. The research method used a method similar to the snowball sampling with the SNS questionnaire. The survey was conducted by 454 social workers working in the field. Ninety-four percent of respondents were aware of the need for adult guardianship and public guardianship. They also showed their positive attitude towards the expected effect of the guardianship system but had little understanding (58.2%) of the types of adult guardianship system and the procedure for selecting a guardianship system. Regarding the roles of professional guardianship social workers, most social workers recognized the importance of providing adult guardianship and finding guardians, and 63.1% answered that they were willing to act as professional guardians. Based on the above research results, the roles and tasks of professional guardianship social workers as human rights advocates in the field of social welfare practice can be summarized as follows. First, it is required to establish the role of a professional guardianship social worker as an advocate for the people with mental disorders and with limited decision-making capacity Second, social workers who are experts in protecting the confidentiality of clients are also required to be treated and supported equally as other professional guardians, such as lawyers and legal officers. Third, there is a need to improve the contents of in-service education for social workers, such as corporate guardianship services and public guardianship support programs at the level of the Korean Social Workers Association.