A review of the need for a systemic approach towards community social work and implications for social work practice in Singapore

Abstract

ABSTRACT Social problems in Singapore are becoming more complicated, requiring multiple perspectives to address root causes. In contrast, social workers are trained to address these challenges with a person-in-environment approach, especially in community social work. This review article shows that there are clear parallels between community work and the need to understand the interconnectedness of social problems to address them, along with the importance of systems thinking in assessing social challenges and developing interventions to address them. A pragmatic community work framework infused with systems thinking is needed to support social workers’ interventions in bringing about long-term change in social problems.