Digital social work or e-social work? Towards social work in a digital environment

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to summarise and remark on contemporary issues of emerging social work in the digital environment, which were accelerated by social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss the concepts of e-social work and digital social work. We debate where the boundaries of social work in the digital environment are and whether it constitutes a new, distinct branch of social work. We investigate the process and barriers to enhancing social workers’ digital capabilities (using the Technology Acceptance Model, SAMR theory, and Digital Natives-Digital Immigrants contexts). We analyse the key advantages and disadvantages of social work in the online setting.