Social work: From the settlements and a casework to the theories of ecosocial work

Abstract

The article presents some threads of the debate over the search for a theory of human-environment relationships for social work practice from the dawn of this work at the end of the 19th century to today, that is, from the holistic through individualistic, and psychosocial concepts to the paradigm of ecosocial work from the perspective of threats of a global catastrophe. As the examples of approaches to that paradigm green social work developed by L. Dominelli, slow social work by V. Bozalek and social work as sensitive public pedagogy by M. Mendel are presented. The issue of finding effective relationship of social ecopractice to the controversial strategies of sustainable development versus degrowth on a global scale is also highlighted. The article also includes suggestions for expanding knowledge about the theories and practice of ecosocial work, referring to specific texts available in open access on the Internet. The conclusion of the article includes an indication of some barriers to overcome for an introduction the ecosocial work theories into practice.