Social Work's Fields of Practice, Methods, and Models: The Choice to Act

Abstract

To take action in regard to the human condition, social workers need ways of conceptualizing reality and how to change it as well as values and community sanction by which to set priorities for change. Implicit in each professional act is a series of choices about who will have the right to participate in determining goals of service, what goals the practitioner will agree to attempt, and what means of intervention he thinks are most likely to achieve these goals. Traditional conceptualizations of practice in terms of fields, methods, and models may obscure in various ways the nature of professional responsibility for decision making. The generalist-specialist issue is a major dilemma for the field: how can a social worker look at possibilities for action broadly enough so that the dimensions of choice are clear, yet with focus sufficient for effective action to be taken?