The Role of Social Work in National Development

Abstract

Defining social entails describing the roles and functions of social workers. Although many attempts have been made to define social work, there have been some disagreements in trying to come up with a universal definition of social work. Thus, without a general agreement on what constitutes social work, it is difficult to definitively delineate what the roles and functions of social are or should be. The apparent failure to reach an agreement on what social is partly accounts for the gap between what social workers say they want to achieve and what they are practically able to achieve ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk ). According to Cree (2003:3), “it is almost impossible to find a simple definition of social with which everyone is likely to agree”. Be that as it may, various scholars have attempted to develop definitions of social work, ranging from the seemingly simple and straightforward ones to the relatively complex and comprehensive, including the following.According to Farley and Smith (2006:7), “social is an art, a science, a profession that helps people to solve personal, group (especially family), and community problems and to attain satisfying personal, group, and community relationships through social practice”. Probably the most comprehensive, authoritative and most widely used definitions of the concept is the one that states that social is “a profession which promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of human behavior and social systems, social intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work (International Association of Schools of Social Work: 2001).KEY WORDS  Social Work, Development, Methods, Primary,Secondary