Fields Of Practice In Social Work Human Services Essay

Fields Of Practice In Social Work Human Services Essay Fields Of Practice In Social Work Human Services â€" Essay Example > Fields of practice in social work and human servicesSocial services are those services which are aimed at improving the standard of living of the people and providing the basic necessities of life. Social work has gone through tremendous changes in the last few decades. In this paper, we will analyse the concept of social and human services in the context of employment and disability as a client group. We will also overview some of the major changes in Australia which have impacted social services in the country. Social workSocial work is accepted to include an array of social welfare and community agencies and programs which are designated to provide opportunities to the disadvantaged sections of the population to enable them to develop into productive and self-reliant citizens. The idea of human services, similar to social services, has emerged as a profession with a laid down code of conduct for the social workers. There has been a steady growth in the number of courses in huma n services and in the number of people taking to social work as a profession. Contrary to historical practice when the ambit of social services was limited and welfare workers provided services to people who were sick, poor and destitute, the situation is more complex now. The ambit of social work is growing as social workers are venturing into new fields of practice which can be broadly classified into three major areas. The first area sees social work as an arm of the welfare state. This area includes fields of work like working with juvenile delinquents and adult criminals, working within correctional institutions; family welfare services; child protection and child adoption fields. Social workers are employed by the state and the parameters of their work are set by the state itself. The second area includes clinical social work, family therapy, marriage guidance, medical and psychiatric social work. Here the social workers interact directly with the clients with the primary ai m of enhancing social functioning and well-being of individuals and families. The third area of social work sees the profession as an instrument of promoting the well-being of people by building healthy, cohesive, and enabling communities and societies. This area includes fields of practice ranging from social policy formulation to community development, with the aim of building a better world. Most of the people working in this area are members of agencies of civil society and some of them even work for the state. Social work and disabilityDuring the last quarter of the last century, social work theory and practice in the field of disability has been greatly influenced by the values and philosophy of Independent living movement and individual dignity. There has been a shift in the nature of services provided by professionals to the disabled people. The practice has shifted from creation of clients dependent on services controlled by professionals, to working in partnership with d isabled people to secure their rights as equal citizens of the state (Woodward 2002). The disabled people have started asserting their right to equality and human dignity. They are now emphasising the creation of personalized relationships based on mutual respect between service providers and receivers.