Haley
What exactly does the work of a social worker entail?
I am possibly interested in going into social work after high school but was unsure what exactly the job consists of. Thank you #psychology #social-work
2 answers
Yandira Melon
Yandira’s Answer
Hello
Social work in general is to advocate and support individuals for a healthy lifestyle. With this said many social workers are found in schools, hosptials and community organizations (including political) to advocate and refer the population they are working with to get the service to achieve that helathy lifestyle.
Then there are social workers who work on a therapeutic to search for inner/emotional healthy lifestyle. This is either individual, family or group therapy.
It is useful to study sociology, political science and psychology in order to do this. There are social workers who find it helpful to go into Public Health and even Business (Human Resoruces) so it is up to you.
Good luck!
Megan Gleason
Megan’s Answer
I am currently in my the semester of my junior year studying social work and psychology. As I understand it, social work consists of practice at the micro (individual) level, macro (group) level, and mezzo (community) level. There are many different roles of a social worker, depending on the focus you choose (there are roles in health care, child and adult protective services, child life specialists, agency roles, and more). Individual practice usually consists of one-on-ones with clients, wherein you are usually hired by an agency to assess individuals/families and provide services to improve their quality of life (such as helping them apply to government programs, enroll in therapeutic groups, find affordable childcare, etc.). Individual practice may also be in a hospital setting, wherein you would help set patients up with appropriate measures for discharge and continued care after they leave the hospital. Group practice may also be through an agency, wherein you (as the social worker) would lead groups (psychotherapy groups, task groups, skills groups, etc.) that focus on a specific goal. An example of this might be grief groups, wherein you plan and execute a designated number of sessions with a group that focuses on addressing grief topics. Community practice could be facilitating a larger group that wants to provoke change in the community, or facilitating one with a certain social justice initiative in mind. I hope this helps!