What is Social Work?
Social Work is the profession of caring and intervening in the interactions between individuals, groups, and communities to enhance or restore well-being, and create societal conditions that help individuals, groups, and communities enhance their own well-being. Social workers select, use, and develop interventions based on the best available evidence.
More about Social Work*
- Social workers are trained professionals who have a BSW, MSW, or a PhD in social work.
- All states license or otherwise regulate social work practice. For more information about licensure, go to this website: http://www.socialworklicensure.org
- A social service employee, caseworker, or volunteer community worker is not a "social worker" unless he or she has a social work degree.
- Social workers are America's largest providers of mental health and therapy services.
- Social workers are often the only mental health care providers serving residents of many poor, rural counties.
- Social workers practice in many settings: family service agencies, mental health centers, schools, hospitals, corporations, courts, police departments, prisons, public and private agencies, private practice, and as elected officials.
*Adapted from Social Work Myth Busters, National Association of Social Workers, Washington, DC.
