Social work is a profession for those with a strong desire to help improve peoples’ lives. It is concerned with the interactions between people and the institutions of society that affect the ability of people to accomplish life tasks, realize aspirations and values, and alleviate distress. The main goal of social work practice is to assist individuals and families with their needs and to solve their problems using a multi-disciplined approach. The practice of social work requires knowledge of human development and behaviour; of social, economic and cultural institutions. Thus, in order to be effective, social workers work closely with many agencies and professionals.
At its heart, social work is about real people living real lives – lives that are uniquely different; each bringing its own complexity and adversity, hope and frustration. The social worker’s task is to work alongside people. The social worker should confront and challenge behaviour and manage situations of danger and uncertainty.
Professional social workers work in a variety of settings, including non profit or public social service agencies, grassroots advocacy organizations, hospitals, hospices, mental health institutions, community health institutions, schools, and even the military. The main tasks of these social workers are case management i.e. linking clients with agencies and programs that will meet their psychosocial needs; medical social work, counseling (psychotherapy), human services management, community organizations, advocacy, teaching and social science research.
The significant roles of professional social workers include working with the people with mental health problems; with offenders, by supervising them in the community and supporting them to find work; assisting people with HIV/AIDS or other ailments and working with older people at home, helping to sort out problems with their health or other issues.
Social workers also provide assistance and advice to keep families together; work in children’s homes – managing adoption and foster care processes. They provide support to younger people who are at risk or in trouble with the law. They help children who have problems at school or are facing difficulties brought on by an illness or any other mishap in the family.
Therefore social work practice consists of professional application of social work values, principles and techniques to help people obtain tangible services. It involves counseling and psychotherapy with individuals, families and groups; and helping communities or groups to enhance their problem solving, coping and developmental capacities of people, and to promote effective and humane operation of the systems that provide people with resources and services. It’s about linking people with systems.
This discipline was introduced at the Masters level by the University of Kashmir in 2003-04. The valley of Kashmir, which has seen the most turbulent times for the last two decades, is in dire need of the help that the social work specialists can provide at various levels.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 28 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 28 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 29 May 2012 00:00:00 IST