Careers
What is Social Work and What do Social Workers Do?
The National Assocation of Social Workers (NASW) states that the primary mission of the profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty (NASW, 1999, p.1).
Social work is viewed as an activity that seeks to help individuals, families, organizations, groups, or communities engage resources that will alleviate human problems. Social work also is concerned with enabling clients to develop capacities and strenghts that will imporove their social functioning. As this definition indicates, social work is an active, "doing" profession that brings about positive change in problem situations through problem solving and prevention. The social work profession is also committed to effecting changes in societal values and policies that limit or prohibit the free and full participation of individuals. Social workers have a professional responsibility to work for change in discriminatory or otherwise restrictive practices that limit opportunities and prevent maximum social functioning. (quoted from Social Work and Social Welfare: An Introduction, Brooks/Cole pg 28-30)
Job Title |
Job Description |
|---|---|
Health Care |
Hospitals, hospices, nursing homes,
home care agencies, mental health services, public health agencies. |
Child Welfare |
Adoption agencies, foster-care
agencies, child daycare, public and private child welfare organizations. |
Aging/Gerontology |
Area agencies on aging, senior
housing facilities, hospitals, senior volunteer programs, nursing
homes. |
Justice/Corrections |
Substance abuse programs, local,
state and federal government, prisons, courts, treatment facilities,
victim services programs |
Community Development |
Social action, work with the homeliess,
battered women, persons with AIDS, hunger coalitions. |
International Social Work |
United Nations, Peace Corps, World
Health Organization (part of UN), U.S) Agency for International
Development. |
| Federal Government Jobs | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Federal Prisons, Services to Native Americans, Federal Health Facilities, Administrative Agencies, U.S. Congress, Armed Forces. |
What do Social Workers Make?
According to a study of salaries of NASW members (Gibelman & Schervish, 1996) 3/5 (76%) of social workers with BSW degrees had salaries that ranged from less than $15,000, up to $29,999 per year in 1995. Nearly a quarter of the total number of BSW workers earned more than $29.999. The study showed that MSW's earned more, as would be expected, than BSW's. 95% of MSW's earned between $20,000 and more than $40,000 in 1995. 31% earned more than 40,000. One may assume that the MSW provides significantly greater earnings than the BSW, through age and experience are also factors. Most BSW's are younger and less experienced than their MSW counterparts.
The number of years of experience also makes a major difference. Social workers with eleven - fifteen years of experience, according to Gibelman and Schervish (1996), earn median incomes of $35,000 - $39,999 and those with sixteen - twenty years of experience earn a median income of $40,000 - $44,999. Therefore, one can assume that sucessful social work careers for the long term yeild increasingly adequate incomes. (quoted from Careers in Social Work, Leon H. Ginsberg, Allyn and Bacon, pgs 76-77)
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Last updated on October 20, 2003