GLOBAL

DEFINITION OF THE
SOCIAL WORK
PROFESSION
(APPROVED BY THE IASSW GENERAL
ASSEMBLY, JULY 10, 2014, MELBOURNE,
AUSTRALIA)
SOCIAL WORK

SOCIAL WORK IS A PRACTICE-BASED PROFESSION AND AN
ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE THAT PROMOTES SOCIAL CHANGE AND
DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL COHESION, AND THE EMPOWERMENT
AND LIBERATION OF PEOPLE. PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE,
HUMAN RIGHTS, COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY AND RESPECT
FOR DIVERSITIES ARE CENTRAL TO SOCIAL WORK. UNDERPINNED
BY THEORIES OF SOCIAL WORK, SOCIAL SCIENCES, HUMANITIES
AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGES, SOCIAL WORK ENGAGES
PEOPLE AND STRUCTURES TO ADDRESS LIFE CHALLENGES AND
ENHANCE WELLBEING.
THE ABOVE DEFINITION MAY BE AMPLIFIED AT NATIONAL AND/OR
REGIONAL LEVELS.


COMMENTARY
THE COMMENTARY SERVES TO UNPACK THE
CORE CONCEPTS USED IN THE DEFINITION AND
IS DETAILED IN RELATION TO THE SOCIAL WORK
PROFESSIONS CORE MANDATES, PRINCIPLES,
KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE.

CORE MANDATES
THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSIONS CORE
MANDATES INCLUDE PROMOTING SOCIAL
CHANGE, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL
COHESION, AND THE EMPOWERMENT AND
LIBERATION OF PEOPLE.

CORE MANDATES
SOCIAL WORK IS A PRACTICE PROFESSION AND AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE
THAT RECOGNIZES THAT INTERCONNECTED HISTORICAL, SOCIO-ECONOMIC,
CULTURAL, SPATIAL, POLITICAL AND PERSONAL FACTORS SERVE AS
OPPORTUNITIES AND/OR BARRIERS TO HUMAN WELLBEING AND
DEVELOPMENT. STRUCTURAL BARRIERS CONTRIBUTE TO THE PERPETUATION
OF INEQUALITIES, DISCRIMINATION, EXPLOITATION AND OPPRESSION. THE
DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH REFLECTING ON
STRUCTURAL SOURCES OF OPPRESSION AND/OR PRIVILEGE, ON THE BASIS
OF CRITERIA SUCH AS RACE, CLASS, LANGUAGE, RELIGION, GENDER,
DISABILITY, CULTURE AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION, AND DEVELOPING ACTION
STRATEGIES TOWARDS ADDRESSING STRUCTURAL AND PERSONAL BARRIERS
ARE CENTRAL TO EMANCIPATORY PRACTICE WHERE THE GOALS ARE THE
EMPOWERMENT AND LIBERATION OF PEOPLE. IN SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE
WHO ARE DISADVANTAGED, THE PROFESSION STRIVES TO ALLEVIATE
POVERTY, LIBERATE THE VULNERABLE AND OPPRESSED, AND PROMOTE
SOCIAL INCLUSION AND SOCIAL COHESION.

CORE MANDATES
THE SOCIAL CHANGE MANDATE IS BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT
SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION TAKES PLACE WHEN THE CURRENT
SITUATION, BE THIS AT THE LEVEL OF THE PERSON, FAMILY,
SMALL GROUP, COMMUNITY OR SOCIETY, IS DEEMED TO BE IN
NEED OF CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT. IT IS DRIVEN BY THE
NEED TO CHALLENGE AND CHANGE THOSE STRUCTURAL
CONDITIONS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO MARGINALIZATION, SOCIAL
EXCLUSION AND OPPRESSION. SOCIAL CHANGE INITIATIVES
RECOGNIZE THE PLACE OF HUMAN AGENCY IN ADVANCING
HUMAN RIGHTS AND ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND SOCIAL
JUSTICE. THE PROFESSION IS EQUALLY COMMITTED TO THE
MAINTENANCE OF SOCIAL STABILITY, INSOFAR AS SUCH
STABILITY IS NOT USED TO MARGINALIZE, EXCLUDE OR OPPRESS
ANY PARTICULAR GROUP OF PERSONS.

CORE MANDATES
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IS CONCEPTUALIZED TO MEAN
STRATEGIES FOR INTERVENTION, DESIRED END STATES AND A
POLICY FRAMEWORK, THE LATTER IN ADDITION TO THE MORE
POPULAR RESIDUAL AND THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS. IT IS
BASED ON HOLISTIC BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL, SPIRITUAL
ASSESSMENTS AND INTERVENTIONS THAT TRANSCEND THE
MICRO-MACRO DIVIDE, INCORPORATING MULTIPLE SYSTEM
LEVELS AND INTER-SECTORIAL AND INTER-PROFESSIONAL
COLLABORATION, AIMED AT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. IT
PRIORITIZES SOCIO-STRUCTURAL AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, AND DOES NOT SUBSCRIBE TO CONVENTIONAL
WISDOM THAT ECONOMIC GROWTH IS A PREREQUISITE FOR
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT.
PRINCIPLES
THE OVERARCHING PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL
WORK ARE RESPECT FOR THE INHERENT WORTH
AND DIGNITY OF HUMAN BEINGS, DOING NO
HARM, RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY AND
UPHOLDING HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL
JUSTICE.
PRINCIPLES
ADVOCATING AND UPHOLDING HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL
JUSTICE IS THE MOTIVATION AND JUSTIFICATION FOR SOCIAL
WORK. THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION RECOGNIZES THAT
HUMAN RIGHTS NEED TO COEXIST ALONGSIDE COLLECTIVE
RESPONSIBILITY. THE IDEA OF COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY
HIGHLIGHTS THE REALITY THAT INDIVIDUAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAN
ONLY BE REALIZED ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS IF PEOPLE TAKE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR EACH OTHER AND THE ENVIRONMENT, AND
THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATING RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIPS
WITHIN COMMUNITIES. THEREFORE A MAJOR FOCUS OF SOCIAL
WORK IS TO ADVOCATE FOR THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE AT ALL
LEVELS, AND TO FACILITATE OUTCOMES WHERE PEOPLE TAKE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR EACH OTHERS WELLBEING, REALIZE AND
RESPECT THE INTER-DEPENDENCE AMONG PEOPLE AND
BETWEEN PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
PRINCIPLES
SOCIAL WORK EMBRACES FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD
GENERATION RIGHTS. FIRST GENERATION RIGHTS REFER TO
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS SUCH AS FREE SPEECH AND
CONSCIENCE AND FREEDOM FROM TORTURE AND ARBITRARY
DETENTION; SECOND GENERATION TO SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND
CULTURAL RIGHTS THAT INCLUDE THE RIGHTS TO REASONABLE
LEVELS OF EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, AND HOUSING AND
MINORITY LANGUAGE RIGHTS; AND THIRD GENERATION RIGHTS
FOCUS ON THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE RIGHT TO SPECIES
BIODIVERSITY AND INTER-GENERATIONAL EQUITY. THESE RIGHTS
ARE MUTUALLY REINFORCING AND INTERDEPENDENT, AND
ACCOMMODATE BOTH INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE RIGHTS.
PRINCIPLES
IN SOME INSTANCES DOING NO HARM AND
RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY MAY REPRESENT
CONFLICTING AND COMPETING VALUES, FOR
EXAMPLE WHERE IN THE NAME OF CULTURE THE
RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO LIFE, OF
MINORITY GROUPS SUCH AS WOMEN AND
HOMOSEXUALS, ARE VIOLATED.
PRINCIPLES
THE GLOBAL STANDARDS FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION AND
TRAINING DEALS WITH THIS COMPLEX ISSUE BY ADVOCATING
THAT SOCIAL WORKERS ARE SCHOOLED IN A BASIC HUMAN
RIGHTS APPROACH, WITH AN EXPLANATORY NOTE THAT READS
AS:
SUCH AN APPROACH MIGHT FACILITATE CONSTRUCTIVE CONFRONTATION
AND CHANGE WHERE CERTAIN CULTURAL BELIEFS, VALUES AND
TRADITIONS VIOLATE PEOPLES BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS. AS CULTURE IS
SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED AND DYNAMIC, IT IS SUBJECT TO
DECONSTRUCTION AND CHANGE. SUCH CONSTRUCTIVE CONFRONTATION,
DECONSTRUCTION AND CHANGE MAY BE FACILITATED THROUGH A TUNING
INTO, AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF PARTICULAR CULTURAL VALUES,
BELIEFS AND TRADITIONS AND VIA CRITICAL AND REFLECTIVE DIALOGUE
WITH MEMBERS OF THE CULTURAL GROUP VIS--VIS BROADER HUMAN
RIGHTS ISSUES.
KNOWLEDGE
SOCIAL WORK IS BOTH INTERDISCIPLINARY AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY,
AND DRAWS ON A WIDE ARRAY OF SCIENTIFIC THEORIES AND
RESEARCH. SCIENCE IS UNDERSTOOD IN THIS CONTEXT IN ITS MOST
BASIC MEANING AS KNOWLEDGE. SOCIAL WORK DRAWS ON ITS OWN
CONSTANTLY DEVELOPING THEORETICAL FOUNDATION AND
RESEARCH, AS WELL AS THEORIES FROM OTHER HUMAN SCIENCES,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL
PEDAGOGY, ADMINISTRATION, ANTHROPOLOGY, ECOLOGY,
ECONOMICS, EDUCATION, MANAGEMENT, NURSING, PSYCHIATRY,
PSYCHOLOGY, PUBLIC HEALTH, AND SOCIOLOGY. THE UNIQUENESS
OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH AND THEORIES IS THAT THEY ARE
APPLIED AND EMANCIPATORY. MUCH OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH
AND THEORY IS CO-CONSTRUCTED WITH SERVICE USERS IN AN
INTERACTIVE, DIALOGIC PROCESS AND THEREFORE INFORMED BY
SPECIFIC PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTS.
KNOWLEDGE
THIS PROPOSED DEFINITION ACKNOWLEDGES THAT SOCIAL WORK
IS INFORMED NOT ONLY BY SPECIFIC PRACTICE ENVIRONMENTS
AND WESTERN THEORIES, BUT ALSO BY INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGES.
PART OF THE LEGACY OF COLONIALISM IS THAT WESTERN
THEORIES AND KNOWLEDGES HAVE BEEN EXCLUSIVELY VALORISED,
AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGES HAVE BEEN DEVALUED,
DISCOUNTED, AND HEGEMONISED BY WESTERN THEORIES AND
KNOWLEDGE. THE PROPOSED DEFINITION ATTEMPTS TO HALT AND
REVERSE THAT PROCESS BY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES IN EACH REGION, COUNTRY OR AREA CARRY THEIR OWN
VALUES, WAYS OF KNOWING, WAYS OF TRANSMITTING THEIR
KNOWLEDGES, AND HAVE MADE INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO
SCIENCE. SOCIAL WORK SEEKS TO REDRESS HISTORIC WESTERN
SCIENTIFIC COLONIALISM AND HEGEMONY BY LISTENING TO AND
LEARNING FROM INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AROUND THE WORLD.
KNOWLEDGE
IN THIS WAY SOCIAL WORK KNOWLEDGES WILL BE CO-CREATED
AND INFORMED BY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, AND MORE
APPROPRIATELY PRACTICED NOT ONLY IN LOCAL ENVIRONMENTS
BUT ALSO INTERNATIONALLY. DRAWING ON THE WORK OF THE
UNITED NATIONS, THE IFSW DEFINES INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AS
FOLLOWS:
THEY LIVE WITHIN (OR MAINTAIN ATTACHMENTS TO) GEOGRAPHICALLY
DISTINCT ANCESTRAL TERRITORIES.
THEY TEND TO MAINTAIN DISTINCT SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONS WITHIN THEIR TERRITORIES.
THEY TYPICALLY ASPIRE TO REMAIN DISTINCT CULTURALLY,
GEOGRAPHICALLY AND INSTITUTIONALLY, RATHER THAN ASSIMILATE FULLY
INTO NATIONAL SOCIETY.
THEY SELF-IDENTIFY AS INDIGENOUS OR TRIBAL.

PRACTICE
SOCIAL WORKS LEGITIMACY AND MANDATE LIE IN ITS
INTERVENTION AT THE POINTS WHERE PEOPLE INTERACT WITH
THEIR ENVIRONMENT. THE ENVIRONMENT INCLUDES THE
VARIOUS SOCIAL SYSTEMS THAT PEOPLE ARE EMBEDDED IN AND
THE NATURAL, GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT, WHICH HAS A
PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON THE LIVES OF PEOPLE. THE
PARTICIPATORY METHODOLOGY ADVOCATED IN SOCIAL WORK IS
REFLECTED IN ENGAGES PEOPLE AND STRUCTURES TO
ADDRESS LIFE CHALLENGES AND ENHANCE WELLBEING. AS FAR
AS POSSIBLE SOCIAL WORK SUPPORTS WORKING WITH RATHER
THAN FOR PEOPLE. CONSISTENT WITH THE SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM, SOCIAL WORKERS UTILIZE A RANGE
OF SKILLS, TECHNIQUES, STRATEGIES, PRINCIPLES AND
ACTIVITIES AT VARIOUS SYSTEM LEVELS, DIRECTED AT SYSTEM
MAINTENANCE AND/OR SYSTEM CHANGE EFFORTS.
PRACTICE
SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE SPANS A RANGE OF ACTIVITIES
INCLUDING VARIOUS FORMS OF THERAPY AND
COUNSELING, GROUP WORK, AND COMMUNITY WORK;
POLICY FORMULATION AND ANALYSIS; AND ADVOCACY
AND POLITICAL INTERVENTIONS. FROM AN
EMANCIPATORY PERSPECTIVE, THAT THIS DEFINITION
SUPPORTS SOCIAL WORK STRATEGIES ARE AIMED AT
INCREASING PEOPLES HOPE, SELF-ESTEEM AND
CREATIVE POTENTIAL TO CONFRONT AND CHALLENGE
OPPRESSIVE POWER DYNAMICS AND STRUCTURAL
SOURCES OF INJUSTICES, THUS INCORPORATING INTO
A COHERENT WHOLE THE MICRO-MACRO, PERSONAL-
POLITICAL DIMENSION OF INTERVENTION.
PRACTICE
THE HOLISTIC FOCUS OF SOCIAL WORK IS
UNIVERSAL, BUT THE PRIORITIES OF SOCIAL
WORK PRACTICE WILL VARY FROM ONE
COUNTRY TO THE NEXT, AND FROM TIME TO TIME
DEPENDING ON HISTORICAL, CULTURAL,
POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.

PRACTICE
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SOCIAL WORKERS
ACROSS THE WORLD TO DEFEND, ENRICH AND
REALIZE THE VALUES AND PRINCIPLES
REFLECTED IN THIS DEFINITION. A SOCIAL WORK
DEFINITION CAN ONLY BE MEANINGFUL WHEN
SOCIAL WORKERS ACTIVELY COMMIT TO ITS
VALUES AND VISION.