Sophio Bachilava
Master of social work
Recently I have had conversations with quite a lot of people about my profession and I have found out that most of these people either do not know what social work is or have an incorrect understanding of it. This is not surprising, as social work is considered to be a new profession in Georgia and incorrect
perceptions of the profession can be attributed to this fact. However, still, I have decided to better acquaint you with my profession. I am dedicating my first blog written with the above noted goal to the myths on social work we often encounter in the society.
- Aren’t you the people who assign scores?
We, the social workers, are already accustomed to this myth and we smile (sometimes bitterly ;) ) when people mistake us for social agents. Social agents visit families to assess their socio-economic condition and assign certain scores. Social work, unlike being a social agent, is a profession which people study at a university and earn relevant degrees. A social agent carries out his/her very important function: s/he evaluates families using apredesigned general scheme and a computer program summarizes the information s/he acquires.
As for social work, one of its directions is indeed working with families; however, we do not assign scores and have nothing in common with the above-noted system… We, the social workers, try to support and empower a family to improve their social functioning. We use various approaches to achieve this goal which I will tell you about later in the future.
So, let’s agree that a social worker is a social agen st as much as a blood pressure measuring device is a coffee machine (device) just because both of them are devices.
- Social workers work only with children
No, social work has quite diverse target groups. Working with children is only one direction of our profession, as, for example, advocacy for social changes.
- Social workers only support people living in poverty
According to one more popular opinion, social workers only work with people living in poverty, which is not true. The mission of social work is to support social changes, empowerment of individuals and their adequate social functioning, as well as to improve the level of well-being and interpersonal and inter-sector relationships. In the process of undertaking its mission, social workers often work / should work with the groups of the population who are both poor and wealthy and who are vulnerable in any way at certain stages in their lives.
- Social workers are heartless people and they take children away from their families
Social work is one of the most humane professions and we – social workers – are proud to serve this profession. Despite the fact that a social worker can indeed take a child away from his/her family in emergency situations (with the approval of the regional panel), our main goal is not to take a child away from the family, but to support harmonious functioning of the family. We all agree that children should be raised in a calm environment which is free from abuse and full of love where they are cared for. In the best case scenario, this place is the child’s family. Each one of us, including social workers, knows that there is no ideal family in the world and every family has problems. Of course, everyday problems are not the reason to take a child away from the family. This is a measure of last resort which is only used when all other alternatives have been used up, when a child’s life or development is at risk, when a child is a victim of abuse and when it is vitally important to take the child away from the existing situation. The child is taken away from the family in his/her best interests and this is not the final outcome to be achieved. A social worker continues working with the biological family of the child from the minute that s/he takes the child away from the family. The goal is to overcome the problem in the family and to return the child to the family.
And yet, who are social workers?
We, those in the profession of social work, believe that people can overcome their problems as a result of adequate effort and work. We, social workers, fight to empower an individual and the society. With the use of methods developed on the basis of various theories, we are supporting positive changes on the individual, group and community levels. We, the social workers, can use our professional knowledge to change and improve the existing systems and policies to improve the well-being of the society.
It is an interesting and necessary profession, isn’t it?
