Social Work Origins and Values

Social work origins came from several contributions. This includes the Charities Organization Society, Settlement House Movement, Mary Richmond and National Association of Social Workers (NASW) (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., 2015). The Charities Organization Society (COS) is the scientific charity, that introduced the scientific philanthropy (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., 2015). The COS was the first organization services that consisted of paid investigators who visited the clients for assistance. In the late 1800s, the Settlement House Movement aimed at the city and created houses (). The Settlement House workers used social group work to help socialize new immigrants to the city. This offered adult education for their urban neighbors and provided help and advice (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., (2015). Settle House Movement workers focused on community problems together with the other residents of low-income urban neighborhoods. Many of the Settlement house workers were social scientists who worked with university-based academic social scientists (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., 2015). In 1889, Jane Addams was well known for the beginning of social work profession in the United States (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., 2015). One of the most important contributions to the origin of social work was the Social Diagnosis from Mary Richmond. Richmond presented her observations on the nature of social casework. (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., 2015). NASW seeks to promote quality in the practice of social work.

Social work has six underpinnings values, ethics, Liberal Arts base, knowledge that builds on a Liberal Arts base, practice skills and planned change. Values are a set of beliefs that shape the ways we view others and the world. Values are also the basis of how social workers live by, help social workers in the way they view their clients, and the decisions they will make (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., 2015). Values create the awareness in social workers to not judge, condemned or demeaned, people with problems (). Ethics are a set of rules which a society, community, or organization functions, a product of values and relates to the moral principles of practice and defines what social workers should do in specific situations. Social workers are expected to follow the Code of Ethics (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., (2015). If one decides not to they will receive professional sanctions. Liberal Arts base requires that social workers in all levels have a strong liberal arts base as they gain knowledge on human behaviors, social welfare policy, research, and practice (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., 2015). Knowledge that builds on a Liberal Arts base involves social work practice from theories of human behavior. Social work students are expected to understand the life cycle, personality development, group, and organizational dynamics, social justice and the effects of discrimination, social policy formulation, research methods, community environments, developmental process and social functioning (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., 2015). Practice skills ensures social workers are acquainted with techniques related to direct practice with individuals, groups and communities. Planned change is a process that is based on a professional social work intervention, assessment, knowledge of client's capacity for change, and focused intervention (Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R., 2015).

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