According to the NASW Social Work Code of Ethics, the 6 core values of social work are:

1. Service- to provide help, resources,  and benefits to help people achieve maximum potential
2. Social Justice- to uphold equal rights, protection, opportunity, social benefits to everyone
3. Dignity and worth- every person is unique and worthwhile
4. Importance of human relationships- to value the exchange between social worker and client
5. Integrity-maintain trustworthiness 
6. Competence-practice within the scope of known skills and abilities

Essential Values of Social Work

 Dignity and Creativity of Individual

 Right to express opinion and get upon

 Right to self-direction

 Social relationship and interdependence

 Common Needs but not Common Habits

 Social Responsibility

Some values underpinning Social

Work

 Rights based approach

 Partnership model

 Empowerment principles

 Equality, respect and dignity

 Participation

 Networking

 Collaboration

 Honesty

 Trust/integrity

What do we mean by helping people to help themselves?

 Increased understanding of oneself or a situation.

  Being able to make a decision

 Being able to confirm a decision.

 Being able to get a support for a decision.

 Being able to change a situation

 Adjusting to a situation that is not going to change

 Being able to examine options and choosing one

 Being able to discharge feelings

Who do Social Workers work

for/with?

 Social Workers generally work with people who are; Vulnerable in some way (e.g. street
children, older people)

 Excluded from all that society generally offers (e.g. isolated, marginalized, minority people)

 Cannot participate fully in aspects of society (e.g. some women, people living in poverty)

 Suffer from Stigma & Discrimination (e.g. HIV/AIDS, sex workers, drug addicts)

Social Workers often work in the complex social political environment/system that placed people in
their situations

Some Core competencies

necessary

 Solid communication & interpersonal skills

 Sound theoretical knowledge for stage of professional development

 Assess needs and circumstances

 Plan, carry out and review SW practice

 Support, lobby and advocate

  Competent case management

 Manage risk and risk assessments

 Be accountable and engage in effective supervision

 Demonstrate professional practice

 Critical self reflective practice

Issues with Social Work Profession

1. Recognition

 Lack of literacy in general. Negative opinion / thinking (unscientific approach)

 Social Work at infancy stage in Pakistan

 Miss concepts of People (religious/Sympathetic work)

 Social work is considered as worthless profession

 Degrees of Social Work

2. Sanction (approval)

 Sanctioned on Government level but not in Society

 Issue of practice based sanctioning of SW profession. Placement of SWrs

 Common thinking (SW=Layman Approach)

 Traditional ways of solution to problems

3 Training & Development

 Profession (Knowledge – Skills – Training)

 Lack of training system to enhance the capabilities of Workers

 Students of Social Workers having problems in field work practice

 On job / off job training opportunities

 Areas / fields of training for Social Workers

4. Social Work Literature

 Syllabus issues and the relevancy to needs at professional level

 Suitability of books to local culture, values and religion

 Books – authored by foreign writers

 Poor environment for study of available literature

 Issues with digital resources

 Language problems

 Problems with resource persons (up to date knowledge)

5. Performance of social worker

 Performance and causes

6 Control and Standardization of Social Work Practice

 Association / Institution on Central level to control Social Work Practice, Check the
performance, Accountability, Funding, Outcomes and impacts of (CBOs/NGOs)

 Association of Social Workers to ensure / regulate ……….. (PEC, PMA, etc)

7. Professionalism in Social Work

 High professionalism of SWr

 Professionalism does not only need increased knowledge but specific attitude

 Needs feelings and emotions of serving

Role of social worker

EDUCATOR

In the Educator role, social workers are involved in teaching people about resources and how to
develop particular skills such as budgeting, the caring discipline of children, effective
communication, the meaning of a medical diagnosis, and the prevention of violence.

CASE MANAGER

In the role of a Case manager, the social worker locates services and assists their clients to access
those services. Case management is especially important for complex situations and for those who
are homeless or elderly, have chronic physical or mental health issues, are disabled, victims of
domestic or other violent crimes, or are vulnerable children.

COMMUNITY CHANGE AGENT

As a community change agent, the social worker participates as part of a group or organization
seeking to improve or restructure some aspect of community service provision. A change agent,
working with others, uses a problem-solving model to identify the problem, solicit community input,
and plan for change. A community change agent acts in a coordinated manner to achieve planned
change at multiple levels that helps to shift the focus of institutional resources to meet identified
goals.

FACILITATOR

In this role, social workers are involved in gathering groups of people together for a variety of
purposes including community development, self advocacy, political organization, and policy
change. Social workers are involved as group therapists and task group leaders.

BROKER

In the role of a broker, a social worker is responsible for identifying, locating, and linking clients to
needed resources in a timely manner. Once the client’s needs are assessed and potential services
identified, the broker assists the client in choosing the most appropriate service option and assists in
negotiating the terms of service delivery. In this role the social worker is also concerned with the
quality, quantity, and accessibility of services.

MANAGER

As managers, social workers are better able to influence policy change and/or development, and to
advocate, on a larger scale, for all underprivileged people.