Answer

The Historical Development of Social Work

Introduction

As social work comes into the 21^st century, the professionals must look back at some of the changing landscape which provided form and shape to the contextual profession. The establishment of social work was geared toward addressing an array of social concerns related to industrial turmoil and growth, health care, malnutrition, family relations, infant mortality, child welfare, and poverty (Reisch and Andrews, 2014, p. 29). Arguably, it was significantly a product of industrial revolution which established industrial society and welfare state. In spite the tremendous impacts of the historical development on the current profession, these benefits are neglected. As such, this paper endeavors to explore how the historical development of social work has been neglected.

Body

First, the current social workers fail to acknowledge that the developmental approach used today is greatly compatible with the profession’s historical commitment and values to accomplishing human rights and social justice. People fail to acknowledge that the historical development of social work helps the social workers to wholly understand the profession’s mission. Without understanding the development of the profession, one will not know the role of social work (Baldwin, 2016, p. 53). Notably, the privileges that the people enjoy today come because of the dedication the early social workers had in their career. Nonetheless, the current social workers fail to appreciate the efforts of the profession’s founders and developers.  

Secondly, the development of social work is neglected in the training of practitioners or care providers for macro-practices. The current governments have failed to avail enough funds to train the social workers in regards to economic care policies because they believe that only the doctors have the necessary capacity, skills, and knowledge regarding the macro practices (Hepworth et al., 2016, p. 68). This happens because the regimes fail to recognize the rising and development of the profession. If the concerned parties would have paid a critical attention to development of the profession, they would have known the importance which training has towards the perfection of the profession.  It is important to note that the profession developed as result of consistent training of workers in regards to the welfare of human beings.

Thirdly, people have neglected the historical development of social work because they abuse the role of charities. Charitable organizations during the development of social work were mainly geared toward helping the less fortunate. However, today most people start charitable organizations for self-benefits. They can international funding in the name of giving to the poor but the fund end up in their pockets. Therefore, for charitable organizations to play their role people must understand the origin and development of charity organizations because today social workers are required to lead the way toward social welfare by developing charitable and private organizations to serve the needs of communities and individuals.

Notably, as the profession changed and developed, so did the society. The period of Psychoanalytical Deluge motivated the social workers to adopt psychoanalysis to solve the much social work needs (Netting et al. 2016, p. 126), however, most social workers have neglected psychoanalysis in their practice yet it is quite essential in the provision of services (Ashton and Young, 2013, p. 237). The development of social work also saw the adoption of phenomenological and behavioral approaches such as reality treatment, cognitive approach, and task-centered approach to solve social issues. The social workers also adopted clinical approaches to better their services (Greene, 2017, p. 33. But even with these important advancements, the present professionals fail to recognize such developments are what have led to the present policies such as lobbying and advocacy which bring policy change and analysis.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important for the current professionals to recognize and consider the historical development of social work. It is important to note that were it not for these developments many of the current profession’s advancements could be inconceivable. As such, people have to acknowledge the contributions of the historical development of social work for more prosperity in the profession.