Benson Mmari
Social
work is a profession concerned with helping individuals, families, groups and
communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being. It aims to
help people develop their skills and their ability to use their own resources
and those of the community to resolve problems. Social work is concerned with
individual and personal problems but also with broader social issues such as
poverty, unemployment and domestic violence.
Community
work can mean a range of things:
·
Being involved in local or neighborhood
groups or associations
·
Being a volunteer or unpaid worker
·
Being involved in a non-profit,
not-for-profit, or charitable organization or association
·
Doing public interest or public benefit
work
·
Doing work for a “cause” or a “calling”.
Community Work as Social Work
Method
Community
Work also is a branch of social work in the United States that focuses on
larger social systems and social change, and is tied to the historical roots of
United States social work.
The field of community practice social work
encompasses community organizing, social planning, human service management,
community development, policy analysis, policy advocacy, evaluation, mediation,
electronic advocacy and other larger systems interventions.
In
the UK the term is often used for Health visitors.
Community
work has considerable overlap with many other applied social sciences, such as
urban planning, economic development, public affairs, rural sociology and
nonprofit management.
Community
workers as Social workers typically have a Bachelors degree or Masters Degree in
Social Work (MSW). There are several MSW programs in the United States that
offer Community Practice Concentrations, while many other MSW programs offer
specializations in one or several types of community practice, such as social
services administration or policy analysis.
The
professional group of community practitioners in the USA is the Association for
Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA), which publishes the
leading journal in the field, The Journal of Community Practice.
In
spite of all that a Community Worker must be a holder of Bachelor or Masters
Degree of Social work, community work involves work done by community based,
non-profit or not-for-profit associations, whether they are incorporated or
unincorporated.
It
is important to note that both employed staff and unpaid volunteers do
community work.
Community
work occurs across a range of services including information and advice,
counseling, advocacy and support — targeting an equally diverse range of people
and areas of interest.
As
in Social worker, Community workers help communities function. Some work
directly with individuals, conducting needs assessments and making referrals to
resources in the community. Others assess needs on a larger scale. They may
plan and administer programs.
