Тема 6: The Roles Performed by Social Workers

Every occupational category is expected to perform a set of occupational roles. Associated with the roles are a number of job functions that can best be described as the tasks or activities one performs within a specific role. There are 10 roles and nearly 40 distinct functions expected of social workers. Most social workers engage in several practice roles.

The Social Worker as Broker: To carry out the broker role, the social worker identifies clients' needs, assesses their motivation and capacity to use various resources, and helps them gain access to the most appropriate resources. The social worker must be knowledgeable about the various services and programs available, maintain an up-to-date assessment of each one's strengths and limitations, and understand the procedures for accessing those resources.

The Social Worker as Advocate: The main purpose of the social worker is to assist clients in upholding their rights to receive resources and services or to actively support causes intended to change programs and policies that have a negative effect on individual clients or client groups.

The Social Worker as Teacher: The social worker should prepare clients or the general public with knowledge and skills necessary to prevent problems or enhance social functioning. Much of social work practice involves teaching clients or client groups to deal with troublesome life situations or to anticipate and prevent crises.

The Social Worker as Counselor/Clinician: The social worker helps clients improve their social functioning by helping them better understand their feelings, modify their behaviors, and learn to cope with problematic situations.

The Social Worker as Case Manager: The social worker tries to achieve continuity of service to individuals and families through the process of connecting clients to appropriate services and coordinating the utilization of those services. The social work role of case manager is of critical importance for clients who must utilize multiple services provided by several different programs or agencies. This is especially true for vulnerable and highly dependent populations such as children, the seriously disabled, and the frail elderly.

The Social Worker as Workload Manager: Social workers must simultaneously provide the services needed by clients and adhere to the workload management requirements of the employing social agency. In other words, they must balance their obligations to both clients and agency.

The Social Worker as Staff Developer: The social worker facilitates the professional development of agency staff through training, supervision, consultation, and personnel management.

The Social Worker as Administrator: The social worker is to plan, develop, and implement policies, services, and programs in a human services organization. In the administrator role, the social worker assumes responsibilities for implementing the agency policies and managing its programs.

The Social Worker as Social Change Agent: The social worker participates in the identification of community problems and/ or areas where the quality of life can be enhanced, and to mobilize interest groups to advocate for change or new resources. Social work's dual focus on both the person and environment requires that the social worker facilitate needed change in neighborhoods, communities, or larger social systems.

The Social Worker as Professional: The social worker should engage in competent and ethical social work practice and contribute to the development of the social work profession. Basically, a professional is a person whose actions are thoughtful, purposeful, appropriate, responsible, and ethical. It is incumbent on the social worker to practice in a manner that reflects the highest professional standards.