SOCIAL WORK: MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
We can all indulge in long and erudite debates about where and when social work started and what this history has to say about our contemporary situation. For some our origins are set in the mists of time, when people started to help each other. Others place the origin in centuries old religious and social movements. The origin of the profession as such is usually located in the nineteenth century, with the formation of voluntary organisations and the development of state welfare systems. Why this pre-occupation with history at this point?
The basic reason is that to understand one’s own identity and develop confidence about the future requires a grasp of one’s background and history. But more immediately, our international bodies celebrate a number of anniversaries in the space of a few years and this has sparked a burst of historical interest. The International Council on Social Welfare [ICSW] and the International Association of Schools of Social Work [IASSW] both celebrate their eightieth anniversaries in 2008. The International Federation of Social Workers [IFSW] was formed at a conference in Munich in 1956 and we returned to that city this summer for our fiftieth jubilee conference – more of the conference anon. This journal also celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2007. We are in for a lot of parties! It is also a time for serious reflection; do we have cause to celebrate?
These three sister organisations all emerged from the first International Conference of Social Work held in Paris in 1928, which created ICSW. The International Committee of Schools for Social Work was formally set up in Berlin in 1929, becoming the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) in 1954. IFSW is the successor to the International Permanent Secretariat of Social Workers, also founded in 1928, becoming established as the International Federation of Social Workers in 1956.
IFSW has been marking our fiftieth jubilee in a number of ways. The Munich conference included several historical reflections in plenary sessions and workshops. A historical brochure has been published and will be available through our website and at regional conferences throughout 2007. The fourth edition of Social Work Around the World focuses on our jubilee year themes of human rights, poverty and the promotion of the profession (Hall 2006). There is a major jubilee financial appeal [visit www.ifsw.org].
The conference included a unique and moving tribute to Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker who worked in Warsaw during the 1939-45 war and saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Ghetto. Now known as the social work Schindler, IFSW awarded her the title of Most Distinguished Social Worker. The award was accepted on her behalf by one of the children she saved. Background information can be found at this website: www.irenasendler.org.
The General Meeting before the conference set the Federation’s course for the next two years. It was attended by representatives from 42 countries (with 7 proxies), the highest number ever. We established a Policy, Advocacy and Representation Commission which will oversee and bring together all our work on policy and representing the profession in global fora, such as the United Nations and World Health Organisation. The Commission is overseeing a review and updating of all our global policy statements. A new policy on HIV-AIDS was approved. Work continues on policies on poverty and genocide. Revision of the health policy is being led by the Network on Health Inequalities. Work will be starting soon on policy papers on old age, women, personal information and ‘reproductive tourism’ with others to follow. The work on promotion of the profession and registration of social workers continues; IFSW is determined to provide support to national member organisations in their struggle to explain and promote social work in their own countries.
IFSW and IASSW have agreed a four year process for the review and if necessary the renewal of the international definition of social work and the international statement of ethical principles. There will be papers and debates over this period, with a review of progress at our conferences in 2008 and a final decision at the joint conference in Hong Kong in 2010. It has been agreed that these core statements will be reviewed every ten years.
The conflict in the Lebanon was a painful backdrop to the conference. The General Meeting and Executive Committee passed resolutions and letters have been sent to governments and others involved, recognising the violent conflicts around the world and calling for peaceful and just negotiated settlements.
In my presidential address at the end of the conference, I noted the challenge to social work arising from contemporary thought and philosophy. Not only is knowledge about the human condition expanding rapidly but there is also increasing uncertainty about how best to act and intervene in situations of personal and group conflict and tension. There are growing economic differences within and between countries which has an impact on social work practice. The inspiring final plenary address by Jakob von Uexkull had drawn attention to the decline in solidarity and the implications for social life and social order and I developed that theme for social work. I also drew attention to the growth in migration and the increasing number of social workers from all regions who choose to move around the world to practice social work. Social work practice now has a truly international character and we need to adjust to that; international is no longer something strange affecting only a few - it is truly domestic.
Social workers and other public servants are seeing significant challenges to our work, often from an impatient public and politicians wanting change and improvements. Individuals are increasingly seeking more choice and services which are personal to them, not mass produced. There are also pressures to integrate services so that different professionals work better together to support service users. The traditional service structures are breaking down as we see a growth in private and independent sector agencies and externalisation of public services.
But despite these changes, I argued that some things do not change. The basic needs and patterns of behaviour of human beings remain remarkably constant. The stuff of humanity - and therefore the core of our work - is unchanging. The basic values and humanitarian ideals which underpin relationships and social work practice are also enduring.
Today’s social worker, as in the past, requires well developed skills and abilities. The task requires practical activity but also intellectual skills of analysis. Highly developed emotional awareness and empathy are still essential as is recognition of spiritual needs. To find these characteristics and qualities in one person is rare but that is what a social worker needs.
My travels around the world in recent years have convinced me that social workers have a hunger for leadership and a thirst for a revitalised identity which will celebrate these characteristics and speak about them with confidence. We need to develop campaigning partnerships with social movements and service user groups to press the case for support of social programmes and we need to make sure that our commitment to ethical principles is more than words but seen to be translated into practical actions.
Social work is making an essential contribution to resolving local, national and global problems. We need to be flexible and adaptable as we face the future but we must also develop renewed confidence. IFSW will play its part in developing that revitalised social work identity and self confidence and we will be eager to work in partnership, not only with our close partners in ICSW and IASSW, but also with any other organisation which shares our humanitarian commitment to a just world. We left Munich aware of future challenges but with increased confidence that social work does have a history we can be proud of and a positive future.
David N Jones
IFSW President
September 2006
Hall, Nigel, Ed. (2006). Social Work: Making a World of Difference. Social Work Around the World IV. IFSW, Bern and FAFO, Oslo
This article will also appear in the International Social Work Journal 49/6, November 2006
|
