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    The 5 Attributes of Social Work As A Pro PDF

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    Laddan Babu
    This document outlines the 5 key attributes that define social work as a profession according to Ernest Greenwood: 1. A systematic body of theory comprising tested, hypothetical, and assumptive knowledge that forms the basis of professional skills and judgement. 2. Professional authority derived from extensive education and training that gives social workers the expertise and decision-making power trusted by clients. 3. Community sanction in the form of legal powers and privileges granted by society. 4. A regulative code of ethics to prevent abuses of power and ensure ethical conduct. 5. A professional culture with its own values, norms, and symbols that guide professionals' interactions and conduct.

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    The 5 Attributes of Social Work As A Pro PDF

    Uploaded by

    Laddan Babu
    7K views3 pages
    This document outlines the 5 key attributes that define social work as a profession according to Ernest Greenwood: 1. A systematic body of theory comprising tested, hypothetical, and assumptive knowledge that forms the basis of professional skills and judgement. 2. Professional authority derived from extensive education and training that gives social workers the expertise and decision-making power trusted by clients. 3. Community sanction in the form of legal powers and privileges granted by society. 4. A regulative code of ethics to prevent abuses of power and ensure ethical conduct. 5. A professional culture with its own values, norms, and symbols that guide professionals' interactions and conduct.

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    This document outlines the 5 key attributes that define social work as a profession according to Ernest Greenwood: 1. A systematic body of theory comprising tested, hypothetical, and assumptive knowledge that forms the basis of professional skills and judgement. 2. Professional authority derived from extensive education and training that gives social workers the expertise and decision-making power trusted by clients. 3. Community sanction in the form of legal powers and privileges granted by society. 4. A regulative code of ethics to prevent abuses of power and ensure ethical conduct. 5. A professional culture with its own values, norms, and symbols that guide professionals' interactions and conduct.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    7K views3 pages

    The 5 Attributes of Social Work As A Pro PDF

    Uploaded by

    Laddan Babu
    This document outlines the 5 key attributes that define social work as a profession according to Ernest Greenwood: 1. A systematic body of theory comprising tested, hypothetical, and assumptive knowledge that forms the basis of professional skills and judgement. 2. Professional authority derived from extensive education and training that gives social workers the expertise and decision-making power trusted by clients. 3. Community sanction in the form of legal powers and privileges granted by society. 4. A regulative code of ethics to prevent abuses of power and ensure ethical conduct. 5. A professional culture with its own values, norms, and symbols that guide professionals' interactions and conduct.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 3

    The 5 Attributes of Social Work as a Profession

    (Ernest Greenwood)

    I. Systematic Body of Theory


     The skills that characterize a profession flow from and are supported by
    a fund of knowledge that has been organized into an internally
    consistent system called a body of theory.
     The practice of a profession involves the application of scientific
    knowledge leaned during the course of professional education; it is not
    a hit-or-miss, trial-and-error kind of activity.

    Note:
     Theory serves a base in terms of which the professional rationalizes his operations
    in concrete situations.
     Acquisition of skills require a prior or simultaneous mastery of the theory
    underlying that skill.

    3 Types of Knowledge SW
    a. Tested Knowledge
    - Knowledge that has been established through scientific study (research)
    - Comes in the form of borrowed knowledge from different professions
    and disciplines.
    b. Hypothetical Knowledge
    - Still has to undergo transformation into tested knowledge, even if
    tentatively such knowledge may be accepted to explain certain facts
    c. Assumptive Knowledge
    - Practice wisdom

    II. Professional Authority


     Extensive education in the systematic theory of her discipline provides the
    professional with a type of knowledge which the layman does not have.
     In the helping relationship, the professional’s judgement and authority are
    respected and accepted by hi “client”, unlike in a transaction with a non-
    professional where the rule is “the customer us always right”.
     The authority ascribed to the professional by reason of her educational
    background gives the client a sense of security that the professional has the
    capacity to help him with his problem.
     The professional social worker, like any other professional, should guide
    or assist her client only along her area of competence or she would violate
    the authority of another professional group. She should not exploit her
    client for her own end, especially since her “superior” position gives her a
    psychological advantage of her own client.
     The right to decide is always the client’s prerogative.

    III. Community Sanction


     The community sanctions a profession’s authority by way of giving it
    certain powers and privileges.

    IV. Regulative Code of Ethics


     Social work, just like any other professions, has a built-in regulative code
    which compels ethical behavior on the part of its members.
     This code serves to check possible abuses which can arise out of a
    profession’s exercise of authority, and is accompanying power and
    privileges.

    How does a profession enforce the observance of its ethical code?


     Self-discipline (Greenwood), which is achieved informally and formally.
     Informal discipline comes in the form of subtle and the not-so-subtle pressures that
    co-professionals exert upon one another, such as in the use of referral and
    consultation.
     Formal discipline is exercised by the professional associations, which usually have
    some system of censuring unprofessional behavior.

    V. Professional Culture
     Interactions of social rules required by the formal and informal groups
    generate a social configuration unique to the profession.
     Consists of its values, norms and symbols.
    Professional Norms
     The accepted standards of behavior of doing things, which guide the professional
    in various situations, such as how to gain entry into formal and informal groups,
    how to handle consultations, how to relate to superiors, colleagues and
    subordinates, how to treat clients, how to challenge an outmoded theory, how to
    present a new idea, and so on.

    Social values
     Refer to the basic and fundamental beliefs of a professional group, practically the
    reason for its existence.

    Symbols (of a profession)


     A profession’s “meaning-laden items” including emblems, insignias, dress,
    history, its idioms and vocabulary and its stereotypes of the professional, the client
    and the layman

    Social work is already a profession; it as too many points of congruence with the model to
    be classifiable otherwise. (Greenwood)

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