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Social
work is a profession which originates from humanitarian, religious
and democratic ideals and philosophies. It has universal application
to meet human needs arising from personal-societal interactions,
and to develop human potentials.
Professional social
workers are dedicated to service for the welfare and self-fulfilment
of human beings; to the development and disciplined use of
scientific knowledge regarding human behaviour and society;
to the development of resources to meet individual, group,
national and international needs and aspirations; to the enhancement
and improvement of the quality of life of people; and to the
achievement of social justice.
Nowadays, social
workers have to encounter more challenges in their work. They
persistently provide assistance to those living in poverty
and predicament. Besides, they care and show support to those
living at the edge of the society and feeling hopeless and
helpless. As a result, people who are in need can seek advice
and solution from social worker in order to get rid of the
dilemma.
Instead of providing
supportive, preventive and potential service to our users,
social workers also encourages users to review their growing
process and confront the challenges in their real lives. Throughout
the process of empowering them, the following objectives can
be achieved:
| 1. |
Upgrade
human resources:
To increase individual competence, attitude and motivation,
to cultivate positive individual and social values, to
develop human resources in contributing to the society
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| 2. |
Advocate
for a more equitable social environment: To
prevent the poor and the bounded community from social
exclusion, to avoid suppression and discrimination, to
advocate for a more equitable social environment, to help
the users to be self-reliant |
| 3. |
Condense
family power: To consolidate
and strengthen family function, to enhance familyˇ¦s ability
in fostering good care for the next generation, to establish
a friendly attitude towards family |
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4.
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Promote
community unity: To build
up integrative and mutually accepted social environment,
to encourage self-help and mutual support, to promote
positive and trustworthy social relationship, social participation
and harmonious society |
| 5. |
Establish
a fairer society: To
advocate and promote rational division of social resources,
to take part and supervise the formulation and implementation
of policies, and to improve the present social system |
Till now, there are more than 14,000
registered social workers in Hong Kong. Most of them work
in the Social Welfare Department or NGOs. The scopes of service
are mainly divided into family and children welfare, youth
service, rehabilitation service, elderly service, correctional
service, community development, medical social service, etc.
As the welfare services should be operated in coordination
with the economic and societal changes, the welfare sectors
have to develop multi-party and multi-disciplinary cooperation
among NGOs, the business sector, academics and the Government
in setting up more services such as service for new arrivals,
employees retraining programme, chronic illness support project,
AIDS support project, urban renewal working team, etc. Hence,
the scope of work by social workers should further extends
to labour, employment, education, health, medical, housing,
urban renewal, cultural and leisure, alleviating poverty and
international rescue, etc.
Reference:
International Federation of Social Workers. Retrieved 18th
December, 2007 from http://www.ifsw.org/
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