Faculty of Social Work,
March 3, 2003
WELCOME TO THE CROSSROADS....
“Social work is not a
profession for a recluse.”1
“No longer can
communities take refuge in blaming the victims and in depriving them of the
status of honorable membership in the group.”2
“Heated as the controversy usually is when the subject of public versus
private ownership of these common human services arises, it might puzzle an
observer from another planet to know why, in one instance, public ownership is
questioned and in another viewed with alarm as if the foundations of the state
were crumbling.”3
“How shall clients and skilled counselors be sure of meeting, if not at
the crossroads of life where ordinary traffic passes by”4
·
At the Registration Table, you will find copies of the International
Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) “Definition of Social Work”,
and copies of the excerpts from the Canadian Association of Social Workers
(CASW) Code of Ethics, circa 1994 and 1983, which delineate social
workers’ responsibility to society. You will also find “Some
Definitions…” of
six major terms (like “social action”5), highly relevant
to today’s proceedings.
·
The IFSW “Definition of Social Work” is included in its
entirety, because it represents the global agreement (
·
The verdict is in: our profession “promotes social change...
(and) intervenes at the points where people intersect with their
environments.” More importantly, principles of human rights and social
justice are fundamental to social work.”
·
In brief, we subscribe in our training, in our professional practice,
and in our legal accountability to our client systems, to social work as
human rights work, and to a social justice mission... and to
doing this from a person-in-environment perspective. It is because of this perspective
that we are a unique profession; our uniqueness does not come from our values,
alone.
·
There is no dichotomy between the demands of the IFSW global definition
of social work and that embodied in the CASW Code of Ethics (3 June 1983), for
20 years the code that has guided Registered Social Workers in membership with
the Alberta College of Social Workers. Its provisions are at the heart of our
legislation and our Standards of Practice, and why the Government of Alberta
has chosen to delegate to us the status and responsibilities of a
self-governing profession. This is an opportunity for me to publicly
acknowledge the contribution of Dick Ramsay who, using his sabbatical time
(1982-83), drafted this Code from a 10-point non-justiciable CASW values statement
into one that, by 1984, had been adopted or approved by every provincial
professional association in
·
The CASW/ACSW Code states, simply, “I will act to effect
social change for the overall benefit of humanity.” That simple
statement is the law for Registered Social Workers in Alberta.
·
“The law” prevents our discriminating against persons and
groups on some approximately 15 enumerated items... but it also enjoins us
“to prevent and eliminate discrimination” on the part of others.
·
“The law” says that we will “make reasonable efforts
to advocate for the equitable distribution of societal resources and act to
ensure that all persons have reasonable access to the resources, services and
opportunities which they require.”
·
“The law” says we will “expand choice and opportunity
for all persons, with special regard to disadvantaged or oppressed groups and
persons”.
·
“The law” says that professional social workers “must
promote conditions that encourage respect for the diversity of cultures which
constitute society.”
·
“The law” says that we will “advocate for changes in
policy and legislation to improve conditions and to promote social
justice.”
·
“The law” says we will encourage informed participation by
the public in shaping social policies and institutions.”
The means by which we manifest our professional privileges and
responsibilities are the subject of today’s work. One of those means is
“social action”, on behalf of client systems of all sizes. Social
action is always a “means”...never an end in and of itself.
It is exceptionally hard work... as is all of our professional work. If you
believe that only “leaders” in our profession do this, or are
required to do this, you are dead wrong. The best lesson ever taught to me by
my late Mother was, “You bloom where you are planted.” Every social
worker has the opportunity to matter and, hopefully, the capacity to
do so. If one lacks the motivation, I will heartlessly suggest that you
are in the wrong pew, and lack the essential qualifications to be an ordinary
member of a global profession.
FINALLY:
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE WORLD IS RUN BY THOSE WHO SHOW UP
Notes
1. Reynolds Bertha Capen (1934). Between Client and Community. MD,
2. Ibid, p.23
3. Ibid, p. 24
4. bid, p. 13
5. Barker Robert L (1999). The Social Work Dictionary, 4 Ed.