The Why, What, Where of social work: A personal reflection on the social work role over a thirty-year period

Authors

  • Pam Smith Department of Social Welfare, Child Youth and Family, and Presbyterian Support Southland.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol26iss2-3id46

Keywords:

reflection, 50th anniversary, social work profession,

Abstract

As the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers celebrates its 50th anniversary it is timely to reflect on our personal and professional journeys. I present my reflections and then I consider why others may enter the profession and what literature tells us. I conclude with an encouragement for others. The ‘what’ and ‘where’ I briefly touch on but leave as a challenge for others to explore.

References

Aimers, J., & Walker, P. (2008). Is community accountability being overlooked as a result of government-third sector partnering in New Zealand? Social Work Review, XX: 14-24.

Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers, Inc. (2008). Practice standards.

Beddoe, L., & Hyslop, I. (2003). Building on the high hard ground. Social Work Now, 24: 31-37.

Cameron, S., & Wilson-Salt, A. (1995). The summary of the report: The experience of social workers working in the area of care and protection under the Children, Young Person and their Families Act (1989). Social Work Review, V11(2).

Children’s Commission. (2013). Expert Advisory Group on solutions to child poverty. Solutions to child poverty in New Zealand: Evidence for action. Retrieved from www.occ.org.nz.

Dearsley, P. (2000). Statutory social work (but is it really social work?). Social Work Review, VX11 (2).

Elliot, T.S. (1942). Little Gidding. Four Quartets. US: Harcourt.

Hay, K., Franklin, L., & Hardyment, A. (2012). From student to employee: A conversation about transition and readiness for practice in a statutory social work organization. Social Work Now, 50: 2-9.

James, B., & Saville-Smith, K. (1989). Gender, culture and power. Auckland: Oxford University Press.

Jones, A., & May, J. (1992). Working in human service organisations. Cheshire: Longman.

McCreary, J.R. (1994). Keynote address to 1964 Conference. Social Work Review, V1 (4): 4-6.

Muller, P. (1994). For young & old. Invercargill: Presbyterian Support Services Southland.

NZ Children and Young Persons Service. (1993). Competency programme.

Phillips, J. (1996). A man’s country? The image of the Pakeha male – a history. Auckland: Penguin Books.

Powell, K. (2005). The effect of adult Playcentre participation on the creation of social capital in local communities – report to the New Zealand Playcentre Federation. Palmerston North: Massey University.

Reporting Domestic Family Violence. Retrieved from www.areyouokay.org.nz.

Ritchie, J.E. (2008) The relation of the university to the profession of social work. Social Work Review, XX (2).

Shannon, P., & Young, S. (2004). Solving social problems: Southern perspectives. Victoria: Dunmore Press.

Shannon, P., & Walker, P. (2006). Community development and control in a state-local partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand. Community Development Journal, 41, 506-520.

Shirley, I. (1990). Social Policy.In P. Spoonley, D. Pearson, & I. Shirley (Eds), New Zealand Society. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.

Smith, P. (2001). Statutory social work: A study of workers’ expectations and realisations. Social Work Review V X111(4), 22-24.

Susser, M. (1968). Cited in P. Hardiker, & M. Baker, Towards social theory for social work. In J. Lishman (Ed). Handbook of theory for practice teachers in social work. London: Jessica Kingsley.

Uttley, S. (1981). Why social work? A comparison of British and New Zealand Studies. British Journal of Social Work, VII: 329-340.

Waterman, B. T. (2002). Motivation for choosing social service as a career. Retrieved from www.bedrugfree.ne.

Downloads

Published

2016-05-14

How to Cite

Smith, P. (2016). The Why, What, Where of social work: A personal reflection on the social work role over a thirty-year period. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 26(2-3), 75–80. https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol26iss2-3id46

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 2-3 (2014)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

By completing the online submission process, you confirm you accept this agreement. The following is the entire agreement between you and the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) and it may be modified only in writing.

You and any co-authors

If you are completing this agreement on behalf of co-authors, you confirm that you are acting on their behalf with their knowledge.

First publication

By submitting the work you are:

  1. granting the ANZASW the right of first publication of this work;
  2. confirming that the work is original; and
  3. confirming that the work has not been published in any other form.

Once published, you are free to use the final, accepted version in any way, as outlined below under Copyright.

Copyright

You assign copyright in the final, accepted version of your article to the ANZASW. You and any co-authors of the article retain the right to be identified as authors of the work.

The ANZASW will publish the final, accepted manuscript under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This licence allows anyone – including you – to share, copy, distribute, transmit, adapt and make commercial use of the work without needing additional permission, provided appropriate attribution is made to the original author or source.

A human-readable summary of the licence is available from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, which includes a link to the full licence text.

Under this licence you can use the final, published version of the article freely – such as depositing a copy in your institutional research repository, uploading a copy to your profile on an academic networking site or including it in a different publication, such as a collection of articles on a topic or in conference proceedings – provided that original publication in Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work is acknowledged.

This agreement has no effect on any pre-publication versions or elements, which remain entirely yours, and to which we claim no right.

Reviewers hold copyright in their own comments and should not be further copied in any way without their permission.

The copyright of others

If your article includes the copyright material of others (e.g. graphs, diagrams etc.), you confirm that your use either:

  1. falls within the limits of fair dealing for the purposes of criticism and review or fair use; OR
  2. that you have gained permission from the rights holder for publication in an open access journal.