Mission Lost: What Does Evidence Base and Standardization Mean for International Social Work?

Abstract

The professionalizatkm of social work is a recent phenomenon. However, the founding principles of social work have been around since prehistoric times. There is no culture in this world where charity and care for others is unheard of in history. There is no religious text in the world that excludes the principles of caring for those in need. Charity has been a practice in all cultures since ancient times. In recent years, the basic concept of social work has expanded the idea of “helping those in need” to empowering those in need and branched out in several different areas, including but not limited to psychiat ric social work, criminal justice and correctional social work, medical social work, administrative social work, rural and urban social work, and military social work. Involvement of social workers with different populations in need has emerged from the growing demand for this helping profession for needy individuals and families. With increasingly complex global economic structures and fast depleting natural resources, this era is witnessing exceeding conflicts, wars, and dire poverty. The struggle for survival of the fittest has become the new norm of this global economy, which poses a serious threat to human growth and development. In these times of crisis, the demand for the social work profession today is higher than ever (Howard, 1944; Billups, 2002).