Identify and describe the four goals of social work practice as conceptualized by the National ...

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has conceptualized social work practice as having four major goals. These goals include the following:
1 ) Goal 1: Enhance the problem-solving, coping, and developmental capacities of people. Using the person-in environment concept, the focus of social work practice at this level is on the person. With this focus, a social worker serves primarily as a facilitator. In this role, the worker may take on activities of a counselor, teacher, caregiver (that is, providing supportive services to those who cannot fully solve their problems and meet their own needs), and changer of specific behavior.

2 ) Goal 2: Link people with systems that provide them with resources, services, and opportunities. Using the person-in-environment concept, the focus of social work practice at this level is on the relationships between people and the systems they interact with. With this focus, a social worker serves primarily as a broker.

3 ) Goal 3: Promote the effectiveness and humane operation of systems that provide people with resources and services. Using the person-in-environment concept, the focus of social work practice at this level is on the systems people interact with. One role a worker may fill at this level is that of an advocate. Additional roles at this level include the following: program developer, supervisor, coordinator, and consultant.

4 ) Goal 4: Develop and improve social policy. The focus of social work practice at this level is on the systems people interact with. The distinction between goal 3 and goal 4 is that goal 3 focuses on the available resources for serving people, whereas goal 4 focuses on the statutes and broader social policies that underlie such resources. Social workers at this level are planners and policy developers. In these roles, workers develop and seek adoption of new statutes or policies and propose elimination of those that are ineffective or inappropriate.



The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) defined the purpose of social work as follows: The purpose of the social work profession is to promote human and community well-being. Guided by a person-in-environment framework, a global perspective, respect for human diversity, and knowledge based on scientific inquiry, the purpose of social work is actualized through its quest for social and economic justice, the prevention of conditions that limit human rights, the elimination of poverty, and the enhancement of the quality of life for all persons, locally and globally. This definition of the purpose of social work is consistent with the four goals of social work just mentioned. However, it adds one additional goal of social work, as follows:

5 ) Goal 5: Promote human and community well-being. The social work profession is committed to enhancing the well-being of all human beings and to promoting community well-being. It is particularly committed to alleviating poverty, oppression, and other forms of social injustice.