Types of Social Work Careers
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- A career in children and school social work deals with children's safety, health, or academic success. Social workers of this kind usually work in schools, often bridging the gap between students and their parents, and assisting students with emotional, behavioral, or academic problems.
- In addition to work in schools, child and family social workers are often employed by state or local governments, or by individual and family services agencies. These social workers deal with issues surrounding child welfare, family services, or child protective services.
- Careers in mental health social work focus on psychological issues, and often social workers assist people in finding programs for problems like depression or substance abuse. In addition, social workers can serve as counselors, meaning that they directly help their patients.
- Substance abuse social workers' responsibilities encompass everything from developing patient detoxification programs to conducting research. Recent research in this field has focused on the interconnectedness of substance abuse and mental or physical illness.
- Medical social workers respond to the psychological side effects of medical conditions. They collaborate with individuals and families during times of illness, helping them manage the psychological, social, cultural, and medical issues that result from the illness. Medical social work also consists of helping patients gain complete access to medical care and services, including hospitalization, post-hospital care, in-home medical treatment, and hospice.
- A career in public health social work entails a variety of activities, primarily conducting studies on policies and personnel with the intent to reach disease prevention and promote better health care. Areas of study include HIV/AIDS prevention, child and elder maltreatment prevention, disabilities, and substance abuse prevention.
Related Occupations
- Clergy will sometimes provide assistance to suffering individuals by offering spiritual and moral guidance. Responsibilities include conducting religious worship and performing other spiritual functions.
- Clinical psychologists, who provide diagnostic tests to patients or create behavior modification programs, can specialize in areas like health psychology, neuropsychology, geropsychology, or child psychology. Their job often involves consultations with other medical personnel in order to formulate the best treatment plan for a patient.
- Correctional treatment specialists: These social workers work with people who have been placed on probation. They counsel these offenders, establishing rehabilitation plans for them to follow after their release from prison or parole. This work is often conducted in jails, prisons, or parole or probation agencies.
- Counseling psychologists, who work in settings like universities, hospitals, or rehabilitation centers, advise individuals on everyday problems. Issues that these psychologists handle include patients' situations at home, work, or in the community.
- Counselors can work in an array of different settings, with either children, adolescents, adults, or families. Clients' problems range from mental health disorders and addiction, to disability and employment needs, to school problems.
- The primary goal of health educators is to prevent illnesses by educating and informing people about healthy lifestyles. They educate both individuals and communities on topics such as nutrition, exercise, sexually transmitted diseases, and illnesses. Health educators can work in a variety of settings, including schools, colleges, universities, medical care facilities, and state and local departments of public health.
- Probation officers' responsibilities revolve around supervising people who are on probation, as well as working for the courts. Often, these officers recommend community organizations, such as religious institutions, as sources of assistance for the offenders.
- School psychologists attempt to improve teaching, learning, and socialization methods through their work with young students, teachers, parents, and school personnel. This work often involves assisting students with disabilities, or gifted and talented students.
- Social and human service assistants: This is a generic title denoting an array of individuals in the social work field who usually work under the supervision of nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, or other social workers. Specific titles include “community support workers,” “mental health aides,” and “client advocates.” These assistants' responsibilities consist of providing clients with the appropriate services and benefits.
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