What is Social Work?

Social Work is the applied science of working with and helping people to achieve an effective and satisfying level of psychosocial living, and realizing changes in society that enhance and improve the well-being and quality of life for all people.

What do Social Workers do?

Social workers are professionals, trained at least at the undergraduate level, who work at activities that help individuals, groups and communities enhance or restore their ability for optimal social functioning. They also work in settings where they create societal conditions that make such functioning possible.

Social workers apply certain professional values in their work, such as the belief in the dignity and worth of all human beings. They are also trained in certain areas of knowledge, for example knowledge regarding human functioning, and how larger systems operate, which enable them to carry out their work effectively. Professional social workers are also trained in particular interpersonal skills, such as problem solving and interviewing, that enable them to put their knowledge and values into practice.

Social workers find themselves helping people find and access concrete services and goods, such as housing, food, or help with finding or keeping services such as heat and electricity. Others work with people as counselors and psychotherapists. Social workers work with individuals, families, groups in the community, or with whole communities at a time in order to help them obtain or improve social and/or health services.

What do Social Workers need to know?

In order to practice social work, extensive training in a number of areas is required. Social work students take courses in which they learn about human development and behavior, the wide variety of paths which human life can take, how various social, economic, political and cultural institutions impact upon people’s lives, and the interaction of all of these factors.

They will also learn about the wide variety of social and cultural backgrounds of people from around the world, and the strengths that those backgrounds bring to bear upon people’s ability to overcome difficulties. Social workers also need to know what the latest research says about how these factors interact, what is likely to help people live most effectively, and what courses of action need to be put into place in order to have positive outcomes.

Finally, social workers need to know the scientific method of problem solving at all levels of human interaction, so that their knowledge can be put into practice in peoples’ everyday lives.

What social work degrees can I get at USC Columbia Campus?

There are a number of social work degrees available on the Columbia Campus. At the undergraduate level, there is the social work minor. This degree is a strong compliment to a number of majors and study programs on campus. Students from psychology, sociology, religion, criminal justice, women’s studies and African American studies find that courses in the minor add an addition and helpful perspective on their course of study, preparing them to work collaboratively with the world of social work upon their graduation at the baccalaureate level. Students who are in a pre-law or pre-med course of study also find the minor an important compliment to their course of study, as these areas of professional work often intersect closely with the profession of social work. See the course descriptions and minor requirements for further information about meeting the requirements for the social work minor.

If you are interested in more information about the social work minor and wish to talk with someone directly, please contact:

Susan Parlier, MSW 
Social Work Minor Program
College of Social Work
University of South Carolina
phone: (803) 777-1384
parlier@gwm.sc.edu

Beyond the baccalaureate level, students can pursue their Master’s of Social Work degree at the college’s accredited Master’s level program. Through a two year course of study, involving classroom and field instruction, students are prepared as professional master’s level social work practitioners. The MSW degree is an important step towards becoming a licensed social work practitioner, which are issued at the state level.

For those students who have long range goals of working as researchers and/or teachers in the social work education system, USC offers a PhD program. This program seeks qualified students with extensive academic, research and practice backgrounds, and is a demanding but exciting opportunity for those who wish to remain in academia.

For more information about the opportunities that social work holds for you, please make use of the following links:

The Career Center at USC: www.sc.edu/career/

NASW: www.socialworkers.org/

CSWE: www.cswe.org/

SWAN: cosw.sc.edu/swan/index.html