Social work seeks to improve the quality of life within the context of community. It aims to promote well-being, fight for social justice, and improve the welfare of society. If you enter a Masters of Social Work program, you are going to be given the tools you need for these aims.
Activities in Social Work include community organization, education and training, research, and policy-making. Your subjects are going to be others who have suffered or are suffering grave misfortunes in their lot. These are terms that more commonly associated with developing countries.
The African, Asian, and South American areas are often mentioned here. Here you find problems like empty bellies and untreated ailments every day, everywhere. It is easy to forget that there is a child starving in some African country, perhaps, when you are sitting down to a full meal in your comfy home: yet this should never be forgotten.
It is a pity, especially when you consider that many economists now argue that there is indeed enough for everyone, with the only problem being in the distribution. Political ideologies and rhetoric play a significant part in the existence of poverty and injustice, instead of the physical lack of resources or unwillingness of the people to change. There is much to do and correct.
Millions of people around the world try to live with less than a day. It is a pitiful amount, and it can only provide a pitiful life. The difference in overall condition between countries like the US and Third World countries is so vast that the poor in the former are not nearly as impoverished as those in the latter.
MSW programs offered in several American universities focus on third world studies. The training given to those in MSW courses also helps them recognize that other issues, such as injustices, must be dealt with. This is a comprehensive program, one that includes lessons dealing with politics to society and its workings.
Two abilities required of graduates would be the ability to research and the ability to properly instruct others. You are going to be asked to apply those skills once you graduate, after all. This is a field that relies on such methods, after all, where professionals have to investigate social issues and teach others how to resolve or avoid them.
The ability to really socialize is valued in the field. It is impossible to be of any help if you cannot properly communicate with those you are trying to assist. It is necessary that you become someone who has little difficulty interacting with others in order to succeed.
A worldwide organization for people in the discipline recently talked about the matters taken up by those in this line of work. The statement made clear the need for research to be married to immersion (which is part of research). The huge network that makes up society is a prime consideration for those in the field, as is the identification of connections and how the lines of incluence run.
You cannot be successful in this discipline if you are unaware of the many interconnections and complex relations that form our social framework. They analyze complex and real societal problems. The Masters Social Work classes are intended to give you the training you need for that.
