Social Entrepreneurship: Changing the Way Social Workers Do Business

Abstract

Social workers are among the best prepared professionals to respond to the world's social problems. However, in the current realm of forward-looking, functional solutions to society's social ills, social workers are not easy to find. This paper makes the argument that given the tremendous need for solutions to today's pressing social challenges, it is time for social workers to stand up and embrace much of the straightforward business sense found in social entrepreneurship, a hybrid of social work macro practice principles and business innovation activities. To address this issue, the paper examines the imperative for social workers to explore and engage in social entrepreneurship. Ethical considerations concerning practice are discussed and a few examples of social entrepreneurship are described. Finally, the article ends with some recommendations for educating social workers and conducting future research in this emerging area of inquiry.

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