The Elusive Boundaries of Social Work

Abstract

Repeated attempts to conceptualize social work have assumed that social work should and can have a precisely defined domain. One suggestion is to equate social work with personal social services. This article suggests that the uniqueness of social work lies in the very absence of defined boundaries. Implications for social work practice are identified, in particular social work's heavy dependence on resource controllers, and the consequent need of social work education to shift its traditional focus from client-centered interventions to managing non-client interactions.

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