What Do Social Workers Actually Do?

Question by Mz Lopez: What do social workers actually do?
I wanna go to school for psychology but I wanna work more along troubled teenagers or people in need of help like a social worker I guess. not giving medicine.

Best answer:

Answer by Saadia
The investigate cases of child abuse and/or neglect.

Answer by monique
Answer based on U.S.

Social work job duties/responsibilities will depend of course on the job position we have, which as you can see below will definitely vary on the type of work we do.

Social workers can work in various settings, to include administrative jobs. Some individuals with social work degrees, for example, write grants, do research and work on fundraiser in agencies that may be not for proft. Social workers work in health care settings (hospice, home health, hospitals, nursing homes); mental health settings (state department of mental health, residential treatment centers, alcohol/drug rehab, etc); dept of social services (child protective services, foster care, investigator, etc); other state jobs may include probation and parole officers; youth services (to include juvenile facilities, counseling, residential); dept of aging (adult protective services, community support worker); maternal health (education, home visits, etc); and other public health positions. Social workers who have their Masters in Social Work and typically a clinical license can work for the federal government, to include the Veterans Administration as well as a civilian working on military installations.

Other positions may include working as a victim advocate; domestic violence shelters; grass roots organizations (i.e. I saw a job looking for a social worker to work for Mothers Against Drunk Driving); organizations/agencies that provide services for those who are homeless (i.e. Salvation Army, catholic charities).

A good online job search is “Indeed” http://www.indeed.com By searching for position in working with youth, youth at risk, etc. this can give you a sense of the qualifications/job duties.

An example of a job description in working with youth is a youth counseling III position with the state of Colorado. Salary: $ 4,969.00 – $ 7,168.00 Monthly. “This position exists to provide leadership and clinical direction to the treatment team at the facility. In addition, this position is experienced in clinical mental health and family interventions and serves as the Clinical Director to provide oversight for the treatment services at the facility.” Minimum Qualifications “Education Requirements: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science, correctional science, corrections, counseling, counseling psychology, criminal justice, criminology, education, guidance and counseling, helping/human services, human and development, psychology, rehabilitation counseling, social work, sociology or youth and adult corrections.” http://www.colorado.gov/