The social, the psychological and the human in social work

Abstract

All social work practice is a social interaction in the form of an encounter between human beings, in which the participants enact a performance that reveals aspects of their humanity and represents their understanding of the real world in which they operate. The human aspect of the encounter, as described in important systems of thought such ass humanistic psychology, secular humanism and human rights thinking, includes a concern both for the psychological and for the social. Death, for example, is an individual experience with psychological impact but takes place within and affects social institutions and relationships. Psychological helping with dying people focuses on emotional and cognitive reactions, social helping reacts also the social relationships and institutions affected in the real world. Social workers do not use discrete practice knowledges directly, but embody them as part of their performance within a practice encounter. Their pathway into professional practice, the particular balance of the facets of social work that they use, their interpretation of the value complexities in social work practice and their particular selection from the range of know ledges available comes together and creates their distinctive practice and humanity in the social work encounter.