Transforming the Working Definition of Social Work into the 21st Century

Abstract

Still in its organizational infancy, the National Association of Social Workers' working definition was a groundbreaking contribution to the evolution of social work in the 20th century. As a forerunner to Bartlett's common base of social work, the profession was defined by the following five core components: value, purpose, sanction, knowledge, and method. Transforming the definition to 21 st-century relevancy is the subject of this article. Ontological and practice issues are discussed in relation to transformational underpinnings that would evolve social work from its mechanistic and entity-centered roots associated with pre-20th-century science to the organic and relationship-centered discoveries of 20th-century science. An organizing framework is proposed that will transform the common base of social work to a new common whole of social work.