Social workers assist people to have control of and improve the quality of their lives, and are committed to reducing and preventing hardship and disadvantage for children, adults, families and groups. Social workers practise in social settings characterised by enormous diversity. This diversity is reflected through religion, ethnicity, culture, language, social status, family structure and life style. They work with individuals and families from backgrounds and cultures of which they may have little direct experience and intervene in the lives of people whose life chances may have been adversly affected by poverty, ill health, discrimination and/or disability. In intervening in peoples lives to achieve change, social workers must recognise the interrelationships of structural and individual factors in the social context in which services operate and the need to address their impact on the lives of children and adults.
It is essential because of the responsibilities that social workers and probation officers carry and the influence and impact that they can have on the lives of vunerable people, that as well as being skilled and knowledgable, they treat people with respect and are honest, trustworthy and reliable. They must be self aware and critically reflective and their practice must be founded on, informed by and capable of eing judged against a clear value base.
In order to achieve the award of the DipSW, students must demonstrate in meeting the core competences that they:
Since values are integral to rather than separate from competent practice, evidence that value requirements have been met, must be drawn from and refer to specific practice undertaken in relation to the six core competences. It is clear, consistent and thoughtful integration of values in practice that students must demonstrate and programme providers seek evidence of in all assessable work.