ABSTRACT
The essence of social work education is that it prepares students for professional practice in the human services, in direct and indirect practice, policy and community development, and advocacy, working from individual, family, group or community perspectives. The domain of welfare and social work practice consists of ‘the interaction between individuals and social arrangements…(that is) the many processes and relationships by which individuals and the social structure are produced and reproduced’ (O’Connor et al, 1995, p 9). Social work thus focuses on the interface between the individual, family, group and community and the structures and institutions of society. It draws together the social, the political and the cultural influences on individual, group and community behaviour, and as a discipline has at its core the fundamental commitment to the pursuit and maintenance of human well-being (AASW, 1999a, Clause 1).
