ABSTRACT
One of the characteristics of any profession is that it has a specific function not only defined by its practitioners but recognized and sanctioned by its society. The knowledge and skill and the professional attitudes and ethics involved have developed over the last forty years into the functions of the present-day social worker. The substance of social work practice consists of an infinite variety of psychosocial factors—some between person and person, some between a person and his society. With the ‘psycho’ hand we have, especially in recent years, developed especial skills based upon a well-founded theoretical base and adapted now to the special function of the social worker. Social work goal and values are themselves a significant contribution to our surrounding society. Social workers have had much to say about the need for such services, about required legislative provisions, about adequacy, and about standards for their proper administration.
