WITH the inaugural celebration of International Social Work Day on March 27, Jamaican social workers have begun to mold the public’s perception of the profession as one with the potential to help decrease the island’s crime and poverty levels.

As professionals and students of social work discussed recently at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, the career field is not for the faint of heart.

“As social workers, while we are governed by law, the law is not the only basis for us taking decisions. Some activities can be legal and not ethical, while others can be ethical but not legal,” noted UWI lecturer Dr Peta-Anne Baker.

Baker, also vice-president of the International Association of Social Workers, was leading a discussion on the ethical dilemmas faced by social workers, such as the dissemination of information about contraceptives to minors, and the termination of pregnancies – both of which are illegal in Jamaica, but which form part of public policy.

She said that the provision of contraceptive information to sexually active minors could be seen as ethical because if such minors were unable to access contraceptives, it could lead to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and put further pressure on the health budget.

“Although it may be against the law, the (Ministry of Health’s) policy is, if an adolescent goes to a clinic asking for contraceptive advice, the nurse is to provide it. Unfortunately, many of our nurses do not provide it because of their personal values, and the dominant culture. We need to be able to move beyond that,” Baker said, while urging the gathering to discuss the establishment of a code of ethics for social work, with standards appropriate to Jamaica.

And even as the number of social work graduates is expected to grow over the next few years, experts are cautioning prospective students that the field is neither financially lucrative nor for anyone without mental strength. It does, however, provide great satisfaction for those interested in helping people in need, they note.

“This is not a job that you can expect to sleep comfortable in your bed every night without a care in the world,” said Eva Forde, coordinator of the Social Work Programme at Northern Caribbean University (NCU). “The students that understand that clearly are the ones that stick around (in the profession).”

Social work in its broadest definition is “the profession of skilled helping”. Addressing the needs of a group of hungry people, for example, may appear to be a simple matter of distributing food. But before this is done, one should consider the most appropriate type of food based on the group’s cultural, psycho-social, biological and spiritual needs. That’s how a social worker operates.

“The skill is understanding how all of these factors contribute to a person’s situation, and then looking at the best ways to help. So the approach to addressing violence in Jamaica may be different from the approach in Iraq,” said Forde. “Social workers are trained to take into consideration where people are coming from. With that understanding, we are better able to help society because we eliminate some of the things that contribute to the cycle of violence.”

Started in the United States – and with Jamaican and Barbadian roots – social work was an eye-opener for Forde, who holds a Master’s degree from Columbia University. She hopes Jamaica will follow the pattern of other societies in a wider acceptance of the profession.

“I’m expecting an explosion of knowledge of what social work is,” Forde said, adding that this should include legislation making it mandatory to have a social worker in every children’s home, hospital and eventually, in all schools.

She feels, too, that committees considering major developments for roads and housing should use the services of social workers.

“Perhaps a social worker could have anticipated the impact of the toll road in Portmore, and made suggestions to address these challenges,” Forde said.

Social workers also play an important role in the justice system, working as probation officers and providing support and information to the court on offenders. This information is taken into consideration in sentencing. They also liaise with the police and medical personnel, and may be subpoenaed to give testimony and submit records of their clients to the courts.

While there are no statistics on the impact of their work on crime levels, their role is significant, said Forde.

“We may never know how many suicides or murders have been prevented because of the existence of an after-school programme for teenagers at risk, or how many robberies have been prevented because of a programme giving a person $1,000 a month,” she said.

There are only a few organisations outside of Kingston that employ social workers, but the skills learned in the programmes can be used in many organisations, including schools, hospitals, and financial institutions.

“This profession is not about sitting and counselling, although that’s a part of what we do. It’s about getting into the environment. It involves the mind, body and spirit of the social worker,” Forde said.