Definition

Noun: 1. Professional activity aimed at helping individuals, families, and communities: Social work is a practice-based profession that promotes social change, development, cohesion, and the empowerment of people. It involves interventions to help people overcome life's challenges, such as poverty, abuse, addiction, and mental health issues. 2. Organized welfare services: This term can also refer collectively to the various services provided by governmental or private organizations to support vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly, and those in poverty.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • She decided to pursue a career in social work to help at-risk youth.
  • The government is increasing funding for social work programs focused on family support.
  • Effective social work requires both compassion and a strong understanding of community resources.

Advanced Usage

• "to go into social work": to choose social work as a profession.
  • After volunteering at the shelter, he decided to go into social work.
• "field of social work": refers to the professional domain or area of practice.
  • The field of social work encompasses many specialties, from healthcare to school settings.

Variants and Related Words

• Social worker (n): A trained professional who practices social work.
  • The social worker helped the family find stable housing.
• Social-work (adj): Used attributively to describe things related to the profession.
  • She is completing her social-work internship at a hospital.

Synonyms

• Welfare work: Organized efforts to promote the basic physical and material well-being of people in need.
• Human services: A broad term for services aimed at assisting people and improving quality of life, often encompassing social work.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Doing social work": Engaging in the activities of the profession, often beyond formal job titles.
  • Even though she's a nurse, she ends up doing a lot of social work by connecting patients with support services.

Noun

1. any of various services designed to aid the poor and aged and to increase the welfare of children