The Roles of a Social Worker*

Derek Chechak School of Social Work King’s University College, UWOEnabler:In the enabler role, a social worker helps a client become capable of coping with situations ortransitional stress. A social worker conveys hope, reducing resistance and ambivalence,recognizing and managing feelings, identifying and supporting personal strengths and socialassets, breaking down problems into parts that can be solved more readily, and maintaining afocus on goals and the means of achieving them (Barker, 1995).Mediator:The mediator role involves resolving arguments or conflicts micro, mezzo, or macro systems. Atthe macro level, the mediator helps various subsystems within a community, or a community andsome other system, work out their differences. At the micro and mezzo levels, mediation is helpsin such areas as resolving divorce and child custody cases. A mediator remains neutral and doesnot side with either party in the dispute (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 1997).Integrator/Coordinator:Integration is the process of bringing together various parts to form a unified whole.Coordination involves bringing components together in some kind of organized manner. Ageneralist social worker can function as an integrator/coordinator "in may ways, ranging from . .. advocacy and identification of coordination opportunities, to provision of technical assistance,to direct involvement in the development and implementations of service linkages" (Yessian andBroskowski, 1983, p. 184).Manager:Management in social work involves having some level of administrative responsibility for asocial agency or other unit "to determine organizational goals'. . . acquire resources and allocatethem to carry out programs; coordinate activities toward the achievement of selected goals; andmonitor, assess, and make necessary changes in processes and structure to improve effectivenessand efficiency" (Barker, 1995, p.8).Educator:The educator role involves giving information and teaching skills to clients and other systems.To be an effective educator, the worker must first be knowledgeable. Additionally, the workermust be a good communicator so that information is conveyed clearly and is understood by theclient or macro system (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 1997).Analyst/Evaluator:Social workers with a broad knowledge base of how various systems function can analyze orevaluate how well programs and systems work. They can also evaluate the effectiveness of theirown interventions (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 1997).

 

Broker:A broker helps link clients (individuals, groups, organizations, or communities) with communityresources and services. A broker also helps put "various segments of the community in touchwith one another "to enhance their mutual interests (Barker, 1995, p.43). In micro and mezzosystems, this requires that the worker be familiar with community services, have generalknowledge about eligibility requirements, and be sensitive to client needs. A broker may help aclient obtain emergency food or housing, legal aid, or other needed resources. (Zastrow andKirst-Ashman, 1997).Facilitator:A facilitator is "one who serves as a leader for some group experience" (Barker, 1995, p. 129).The group may be a family therapy group, a task group, a sensitivity group, an educationalgroup, a self-help group, or a group with some other focus. The facilitator role may also apply tomacro practice. In this context, a facilitator assumes "the responsibility to expedite the changeeffort by bringing together people and lines of communication, channeling their activities andresources, and providing them with access to expertise" (p. 129).Negotiator:A negotiator represents an organization, a group, or an individual that is trying to gain somethingfrom another group or system. Somewhat like mediation, negotiation involves finding a middleground that all sides can lived with and achieving consensus whenever possible. However, unlikemediators, who play a neutral role, negotiators clearly ally themselves with one of the sidesinvolved (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 1997).Advocate:Advocacy involves “the act of directly representing a course of action on behalf on one or moreindividuals, groups, or communities, with the goal of securing or retaining social justice”(Mickelson, 1995, p. 95). The advocate role involves stepping forward and speaking on behalf of the client system. The advocate role is one of the most important roles a generalist social workercan assume, despite its potential difficulties (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman, 1997)