Social Work as a profession has existed for over one hundred years. As a formal, professional activity, Social Work is a manifestation of the community and society coming to an agreement that people who are facing difficult circumstances should not only have to rely on the goodwill of the churches, the wealthy or concerned individuals. This is one of the reasons why you will find that majority of social workers work in government agencies. However, an increasing number of the traditional nongovernmental or voluntary agencies are becoming more professionalized.
In addition to responding to those in crisis or need, social work has always has a strong commitment to protecting human rights and securing justice for the disadvantaged.
Social workers are found in a wide range of settings. The majority work with children, young adults and older persons and those who are directly involved in their lives, on those occasions when these persons are confronted by personal, socio-economic and even political challenges and tasks.
What do social workers do? Social Workers can help people, individually and collectively to identify and develop solutions to problems that they confront at a personal, community or organisational level. Social workers also use their knowledge about how individuals, organisations and societies function to develop and implement programmes to address people’s needs and realize their goals.
Our 7 faculties and 12 professional schools offer more than 200 programmes to some 18,000 graduate, undergraduate and continuing studies students.
The UWI, Mona ranks first in Jamaica among accredited tertiary-level programmes. In 2012, the University was again one of Jamaica’s Top 100 Employers.
