Social Work
...ior of a significant other within the clients social environment. Indirect work helps social workers to exhibit both competence and expertise. In the social workers Code of Ethics competence is a very important value because it is the knowledge and the skills that we have that enable us to help others in need. Social workers should always practice within their area of expertise and competence that they possess in a specific area. Years ago it was thought that a great majority of people who were considered as social workers connected together services provided largely by other professions and other institutions. This article discusses the work of Flexner, Richmond, Reynolds, and Hollis along with their inputs on indirect service. Flexner was a developer a of medical training program. He felt that social workers mediate the intervention of the specific agent or agency best felt to deal with specific emergency the client had encountered. He also emphasized that social workers do not work independently of other helping professions and are in frequent contact with others. Flexner left a very negative image on the social work profession because he felt that social workers have no expert knowledge or skills of their own. My opinion to this is that I feel that this very much untrue because the social work profession has its own school of Social Work at Jackson State University with its own set of cirriculum courses that are specific for Social Work majors only which provide us with the knowledge, skills, and competence that are needed to practice in the social work profession. Therefore the social work profession is not a profession that just anyone can be a part of. Mary Richmond was credited with offering the first conceptualization of Social casework. Richmond spoke on indirect work and how there was a need for this service. She felt good casework practice requires insight into the person and the environment. There must be knowledge of the clientĄ¯s needs and personality about the cl...