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18 Int'l Soc. Work 1 (1975)

handle is hein.journals/intsocwk18 and id is 1 raw text is: 
















EDITORIAL


W E are glad to present in this issue
          an  article by Professor Hokenstad,
          who   while discussing the  role of
Social Work   is eager to redress  a habitual
bias towards  the  intervention at the indivi-
dual level, and advocates that social workers
should lean heavily the other way.  He would
like them to be more concerned  with influenc-
ing technological and  social development  in
order to prevent  or at least to mitigate their
disturbing effects on the quality of life; he
therefore outlines a  curriculum which would
equip  them  both to shape  the directions of
change  and  to help  communities and  socie-
ties to cope with it.

   This theme  is picked up in other  papers.
Barbara  Butler, proclaims the need  to move
towards  a single, comprehensive conceptual
framework  that would  provide full expression
and  realization of our professional purpose
and  functiotr, but for her, the connecting
thread to follow through continual and  acce-
lerating change   consists of  the distinctive
value-system  of  social work, which   should
preserve   identity through   transformation.
Mr.  Gokhale,   as  a  representative of  the
developing   countries, is naturally in sym-
pathy  with  Professor Hakenstad's  message.
For  him, the  primary  aim  of  social work
must  be to  reduce  the tragic gap  between
the  haves  and   the have-nots  through  a
creative partnership between  the  State and
the  people,  and  he  calls on the  profes-
sion of  social work  for vigorous action  to
bring this about. To show what  can be done,


he  reviews  a variety  of models  for social
welfare  which  are being  developed   in the
ESCAP   countries: we  may  agree   that the
changes  of intent are heartening. Like most
of  our  contributors, he is reaching  for  a
social democratic  solution; but Dr. D. Lason
suggests  that even an  authoritarian govern-
ment  can promote  valid solutions for a coun-
try's social and economic problems,  and that
social workers can turn such programmes  into
account  as vehicles for developing initiative,
responsibility and co-operation in their clients,
even  in the absence  of political freedom.

   It is now widely recognized that traditional
models  of social work training do, not fit the
needs  of the newer  societies, for whom new
models  must  be  devised; and  that in parti-
cular, training at the Master's level is a luxury
which  is often  irrelevant, and which  many
countries simply cannot afford. James  Wieb-
ler  shares with  us  the alternative models
which  he designed for the first undergraduate
course  in Hawaii; although  this is still at a
level far more  advanced   than that required
for  front-line social workers in developing
countries, all those who   are planning  new
forms  of  training will be glad  to  have  a
variety of  possibilities illustrated. We wel-
come  particularly Dr. Wiebler's creative think-
ing on  the possible functions of social work
training for undergraduates,  some  of whom
may   not  become   social workers, but  may
carry' the outlook and value-system of social
work   into other  professions whose   under-
standing  and  co-operation  are  essential if

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