© British Association of Social Workers
The Multirole Practitioner in the Generic Orientation to Social Work Practice
Ron Baker is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, where he co-ordinates the third year of the Social Work theory and Practice course.
Summary
Generic Social Work practice theory is at a promising stage of development. Utilizing concepts from systems theory a number of new holistic practice models are now available which can be applied in any setting. A further frame of reference is required that captures the wide range of social work activity.
The aim of this paper is to propose eight tasks and thirteen common roles of practice which are presented in the form of a model designed to delineate the role and task matrix of the generic practitioner.
Practice experience suggests that these tasks and roles constantly merge into, or follow one another. Some of the roles and tasks seem better understood and theoretically developed than others.
The formulation that is offered is currently being empirically tested. Practitioners, educators and practice researchers are invited to specify the roles and tasks they regard as central to practice, to check these against the model offered here, and to present any fundamental differences in forms that lend themselves to empirical research.