The aim of this study is to understand the causes which motivate unemployment in Social Work as well as analyze how social workers face unemployment in their training area. More particularly, it seeks to understand the reasons that hinder the inclusion of social workers in the labor market and to realize why certain positions close to the Social Services are being carried out by other professionals who are not related to this area. This issue is inserted in the current scenario of unemployment that has plagued our country and which greatly contributes to the crisis that we are witnessing. In addition, as we can observe through this study, the state has taken different positions in relation to social action, in particular because of the redefinition of the concept of social welfare; on the one hand, it generates an enlargement of social benefits as a way to enforce policies that promote equality and solidarity, on the other hand, given the economic crisis - there is a decrease in the resources allocated to these causes, which led those in political power to reorient and redirect their way of intervention in social action. Therefore, this study assumes that the economic crisis is partly responsible for the high unemployment among of social work professionals as well as the fact that these professionals don’t understand the unemployment in their own area, which can lead to hard social situations. This study is based on a qualitative approach using interviews with graduates in Social Work, in the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Catholic University. The conclusion we have reached is that the social model is one of those factors most responsible for the crisis we are living, which affects not only economics, but as all social life, with consequences in all aspects of society. In fact, unemployment among professionals in Social Work is one of the effects of this development model that both creates extraordinary responses, such as differentiated support to those most in need, and shows insufficient respect for the individual as a person, since it is more concern with numbers than actual people. This social model creates in this way, a major paradox in society, because on the one hand it has formed many professionals, but, on the other, has allowed the labor market to became saturated, therefore not providing work for those invested in a given workspace, which consequently has generated a great dissatisfaction among these professionals.
Date of Award | 1 Jul 2016 |
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Original language | Portuguese |
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Awarding Institution | - Universidade Católica Portuguesa
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Supervisor | Eduardo Duque (Supervisor) |
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- Social work
- Social worker
- Social model
- Unemployment
- Mestrado em Serviço Social
O desemprego no serviço social
Dias, F. M. V. (Student). 1 Jul 2016
Student thesis: Master's Thesis