Challenges Of Social Work Profession In Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is one of those countries, which appeared on world map in the twentieth century. Emergence of a new country after division of a larger country brought assassinations, theft and kidnapping of citizens. It created enormous socio-economic problems in health, education and employment area. To address the said issues, government requested UNTAA for help for the solution of these problems in a systematic way. With the collaboration of the government and the experts, first in-service training course was initiated in October 1952, which was a foundation stone for education of Social Work in Pakistan. Since its inception, the profession has faced certain challenges in the country. The objective this systematic review is to describe the challenges of Social Work Profession in Pakistan in the present decade. Followed by systematic literature review, this research has presented the challenges of seven decades old profession in Pakistan. This article is limited to the availability of secondary literature through library material and search engines. The methodology for this article is based on the steps of literature review process as described by Ramdhani, et. al. (2016) Some fundamental challenges of Social Work in Pakistan derived from systematic literature review are Defining Social Work as Profession in Pakistan, Social Work indigenous literature, Recognition of the Profession, Fieldwork practice and cultural competency, Gap between the Theory and the Practice, and Absence of Professional values and Code of Ethics. To conclude, challenges of Social Work Profession in Pakistan are not addressed by the different governments in the country. Under liberal governments, the recognition of the profession has a wider umbrella for the non-governmental organization through registration under legal framework. On the other hand, the licensure necessary for Social Work practiceis still awaited in the country.