Conversation within a family:
Daughter: “Mommy/Daddy, I want to be a social worker.”
Mother: “What in the world is that? If you do not want to be a doctor or a lawyer, consider taking up speech and language therapy or psychology! At least you’ll get a job and serve the community.”
In a nutshell, this encapsulates the social worker profession’s conundrum. One of the most valuable and meaningful professions in the world is almost unheard of in Malaysia.
Sure, we have all heard of people “doing social work”, either in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or at the Welfare Department (JKM) but few of us have heard of professionally trained social workers.
Hence, very few young people aspire to join this noble profession in Malaysia. As a result, we continue to struggle with many social issues.
Perhaps it is important to take a step back and describe what is the difference between someone who “does social work” and a professionally trained social worker.
Anyone can do social work but professionally trained social workers undergo university training and are formally trained in counselling. The table below briefly summarises the differences.
Key Distinctions Between Someone Who Engages In Social Work And A Professionally Trained Social Worker
| Professionally Trained Social Worker | Someone Who Does Social Work | |
| Education and Training | Holds a formal diploma, Bachelor’s or Maste’s degree in social work. Their education equips them with knowledge about human behaviour, social systems, ethics and intervention strategies. They undergo supervised field placements to gain practical experience. | Individuals who engage in social work without formal training may lack the comprehensive understanding of theories, practice models, and ethical guidelines that professional social workers possess. |
| Scope of Practice | Their scope of practice is broad and multifaceted. They work across various settings, including welfare offices, schools, hospitals, mental health clinics, and community-based organizations. Social workers address diverse issues such as poverty, disability, substance abuse, domestic conflicts, and child welfare. | Their involvement may be more limited. They might assist informally within their community or focus on specific issues they are passionate about. |
| Skills and Competencies | Possess a range of skills, including assessment, case management, counselling, advocacy, and policy analysis. They integrate these skills to provide holistic support to clients. | May have good intentions but might lack the depth of skills needed to address complex social problems effectively. |
| Ethical Framework | Adhere to a code of ethics that guides their professional conduct. They prioritise client wellbeing, confidentiality, and social justice. | May not be aware of or follow a specific ethical framework consistently. |
| Legal Authority | Often have legal authority to intervene in cases of child abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. They can make social work diagnoses and advocate for clients. | Lacks this legal authority and may not be equipped to handle legal aspects of social work. |
| Advocacy and Systems Change | Engage in advocacy to promote social justice and challenge systemic inequalities. They work toward policy changes and community empowerment. | May not actively participate in advocacy efforts or understand the broader impact of systemic issues |
In summary, while both individuals contribute to social wellbeing, a professionally trained social worker brings specialised and standardised knowledge, skills, and ethical grounding to their practice.
As a paediatrician, I could not effectively support children and families without the assistance of my trained social worker colleagues at the Ministry of Health (MOH).
I often involve trained social workers when we have families where there is child abuse, children with disabilities, adolescent crises, social and financial issues, poverty, domestic violence, young persons in conflict with the law, or refugees and other vulnerable people.
They support my work by doing home assessment, counselling, serving as the client’s advocate, assisting to secure resources (e.g. equipment; money for rare medication), evaluating and monitoring progress and improvement, etc.
While studying and working in the United Kingdom I saw how trained social workers form the backbone of the social services, and how they are of great assistance to the health, education, and other ministries. This is true of most developed and developing countries.
Hence, we need to ask, “Whither the trained social worker profession?” What is happening to such an important profession in Malaysia? Is the government giving any importance and focus to such a vital profession by promoting career pathways and job opportunities?
Currently, there is no data on the total number of professionally- rained social workers serving the Malaysian public. A Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) study from 2019 suggested a ratio of JKM social workers to Malaysia’s population at 1: 8,576.
But note that may be misleading, as the majority of JKM staff are not trained social workers. For comparison, the trained social worker to population ratio is 1: 490 in the United States, 1: 1,040 in Australia, 1: 3,025 in the UK, and 1: 3,448 in Singapore. This underscores the crisis.
There are only 11 public and private institutions of higher learning in Malaysia offering training in social work. A very small number of trained social workers is produced yearly.
Even worse, the number of job opportunities for trained social workers in critical departments and ministries such as JKM, health, and education is very limited.
Another critical issue is that social work remains unregulated in Malaysia. Neighbouring countries like the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia have formal legislation to support the development of the social worker profession.
Malaysia has a Social Work Profession Bill that was first approved by the Cabinet in 2010. However, it awaits parliamentary action, is currently still under review by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, and might only be finally tabled “after outstanding issues have been resolved”.
Hence, we are in a chicken or egg situation, where there is:
- No formal legislation to support the development of the social worker profession.
- No concerted governmental push to grow the social worker profession base (training).
- Insufficient job opportunities for trained social workers, which leads to the limited number of ‘takers’ for the profession.
- The public and youth are therefore not aware of such a vital profession as a career path.
The work done by the Malaysian Association of Social Workers (MASW) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Malaysia highlighted through the Heroes Among Us campaign has brought to light the plight and resilience of social workers in Malaysia, and their crusade in keeping children and vulnerable people safe and secure.
Through this campaign, they aim to raise awareness of the vital role that social workers play in the lives of children, families, and communities.
This letter does not intend to undermine the importance and valuable work done by those who “do social work”, but to underscore the urgent need to promote and develop the social worker profession framework, and more importantly, to have the Social Work Profession Act in place to ensure all the above-mentioned issues are eventually addressed.
We must work together towards training a large number of professional social workers in the coming years to meet the basic needs of our community.
Dr Amar-Singh HSS is a consultant paediatrician and child disability activist.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
