Social Work Supervision Essay

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Supervision has undergone many changes throughout the history of social work, and is still currently evolving to meet our new and modern needs. It will continue to grow and evolve past our time in social work as well. Social work supervision was something that has dramatically altered the way that we view supervision as a whole currently. Supervision in the history of social work used to look very differently than it does today. In the past, supervision was nearly nonexistent until the nineteenth century (Kadushin & Harkness, 2002). Supervision was difficult as many of the “social workers” of the time were volunteers and it was difficult to understand what to do. This eventually changed with the Charity Organization Society when supervision became …show more content…

This has caused some contention between the social work profession and those in the community or in charge of the resources being allocated by the social worker (Kadushin & Harkness, 2002). Many individuals believe that due to their elite status as a professional social worker, with the corresponding educational and professional accreditation, that there does not need to be as strict of supervision (Kadushin & Harkness, 2002). This is something that individuals have debated in the past, with valid points on either side of the argument. For example, it makes sense to have supervision over the social workers so they may have support and advice in difficult situations, as well as to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Kadushin and Harkness also make the point that by having strict supervision over social workers it can impact their autonomous ability to provide for their client (2002). This is a very difficult topic to have a black and white answer on what to do, and will continue to be in a gray area for a long time as the profession attempts to come up with a suitable

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