Digital Social Work:Practice Progress,General Characteristics,and Future Issues
The digital environment has become an essential context for social actions,im-pacting both digital natives and immigrants.This evolution necessitates the integra-tion of digital methods into social work,giving rise to the field of digital social work.This paper summarizes the definition,rise,development,and both advantages and risks of digital social work.It explores the overall characteristics of digital social work from the perspectives of field transformation,content expansion,method inno-vation,and capacity building.It highlights the interaction between digital and physi-cal spaces,the emergence of digital inclusion,the integration of online and offline practices,and the enhancement of capabilities for both providers and recipients of so-cial services.Future challenges for digital social work include its potential emergence as a distinct subfield,the use of digital technology to expand practice,the mitigation of negative impacts,and the creation of an autonomous knowledge system within the domain.In the digital age,digital social work should be regarded as a hybrid,forward-thinking,and adaptable practice,requiring active engagement with digital technology and continuous reflection on practice direction to foster high-quality de-velopment.The"person-in-environment"perspective remains a crucial theoretical frame-work and practice principle in social work,focusing on the interaction between indi-viduals and their environment.In the digital era,the digital environment has become a key external context for social actions.The rapid growth of digital technology,par-ticularly during the COVID-19 pandemic,has accelerated the digitalization of social life,making digital social work a prominent issue and a critical direction for high-quality development in the field.The practice of digital social work dates back to the 1980s with the appearance of online self-help support groups.As digital technology has rapidly developed,on-line social work practices have become more widespread.Digital technology has driven social change,enabling more flexible,personalized,and customized social services.The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst,forcing social workers to adopt digital platforms and accelerating the transition from traditional models to hy-brid practices.Digital social work extends the boundaries of traditional social work by incor-porating digital technologies to address issues related to the digital environment.It now encompasses both digital natives and immigrants,reflecting a generational shift in technological adaptability and needs.Digital social work offers services in remote areas,creates anonymous support platforms,and uses data analytics for informed in-terventions.Practices such as online counseling,telephone support,video conferenc-ing,and online self-help interventions redefine the accessibility and scope of social work services.While digital social work offers substantial benefits,including enhanced acces-sibility and efficiency of social services,it also presents risks.These include privacy breaches,the exacerbation of the digital divide,and challenges in maintaining thera-peutic alliances in virtual environments.The anonymity of digital platforms can in-crease service utilization but also poses risks of misuse and misinformation.The characteristics of digital social work reflect its dynamic nature,evolving with technological advancements.A key feature is the convergence of digital and physical spaces,where online interactions increasingly influence offline outcomes.This necessitates a reimagination of traditional social work practices to incorporate digital competencies,such as data management and cybersecurity,which are essen-tial for safeguarding client information.The expansion of content in digital social work addresses emerging issues like cyberbullying,digital addiction,and online pri-vacy,requiring new approaches to intervention and prevention.Method innovation is visible in the integration of technology-mediated therapies and the use of social media for community mobilization,transforming how social workers engage with clients and communities.Capacity building in digital social work is essential,equipping social workers with necessary digital skills and empowering clients with digital literacy so that they can fully benefit from digital services.Future discussions on digital social work should focus on several key areas,in-cluding its establishment as a distinct subfield within social work.There is a need to explore strategies to leverage digital technologies,address potential risks,and con-struct an independent knowledge base specific to digital social work.As digital tech-nology becomes an integral part of contemporary social work,it is imperative for both scholars and practitioners to carefully evaluate the contributions and risks that digital advancements bring to the field.
万方数据
维普
