Generalist Social Work within Integrated Primary Human Services Agencies: Some Lessons from Recent European Developments

摘要

This paper reports the results of studies of human service integration developments in England, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Competence in social work, especially with respect to generalist performance dimensions, is addressed. Three connotations of the generalist concept are related to multilevel competence, systems orientation, and baccalaureate education. A fourth possible connotation is multifield competence. Semantic distinctions regarding the concept of service integration (SI) are made, and relevant developments in social work and SI in the three European countries and in the United States are outlined. Integration involves such concepts as coordination, colocation, and fusion. Curriculum areas that must be emphasized as educators train or retrain SI generalists, that is, social workers preparing for generalist practice in integrated primary human service agencies, are described. The organizational context and the community context of generalist practice are discussed as well as the professional context of such practice. A list of references is provided.