Perfect Social Work Research Topics
Social work is described as field of study and profession, but it is also a tool to remedy the ills existing in societies. That is why training and empowering of good social workers are as crucial tasks as training of doctors. However, despite all benefits and good intentions, this education sometimes includes very unpleasant tasks like paper writing. And even if papers help to learn more and roleplay through some critical situations, they are still hard to tackle for many students who are not born with writing talent.
To facilitate the process for you and boost your thinking a little bit we offer a guideline on how to find a topic – and a list of great and diverse issues to explore and write on.
How to Select a Good Topic
First thing to remember is this: always consider practical aspects of research questions. Think about your majors or what topic you currently study in class. This is the point of your departure on search journey. Here are some more tips on how to make it shorter and easier.
Consult with your professor. Maybe he or she wants you to write on some particular case and will be glad to direct you towards it. If not, select individually, but ask your professor if you can follow it. When one of interesting research topics you were thinking about seems the best, determine if you have enough theoretical and evident material to write about it. Do some brief research in libraries and online, and if information is available, go ahead.
Then evaluate if your topic is not to extensive or too narrow. A very loosely worded question cannot be covered concisely in a brief or even mid-length paper. So the paper will be too long or incomplete. A narrow focus is easier to write on, but you will run out of information to write about very soon and will have to produce some watery stuff. That’s not what is expected from you either. So how to find it – a perfect focus for perfect paper?
Where to Look for Important and Hot Issues to Write About
Usually all recommendations on finding good social work topics begin with pointing a student towards previous researches and papers and gaps in them. Looking at all previous bulk of research is a lifetime undertaking, and textbooks usually do not keep up with the life pace, so try reaching out to real life instead. We mean, daily news feed is always full of important social issues that can pose a researchable social work issue. We speak about news feed not on Facebook but in newspapers and magazines you trust. It does not matter in what way the piece of news is presented, it is the lesson you can learn personally and teach others.
The appalling and preventable death of 8-year old Gabriel Fernandez back in 2013 and the following litigation that shook the nation is gruesome but important example of deep systemic faults in social work. Researching and preventing such cases, even if theoretically, is more valuable and timely than sifting for some nonexistent gap in millions of pages of aged research. The gap is right there, in the streets and facilities, so be sure to check it up first. Reliable and serious stories on Facebook can be used as inspiration, but they should be supported by trustworthy sources outside this social network.
Personal Experience as a Topic to Explore
Personal experience is another source to draw from. Apply theoretical framework to social experience you or your family or friends had, and explore it scientifically. Professors cherish connections to real life and evidence-based approach, so use it for finding research topics on social work as well. It is not obligatory to speak of it as of personal experience, you can create a persona to place into this situation, and ascribe this experience to this imaginary pal.
Definitely you can and should look up for suggested research topics in articles and texts assigned by professors, but most probably other students will do it as well. So you need to be original and provide a contemporary and useful paper, look outside the books and you will see plenty of things to consider in a social work research project.
Useful Prompts for Social Work Papers
If you do not have a single idea what to write about despite the suggested sources of inspiration, look up the following list. We have gathered important issues that are current and profound enough to provide for a good paper. Besides, there are plenty of scholarly materials to draw from while drafting and elaborating on your writing. You can look up the suggested prompt and then write on a particular aspect of the problem. It is also plausible, since social work is a multidimensional sphere of activity and every step can be developed into a separate exploration and research. So read on and choose the one from the topics list that interests you – this is a key to good writing that will appeal to you and your readers.
Topics Related to General Framework of Social Work
- Main stages of development of social work concept through time;
- Burnout prevention in social workers;
- Personal Safety for Social workers: Basics;
- Limits of personal responsibility of social workers: legal vs. ethical/moral boundaries;
- Empowerment of service users: what, where and how;
- Abuse of seniors in nursing homes and elderly care facilities: detection and prevention;
- Transitioning from other professions to social work: main issues to consider;
- Role of school principal and staff in successful activities of social workers;
- Duties and rights of a social worker in the face of implicit child abuse;
- When ‘guidelines do not apply’: choices and decisions to make;
- Working with welfare recipients: possible and preventable biases in attitudes towards them;
- Evaluation of intervention efficiency: benchmarks, tools, processes;
- Designing an intervention plan: points to consider;
- Government and social work: current state of affairs and policies.
Cross-Field Topics in Social Work
- Social work and problem of the homeless;
- Promoting tolerance and acceptance of children with special needs: steps social workers can undertake;
- Cooperation of teachers and social workers on particulate cases;
- Reintegration into society after abuse or trauma: guidelines for social workers in charge;
- Mentoring in the process of social worker training;
- Social work against bullying and harassment;
- Cross-agency efforts in children rights protection;
- Media impact: advantages and disadvantages in social work;
- Cultural views on social workers’ duties;
- Dealing with loneliness of nursery homes residents: evidence-based solutions;
- Value building in students: social workers come to help;
- The concept of client’s subjective ‘satisfaction’ vs. actual client’s needs;
- Role of social work in trauma healing process.
Population Specific Topics in Social Work
- Working with emotionally disabled children: available toolkits and solutions;
- Recidivism in youth: causes and prevention;
- Poverty, isolation and senior age: cumulative effects and possible interventions;
- Careful process documentation: routine tasks that can make a difference;
- Bullying among pre-school kids: reasons and interventions;
- Cross-cultural literacy in social workers;
- Working with minorities: maintaining respect and trust;
- Teen pregnancy: demography, causes, and prevention on the part of social workers;
- Drug addicted parents: dangers and impact on children;
- Mental health and parenting: what social workers need to know;
- Foster care challenges: what to consider and when it is recommended;
- Domestic violence: immediate intervention plans;
- Child neglect: detection and intervention;
- First signs of child abuse: what to look for;
- Rehabilitation of former drug addicted women into the society: available options;
- Mental health problems among Native Americans: what social workers can do;
- Gap in dropout rates among Black and white students: where social work can step in;
- Vulnerable women and pregnancy: special attention cases;
- Sexual minorities, race and depression: intersectional impact and cues for social workers;
- Drug use in youth: disparity based on race and income;
- Restorative justice: plausible or not;
- Problems during transition to adulthood: cases of vulnerable teens;
- Individual workers efforts and the systemic flaws of social work.
Alternative Solution
If you still get stuck with finding topics and doing research, there is one practical and valid solution to use. Let our professionals choose a question and create a comprehensive research on it. The delivered paper will be accurate, scientific and will definitely ensure you a very good grade. Besides, such a solid paper will make a good foundation for further research, or maybe will kick start you thesis writing. So all in all, you will get not one, but whole set of papers and kinds of help in just one paper. We guarantee that. So let us be your assistants in social work research project creation.
