De la actividad social a la transdisciplina: orientaciones conceptuales del trabajo social

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the conceptual approaches that have been given to social work during its historical evolution, not as a definitive or finished proposal, but rather, as its name implies it says, as an approach that makes it possible to focus future discussions in the disciplinary field. The categories of analysis from which it started are social work seen as an activity, social technique, art, technology, praxis, profession, discipline, science and as a
transdiscipline. It is a documentary study, since libraries, databases and the Internet were used as information search scenarios for its preparation. The basic search criteria are expressed in books, articles and specialized documents. The developed procedure was established in four moments: search planning, information inquiry, source classification and report preparation.

The results obtained allow us to draw three conclusions: the first, which shows that social work has been defined from different meanings and positions; the second, establishes that social work in its contemporary conceptualization is a discipline of the social sciences in charge of generating theoretical, methodological, technical and instrumental knowledge of the social problems and needs that afflict the individual, groups, communities or regions; the third, which alludes to the notion of a profession that intervenes in the care of these problems through various government institutions, civil society organizations and business organizations.