Implications of Social Work Intervention in Disasters Determined by Natural Causes

As a profession, social work is dedicated to supporting those in distress to identify inner or/and external resources in order to achieve a better quality of life for all. Among social workers’ core responsibilities is working constantly towards achieving social justice and development for all (IFSW, 2014). A natural phenomenon, no matter how extreme, is considered a disaster once it’s unfolding directly, strongly and (mainly) negatively on the social-ecological systems. Considering this, the paper aims to explore the literature describing how social workers intervene in the management of disasters caused by rather natural causes. It starts from the premises that social workers are key stakeholders and valuable resources in the main phases of disasters’ management(mitigation, preparedness, intervention, recovery (Coppola, 2011) as they are active at the grass-roots and may build on the local knowledge to encourage preventive behaviours and enhance recovery. It ends by stressing the need to research the practices of Romanian social workers in disasters.


Keywords: social workers in Romania, disasters in Romania, roles of social workers in disaster