And Then There Was Social Work.

This article focuses on the development of the social work degree at Massey University in New Zealand. The beginnings of the social work program at Massey University signals the importance of a number of key players. Among them is Merv Hancock, the first director of the program and a member of the working party charged with the development and establishment of the degree. The study of sociology was to be a core subject in the social work program, especially as those teaching it were located within the Department of Sociology. Strong links were developed between the staff in the social work unit and their colleagues in the sociology program. A key focus was to develop social work as an academic discipline in its own right, but one which draws on a range of social science subjects best taught each within their own discipline. Sociology has a key role to perform for social workers for not only does it enable to examine the complexities of society but it also enables to explore how the collective is present in the interactions of organizations, communities, neighborhoods and households. Sociology in all its manifestations has, and will continue to have, a central role in informing social work practice and education.