The trend of using technology in social work is rapidly increasing. The impact of technology goes beyond increased efficacy, as new technologies force practitioners to expand their abilities, and change how they design and implement interventions (Berzin, Singer, & Chan, 2015; Goldkind & Chan, 2017). In the context of technology for social work interventions, “technology” mainly refers to information and communications technology (ICT), and there are various types of technology-support interventions, some are merely technologically adapted, and some are driven by artificial intelligence systems (Chan & Holosko, 2018). There are newly developed academic textbooks (Hill & Shaw, 2011; Watling & Rogers, 2012), competency standards (NASW, 2017) and ethical guidelines (BASW, 2013). Overall, many technology-supported interventions indicate good outcomes and internal validity, but there is much room for improvement in evaluation designs and theorization (Chan, 2016, 2018; Chan & Holosko, 2016). There are also emerging challenges and opportunities arising from technology-supported interventions, such as digital divides, practitioners’ competence issues, jurisdictional boundary issues, and various ethical issues (McAuliffe & Nipperess, 2015; Reamer, 2015).
BASW. (2013). BASW social media policy. Birmingham: British Association of Social Workers (BASW).
Published by the British Association of Social Workers, this document focuses on the uses of social networking sites in social work practice and offers practice recommendations. CITATION
Berzin, S. et al. (2015). Practice innovation through technology in the digital age: A grand challenge for social work (Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative Working Paper No. 12). Cleveland, OH: Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.
This paper describes the potential and various challenges of using ICT in social work practice and discusses how these benefit society. Suggests ways to achieve progress. CITATION
Chan, C. (2016). A scoping review of social media use in social work practice. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 13(3), 263–276.
This scoping review identified the various uses, benefits, and limitations of social media in social work practice, revealing that social media has already penetrated various social work processes, including engagement, assessment, intervention and evaluation. However, the field is challenged by staying engaged through technology on an overall basis. CITATION
Chan, C. (2018). ICT-supported social work interventions with youth: A critical review. Journal of Social Work, 18(4), 468–488.
This systematic review of ICT-supported social work interventions with youth indicated that most of the identified studies merely provided indirect evidence, suggesting some effectiveness of technology use, but only a few of them provided direct and convincing empirical evidence. Moreover, the article points out that some of the more popular platforms used only a few years ago are no longer popular today: this raises questions concerning what ways practitioners and researchers can keep abreast of this ever-changing learning curve. CITATION
Chan, C. & Holosko, M. J. (2016). A review of information and communication technology enhanced social work interventions. Research on Social Work Practice, 26(1), 88–100.
This is a systematic review of ICT-enhanced social work interventions. The findings showed that most of the interventions reported positive outcomes, indicated acceptable internal validity, and upheld intervention fidelity. However, this review also points out that many ICT-enhanced social work interventions present a type of “black box” design in which they usually present what outcomes are achieved but do not elaborate on specific processes or skills to be used. CITATION
Chan, C. & Holosko, M. J. (2018, January 01). Technology for social work interventions. Oxford Bibliographies in Social Work. New York: Oxford University Press.
This article provides a list of annoated bibliography showing the state of the art of technology for social work interventions. It introiduces a range of technology-support interventions, some are merely technologically adapted, and some are driven by artificial intelligence systems. CITATION
Goldkind, L. & Chan, C. (2017). The Journal of Technology in Human Services Turns a New Page. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 35(4), 271–276.
Summarizes the state-of-the-art of technology in human services in a concise manner, and it introduces how the fast-changing domains have already disrupted service admin, practice, education, research methodology, and ethics in no small measure. CITATION
Reamer, F. G. (2015). Clinical social work in a digital environment: Ethical and risk-management challenges. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(2), 120–132.
Introduces different cases involving jurisdictional boundary issues in online practice, revealing that social workers’ legal knowledge affects their attitudes toward their ensuing responses to the challenges that arise from such practice. CITATION
NASW. (2017). NASW, ASWB, CSWE ,& CSWA Standards for Technology in Social Work Practice. National Association of Social Workers.
This document covers a wide range of aspects in technology-supported social work, such as ethics, social workers’ competencies, management, and information policy. CITATION
Hill, A. & Shaw, I. (2011). Social work & ICT. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
Describes various ICT skills, explains why ICT is used, and illustrates how this affects practice and service users in the social work profession. CITATION
Watling, S. & Rogers, J. (2012). Social work in a digital society. London: SAGE Publications.
Illustrates how the Internet impacts social work education and practice and how the core value-base of social work may have a positive effect on service users, who engage clients with services empowered by current technologies. CITATION
