Contextualizing and Locating Professionalism: Social Work Practice in North East India

Overview & Synopsis

The introduction and relevance of social work in developing countries, such as India, is often contended and challenged for its potential professional imperialism. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the relevance and adequacy of the social work profession in addressing the contemporary needs and challenges in North-East India. Further, it explores the dynamics presented by the interaction of social work professionalism, the tribal cultural milieu, and the charity and missionary orientations of Christianity, addressing issues and concerns of social work practice in this scenario. In addition, it identifies the relevance of theoretical perspectives, models, methods, and techniques and seeks to answer the question of the adequacy of social work training. The paper also explores the scope of social work practice in existing institutional and non-institutional settings.