Social workers are concerned with human needs, both of individuals and groups.

As a social worker, you assist others by helping them cope with issues in their everyday lives, such as dealing with relationships, and solving personal and family problems. Child, family, and school social workers provide social services and assistance to improve the social and emotional state of children and their families. In this role, you’d counsel single parents, arrange adoptions or find foster homes for neglected, abandoned, or abused children. You may specialize in working with people with injuries or serious illness and diseases or in providing services for senior citizens. Mental health and substance abuse social workers assess and treat individuals with mental illness or substance abuse problems such as alcohol abuse, tobacco, or other drugs. Medical and public health social workers provide psychosocial support to people, families, or populations so they can cope with illnesses and diseases such as breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, or AIDS.