What is Financial social work? Explained

Introduction
History
Disconnect from money
Determinants of financial behavior
Professional development
References

Introduction

Financial social work is a multidisciplinary, interactive and introspective approach that assists individuals in exploring and addressing their unconscious feelings, thoughts, and attitudes toward money. This self-evaluation process enables people to improve their relationship with money and, as a result, establish healthier money habits that lead to better financial circumstances.

History

CMSW Reeta Wolfsohn pioneered financial social work. She is the Center for Financial Social Work's founder and president. Wolfsohn's work with women and the term femonomics, which she coined in 1997, inspired financial social work. In 2005, Femonomics expanded into financial social work, an approach that guides both men and women toward financial well-being.

Wolfsohn introduced the behavioural financial social work model to the University of Maryland in 2008 as a continuing education course, and then as a graduate level course in January 2009. The University of Maryland School of Social Work established the financial social work initiative (FSWI) to prepare social work graduates to assist clients in improving their financial capability through continuing education courses, a graduate level elective course, out-of-classroom offerings, and paid field placements that address financial issues at the individual and community levels.

Since 2011, the certification curriculum of the Center for Financial Social Work has been taught as an online elective class at the University of Kentucky.

Disconnect from money

Consumerism is characterised by an increasingly cashless society, with payment options such as checks, credit cards, debit cards, money orders, small dollar loans, and store-value cards, as well as a variety of direct deposit methods for income and benefits. Individuals disconnect from their money when they have less direct and physical contact with it. This prevents them from knowing or comprehending how much money they have or how their spending affects their financial situation.

Determinants of financial behavior

Many internal and external factors influence people's financial behaviour. Individual psychology, family history, and environment are examples of internal elements. Parents' values and beliefs about the importance of saving vs. spending, as well as overall materialism, influence their children's money values and beliefs; these money lessons are primarily transmitted through modelling and discussion. Media, markets, peers, culture, and social mood are all examples of external factors. Furthermore, self-worth, net worth, and social signalling all influence people's purchasing habits.

People with limited financial resources, or those attempting to live up to the standards of others, frequently suffer from low selfesteem. As a result, you may feel unworthy of a better financial future and engage in self-destructive behaviours such as overspending on high-status items.

Improved financial circumstances necessitate increased self-awareness because every financial decision is influenced by an individual's money-related thoughts, feelings, and attitudes, which are frequently more unconscious than conscious. The Financial Social Work model employs a transformative learning approach to increase self-awareness, sense of self, and financial knowledge. Individuals who gain a better understanding of why and how their money thoughts and attitudes developed are more likely to make long-term financial decisions that benefit their future.

According to the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change, they then pursue their individual path to financial well-being based on where they are in the life cycle and their readiness/willingness to change (TTM). Furthermore, as part of the Financial Social Work package, ongoing education, motivation, and support are provided, increasing the likelihood of optimal results.

Professional development

Historically, most undergraduate and graduate social work programmes did not include financial literacy or personal finance courses. That is changing as a result of nearly two-thirds (65%) of 130 university programme survey participants being very interested in developing or expanding student competency in financial capability [20], as well as the University of Maryland's Financial Social Work Initiative, the Center for Financial Social Work's self-study certification process (recognised by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW)), and the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) 2016 launch.

References

Despard, M., & Chowa, G. A. N. (2010). Social workers' interest in building individuals' financial capabilities. Journal of Financial Therapy, 1(1), 23–41.
Wolfsohn, R., & Michaeli, D. (2014-02-03). Financial Social Work. Encyclopedia of Social Work. (This article was superseded by a completely different version by different authors on 2019-08-28, so the referenced statements may need to be updated to reflect the new version of the article at doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.923 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fa crefore%2F9780199975839.013.923).)
Wolfsohn, R. (2012). Linking policy and practice. In E. F. Hoffler & E. J. Clark (Eds.), Social Work Matters: Power of Linking Policy and Practice. (pp. 219–223). Washington, DC: NASW Press.