Abstract
Since social changes and malfunctions of the social policy system exist in Japan, professional support including structural change, must be offered to people experiencing new and expanded life problems. This study reports the cognition and practice of social action among 616 members of the Japanese Association of Certified Social Workers (JACSW), examining both qualitative and quantitative data. The results of the study showed that only some social workers practiced social action. The lack of concern about social action was inferred by the low collection rate, from which it might be concluded that only half of the social workers surveyed understood social action including structural change, and 55% of them (24% of social workers surveyed) practiced social action. In addition, some of the social workers who recognized the importance of social action did not engage in it themselves. It is considered that recognizing social problems and system malfunctions, improving practice environments, and systematizing the methods of social action are essential in order for social workers to practice social action.
