Clarification of the Concept of Social Work in the Legislature: A Quantitative Text Analysis of the Minutes of the National Diet in Japan

Abstract

This study clarifies the concept of social work through a quantitative text analysis of the use of the terms “social work” (SW) and “social worker” (SWer) in the Japanese legislature. Specifically, based on the Full-text Database System for the Minutes of the National Diet in Japan, we extracted utterances in which the terms SW and SWer were used, analyzed their frequency, co-occurrence, and related examples. The findings are as follows. First, there is an increasing trend in the use of the terms SW and SWer. Second, the main areas of discussion include medical welfare, mental disorders, child welfare, and judicial welfare. Finally, the intentions and expectations regarding SW and SWers may have evolved from professional support for individuals to the role of coordinators. Overall, the difference in the use of SW and SWer reveals a divergence in the conceptual relationship between these two terms, and that diversification and deprofessionalization of the concept of SW may be occurring.