Psychology evolved from the disciplines of physiology and philosophy. It developed from
a focus on understanding how the mind works and how sensations experienced become transported
into conscious awareness.
The Social Work profession was born out of church and charity work hundreds of years
ago. The first social work school was established in New Zealand in 1949, and since then it
has become a profession with a strong social justice focus.
Psychology focuses on understanding human behaviour and explaining it through scientific
principles. Behaviour occurs in so many contexts, and psychology works at teasing out all the
separate internal and external factors that influence behaviour.
Social work facilitates social wellbeing for all people. We support people to achieve their
own social goals, like decent housing, employment, positive relationships and aging well. Now
most people can achieve these goals on their own, but some face additional hurdles like
mental and physical impairment or illness, a lack of access to resources, discrimination and prejudice,
and sometimes its just bad luck, and that's where we come in.
To be a psychologist, you need membership of a professional body and postgraduate training.
An undergraduate degree in psychology provides a foundation for this advanced training.
To become a social worker, you need to complete a recognised Bachelor of Social Work programme
like ours. Or, if you already have a bachelor degree in a related discipline, you may be
able to enter directly into a masters programme. Either way, check that your programme of choice
is recognised by the Social Worker's Registration Board. Registration is increasingly required
and likely to become mandatory in the near future.
A psychology degree offers a range of transferable skills for any role working with people or
developing systems used by people. These skills include critical thinking, research, and analytical
and synthesis skills to understand and explain behaviour in personal, social and organisational
contexts using a multi-perspective approach. Successful psychology graduates can work in
human resources, social services or marketing. Psychology can also enhance a career in other
fields such as nursing or teaching. If you want to work as a psychologist, you will need
to complete relevant post graduate study after an under graduate degree. Once qualified,
you could work in the fields of clinical, criminal justice, educational, organisational,
or health psychology. Across these fields a common practice is developing
interventions to manage behaviour.
Qualified social workers can work in both government and non-government organisations.
Government organisations include child youth and family, corrections and district health
boards. Non-government organisations include iwi maori or pasifika social services, services
for refugees and migrants, religious based organisations and community based groups like
family starts, women's refuge and disabilty support services.