You may have been drawn to social work because of a desire to help a specific population or to address certain social problems. You may already possess a large amount of knowledge related to these populations or problems based on past work experience, personal history, or academic studies. But as you also may know, a social worker cannot assume a client’s experience based on an identity category. Individuals hold multiple, intersecting identities, which influence their unique experience. This is why research and evidence-based practice are essential to social work.

You and your colleagues may have interests in different fields of social work practice or may be interested in assuming different social work roles. However, all will need foundational knowledge and skills related to understanding how the environment affects individual experience, assessing the influence of diversity and difference, and applying advocacy on behalf of client welfare and social justice. For this Discussion, you consider these issues with your colleagues.

• Describe your population of interest.
• Identify one professional role that a social worker may assume when working with this population.
• Explain how you might apply ecological or systems theory when working with the population.
• Describe specific steps you will take to develop your knowledge of this population through critical thought and research.