Podcast TCCR #002 - The ontological identity of Social Work: Beyond the technical

In this episode, we address a question that lies at the heart of our discipline: What is Social Work, in essence? Beyond the functions it performs or the tools it uses, what is its ontological identity? What distinguishes it, legitimizes it, and grounds it as both a profession and an applied social science?

The "Cognosystemic Theory of Human Psychosocial Relational Construction" (TCCR) offers a clear answer: Social Work is, above all, a relational, symbolic, narrative, and situated practice that intervenes in the processes through which individuals and collectives construct meaning in complex, conflictive, and unequal contexts.

This episode invites us to move beyond the instrumentalist view that has historically reduced Social Work to a “technical doing” subordinated to policies, institutions, or legal frameworks. We challenge the notion that the profession merely “executes” external decisions and instead reclaim its epistemic and transformative potential.

We analyze how Social Work operates within the realm of human connection and the psychosocial, engaging with human suffering, life narratives, fractured relationships, and the symbolic structures that shape existence. For this reason, its field is not merely technical or operational: it is deeply human, ethical, and symbolic.

The episode also reflects on how this ontological understanding allows us to distinguish Social Work from other related disciplines—without resorting to rigid boundaries. Its specificity does not lie in the physical object it addresses, but in the way it observes, interprets, and intervenes in the social world, always prioritizing connection, relationality, dignity, and meaning.

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