SEMANTICS AND ETYMOLOGY OF THE CONCEPT «SOCIAL WORK»

The starting point in the outlined relevance of the article is the thesis that the study of the genesis of the conceptual and categorical base is an integral part of the methodology of any science, including social work. It is in this vein that the authors have determined the theoretical and practical significance of highlighting the issue of the origin and evolution of the essence of the concept of «social work». The purpose of the publication is to study the semantics and etymology of the concept of «social work». The methodological basis of the article was an interdisciplinary cognitive approach, the principles of impartiality, objectivity, and historicism. Their implementation became possible through the use of methods of induction, deduction, logical, historical, synthesis, classification, retrospective, prosopography, narrative, as well as etymological, semantic, and cognitive analysis. The article characterizes the complex of prerequisites for the institutionalization of the conceptual nomination «social work». It was formed in the second half of the 19th century. in the context of the transformation of socially oriented practices from voluntary-optional to professional ones, the recognition by scientists of previous names as outdated and not meeting the needs of the time. The analysis revealed the conditions and reasons for choosing the concept of «social work» as a marker of socially oriented practices from a semantic series of similar names. The process of its popularization, distribution, and adoption in the relevant professional lexicon during the 20th century was studied. Much attention is devoted to the problem of institutionalization, semantic and etymological evolution of the concept of «social work» in Ukraine.