Generalist practitioners understand the value base of the profession and its ethical standards, as well as relevant laws and regulations that may impact practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Generalist practitioners understand frameworks in practice, research, and policy arenas. Generalist practitioners recognize personal values and the distinction between personal and professional values.  They also understand how their personal experiences and affective reactions influence their professional judgment and behavior. Generalist practitioners understand the profession’s history, its mission, and the roles and responsibilities of the profession. Generalist practitioners also understand the role of other professions when engaged in inter-professional teams. Generalist practitioners recognize the importance of life-long learning and are committed to continually updating their skills to ensure they are relevant and effective. Generalist practitioners also understand emerging forms of technology and the ethical use of technology in social work practice. Generalist practitioners:

• Make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision-making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics as appropriate to context;
• Use self-reflection and self-regulation to manage personal values and maintain professionalism in practice situations;
• Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic communication;
• Use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate practice outcomes;
• Use supervision and consultation to guide judgement and behavior.

Generalist practitioners understand how diversity and difference characterize and shape the human experience and are critical to the formation of identify. The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersectionality of multiple factors including but not limited to age, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, marital status, political ideology, race, religion/spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status.  Generalist practitioners understand that, as a consequence of difference, a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege, power, and acclaim. Generalist practitioners also understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values, including social, economic, political, and cultural exclusions, may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create privilege and power.  Generalist practitioners:

• Advocate for human rights at the individual, family, group, organization, and community system levels;
• Engage in practices that advance human rights to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.

Generalist practitioners understand that every person regardless of position in society has fundamental human rights such as freedom, safety, privacy, an adequate standard of living, health care, and education. Generalist practitioners understand the global interconnections of oppression and human rights violations, and are knowledgeable about theories of human need and social justice and strategies to promote social and economic justice and human rights. Generalist practitioners understand strategies designed to eliminate oppressive structural barriers to ensure that social goods, rights, and responsibilities are distributed equitably and that civil, political, environmental, economic, social, and cultural human rights are protected. Generalist practitioners:

• Demonstrate anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice at the individual, family, group, organizational, community, research, and policy levels for human rights at the individual and system levels;
• Demonstrate cultural humility by applying critical reflection, self-awareness, and self-regulation to manage the influence of bias, power, privilege, and values in working with clients and constituencies, acknowledging them as experts of their own lived experiences;
• Apply self-awareness and self-regulation to manage the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse clients and constituencies.

Generalist practitioners understand quantitative and qualitative research methods and their respective roles in advancing a science of social work and in evaluating their practice. Generalist practitioners know the principles of logic, scientific inquiry, and culturally informed and ethical approaches to building knowledge. Generalist practitioners understand that evidence that informs practice derives from multi-disciplinary sources and multiple ways of knowing. They also understand the processes for translating research findings into effective practice. Generalist practitioners:

• Identify ethical, culturally informed anti-racist, and anti-oppressive strategies that address inherent biases for use in qualitative and quantitative research methods to advance the purposes of social work;
• Use practice experience and theory to inform scientific inquiry and research;
• Apply research findings to inform and improve practice, policy, and programs.

Generalist practitioners understand that human rights and social justice, as well as social welfare and services, are mediated by policy and its implementation at the federal, state, and local levels. Generalist practitioners understand the history and current structure of social policies and services, the role of policy in service delivery, and the role of practice in policy development. Generalist practitioners understand their role in policy development and implementation within their practice settings at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels and they actively engage in policy practice to effect change within those settings. Generalist practitioners recognize and understand the historical, social, cultural, economic, organizational, environmental, and global influences that affect social policy.  They are also knowledgeable about policy formulation, analysis, implementation, and evaluation. Generalist practitioners:

• Use social justice, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive lenses to assess how social welfare policies affect the delivery of and access to social services;
• Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance
  human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.

Generalist practitioners understand that engagement is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Generalist practitioners value the importance of human relationships. Generalist practitioners understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge to facilitate engagement with clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Generalist practitioners understand strategies to engage diverse clients and constituencies to advance practice effectiveness. Generalist practitioners understand how their personal experiences and affective reactions may impact their ability to effectively engage with diverse clients and constituencies. Generalist practitioners value principles of relationship-building and inter-professional collaboration to facilitate engagement with clients, constituencies, and other professionals as appropriate. Generalist practitioners:

• Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in- environment, as well as interprofessional conceptual frameworks to engage with clients and constituencies;
• Use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to engage in culturally responsive practice with clients and constituencies.

Generalist practitioners understand that assessment is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Generalist practitioners understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in the assessment of diverse clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.  Generalist practitioners understand methods of assessment with diverse clients and constituencies to advance practice effectiveness. Generalist practitioners recognize the implications of the larger practice context in the assessment process and value the importance of inter-professional collaboration in this process. Generalist practitioners understand how their personal experiences and affective reactions may affect their assessment and decision-making. Generalist practitioners:

• Apply theories of human behavior and the social environment, person-in- environment, as well as other culturally responsive and interprofessional conceptual frameworks when assessing clients and constituencies;
• Demonstrate respect for client self-determination during the assessment process by collaborating with clients and constituencies in developing a mutually agreed upon plan.

Generalist practitioners understand that intervention is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Generalist practitioners are knowledgeable about evidence-informed interventions to achieve the goals of clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Generalist practitioners understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge to effectively intervene with clients and constituencies. Generalist practitioners understand methods of identifying, analyzing and implementing evidence-informed interventions to achieve clients and constituency goals. Generalist practitioners value the importance of inter-professional teamwork and communication in interventions, recognizing that beneficial outcomes may require interdisciplinary, inter-professional, and inter-organizational collaboration. Generalist practitioners:

• Engage with clients and constituencies to critically choose and implement culturally responsive, evidence-informed interventions to achieve client and constituency goals;
• Facilitate effective transitions and endings that advance mutually developed goals;
• Incorporate culturally responsive methods to negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of diverse clients and constituencies.

Generalist practitioners understand that evaluation is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individual, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Generalist practitioners recognize the importance of evaluating processes and outcomes to advance practice policy, and service delivery effectiveness. Generalist practitioners understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in evaluating outcomes. Generalist practitioners understand qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating outcomes and practice effectiveness. Generalist practitioners:

• Select and use culturally responsive methods for evaluation of outcomes;
• Critically analyze outcomes and apply evaluation findings to improve practice effectiveness with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.