Working with social complexity in a neoliberal society: challenges for social work in Estonia

This article deals with Estonian social workers' perspectives on the fundamentals of the social work profession in a society where radical social, political, and economic changes have occurred within a very short period of time. Estonia typically figures as a model country, sometimes as a positive model, sometimes as a negative one, but according to most commentators, Estonia has pursued social and economic transformations in a particularly dramatic way. Social workers have recognized that radical changes have created new types of problems and social work should deal with vulnerable people and families under uncertain and unforeseeable conditions. Estonia is a challenging example to understand social work in the context of a neoliberal market society. It is therefore necessary to find out what the new challenges for the development of social work as a profession are. This article explores a ‘direction’ toward which social work in Estonia is developing, focusing mainly on the influence of the Estonian political context. The results of the research are relevant to the entire social work profession, insomuch as they address questions about the essence of social work and the ethical principles of the social work profession in society and how they can be strongly influenced by neoliberal thinking and increasing complexity.