Strengthening Professional and Paraprofessional Contributions to Social Service and Social Development

Correspondence to Prof. E. Allan Brawley, Professor of Social Work, The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Sociology, 414 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16803, USA. Summary Based on a long-term research project that has generated dataon paraprofessional social service personnel in fourteen developedand developing countries, this paper presents some findingsthat, if acted upon, could strengthen the contribution of bothprofessionals and paraprofessionals to social service and socialdevelopment goals. The type of frontline workers who are generallyregarded as paraprofessionals have always been important participantsin social service activities throughout the world. This continuesto be the case in the countries studied. This article identifiesconditions under which the service activities of professionalsand paraprofessionals can be more productive and where theirjoint contribution to human well-being can be enhanced.