Social Development, the promotion of Well-Being, and the Perceived Role of Social Work in Peru

Abstract

Social development can benefit from a more realistic assessment of what has, what can and what should be accomplished. This research aimed at identifying the role social work is playing in the promotion of well-being within social development interventions in Peru. To achieve this, the methods concentrated on collecting data through a desk review and an internet based survey. The purposive sample was composed of 30 professionals working on the promotion of well-being, in public institutions, NGOs, social entrepreneurships, universities, international and national agencies and community-based organizations in Lima, the Andean and rain forest region. The results revealed that most of the organizations pursue a main goal of integral development preventing multidimensional problems, mainly through educational strategies (developing human and social capital), as well as implementing social planning and creating employment; commonly with families and women. Social workers are fairly represented in the field, however perceived positively, as promoters of well-being and more equal societies. Demanding challenges lie ahead of Peruvian social development, though the results underlined valuable structural and subjective resources to overcome these.