Students’ Multidimensional Needs And School Social Work: A Qualitative Study
This study examined students’ multidimensional needs in the school environment and school social work in relation to these needs from school counselors’ perspectives. The qualitative study included 20 school counselors working in 15 primary and middle schools in Tuzla, Istanbul. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews and analyzed using content analysis. Three themes emerged: students’ problems and existing support practices, family- and school-related factors, and perceptions of school social work and interprofessional collaboration. Findings showed that students’ needs involved individual, familial, social, and environmental dimensions. Participants viewed school social work as a complementary professional field that could strengthen counseling services and school–family–community linkages. By demonstrating the relationship between students’ multidimensional needs and the complementary and interprofessional functions of school social work from school counselors’ perspectives, the study contributes to the school social work literature.