Diversity is the norm of our daily life today, more so since globalization. Responding to this phenomenon, social work as a profession makes it pivotal to celebrate and respect diversity in this complex system of the world. It is a more common thing now to live with people of different cultures, religions, socio-economic statuses and even sexual orientations.

With diversity, issues emerge and may hinder people with different backgrounds to live harmoniously together. Issues such as discrimination and oppression prevent some people from getting the best out of life, hence diminishing their quality of life. Thus, the need for the eminent role of social workers in our society. It has been one of the pillars of the social work practice to ensure that social justice is upheld for all people, regardless of backgrounds. Social work practitioners make it their mission to see to it that there is competency in engaging people with different backgrounds in their practice.

There are many examples where diversity becomes a part of human lives. It can be seen from the simplest case of the divide between the poor and the rich to the more complex case of a community where refugees settle in. However the diversity takes places, it is of crucial importance that everyone is entitled to their own self-development that leads to a better quality of life.

This conference provides a platform for academics, students, practitioners, and policy-makers to come forward with an idea in their mind: Celebrating diversity. It is hoped that by sharing knowledge, works, ideas, and thoughts, the social work profession, revolving around other complementary fields such as psychology, sociology, economics, and political science, the process of developing social work practice in a diverse world become stronger and firmer. It is against this theme that the Institut Sosial Malaysia (ISM), an agency under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, and Universiti Sains Malaysia are collaborating to organize the 2nd International Social Work Conference 2015 with the theme: “Celebrating Diversity in One World” to be held at Evergreen Laurel Hotel, Penang, 2-3 December 2015.

Sub-themes

The sub-themes for the conference include but not limited to the following:  

1)    The Diverse Socio-Economic Issues Papers of this sub-theme deal with the issues related to the diverse socio-economic statuses such as poverty, employment, industrial immigration, and rights to education.  

2)    The Diverse Cultural, Racial, and Religious Issues Papers of this sub-theme address the issues of different races, religions, and cultures that may impact the process of social work practice. Issues such as refugees, international practice, and interracial marriages are also included.  

3)    The Diverse Gender and Sexual Issues This sub-theme is for papers discussing the diverse issues such as genders and sexuality, including women’s rights, LGBT, gender roles, and sexism.  

4)    The Diverse Issues of Voluntarism and the Community Development This is for the papers of works done on issues related to the importance of voluntarism especially in today’s world where diversity becomes part and parcel of the community development.  
5)    The Diverse Population of the Vulnerable Groups I: Children, Adolescent and Families Papers of this sub-theme address issues related to child developmental, child protection, family dynamics and others.  

6)    The Diverse Population of the Vulnerable Groups II: The Disabled This sub-theme includes papers presenting the issues related to disability such as access to rights, quality of life of the disabled, and the system surrounding the disabled.  

7)    The Diverse Population of the Vulnerable Groups III: The Stakeholders of the Criminal Justice Papers of this sub-theme cover the issues related to the diverse groups dealt with by the criminal justice system such as the offenders and the victims of crime.  

8)    The Diverse Population of the Vulnerable Groups IV: The Elderly Papers of this sub-theme address the issues related to the population with diverse age groups. The examples of the issues dealt with are health for the elderly, bereavement, death and dying, aging, and the like.