Hybrid Intervention Based on Virtual Intervention with Marginalized Organizations, Outcast Groups, and Professional Users of Technology

Abstract

Technological developments have seriously affected all areas of life, including sciences and various professions, and social work has not been immune from these effects. Therefore, fundamental questions are raised, such as how social work has adapted to technological changes. How has this profession been able to enrich its field of knowledge, skills, and ethical standards in terms of extensive technological changes? Are social workers able to use technology-based services for their clients? Are all clients able to use technology-based services? Has technology increased or decreased the severity of social exclusion of clients? Therefore, to answer these questions, qualitative research was conducted using structured interviews with 15 social workers in various public, private, and charitable institutions in Tehran, who were identified through targeted sampling. After that, the findings were analyzed based on coding, and five main themes were extracted, which include virtual citizenship, virtual empowerment, smart client management, and virtual marginalization. The conducted research shows that social workers do not consider the use of technological tools as a fundamental right of the client and do not consider it among the client’s basic needs.