Social Work Vs. Law (MSW Vs. JD)

[sylus]

Has anyone gone through a similar debate? I will graduate with a BSW in Spring 2013 and am trying to decide whether to go on for an MSW or a JD. I would love any insight on how you decided which career was the best fit for you. I'd also love to hear from anyone who started in one career and switched to the other.

Thanks!

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[aequitasveritas]

Has anyone gone through a similar debate? I will graduate with a BSW in Spring 2013 and am trying to decide whether to go on for an MSW or a JD. I would love any insight on how you decided which career was the best fit for you. I'd also love to hear from anyone who started in one career and switched to the other.

Thanks!

IDK who ur r and what ur context or values are.

For me...OMG...LAW ovr MSW any day. Monery ovr poverty, standard of living ovr 1br apartment, helping ppl in legal situations ovr beating your dam head against the wall in mental health clinics with psychotic people (which is where MSWs or LCSWs usually end up...don't believe the hype about private practice...hard enough to launch into it w/ a PhD).

 

[pingouin]

Has anyone gone through a similar debate? I will graduate with a BSW in Spring 2013 and am trying to decide whether to go on for an MSW or a JD. I would love any insight on how you decided which career was the best fit for you. I'd also love to hear from anyone who started in one career and switched to the other.

Thanks!

It would be helpful if you could post some more information about what you like about each degree and what your professional goals are. I don't recall seeing any MSW/JDs in these parts, so I'm not sure there will be anyone around who can give their experiences (prove me wrong, lurkers!).

Talk to your advisor at your school, who will be able to give you more help since s/he will know you much better than we do. Make sure to ask about combined MSW/JD programs, as several exist.

The few persons I know of who have both degrees tend to primarily practice as attorneys, but in human services-type fields- guardian ad litems, Victims' Services, divorce mediation, etc. I'm sure it's helpful to have the MSW to practice in these areas, but it wouldn't be a necessity.

 

[lizzo76]

I graduated with an undergraduate degree in psychology, and went to law school two years later. I did well, Dean's List, top 10%, but I withdrew after a year.

Keep in mind a couple things. First of all, a law degree does NOT guarantee you a high standard of living. The dirty secret these days, even more so than when I entered law school 10 years ago, is that law firms are laying people off left and right. There is absolutely no guarantee of a job, even if you graduate from a top law school and were on law review. I know some people cobbling together contract work including "document review" work a trained monkey could do. People always equate lawyers with money, and it's often not the case.

Second, law school is about a million times more difficult, academically, than an MSW, so be realistic about your abilities and your ability to stick with something which is, quite frankly, often boring, even if you're generally interested in law.

Third, law school is usually crazy-expensive.

Fourth... law or social work? Seems like a funny question, because they're such completely and utterly different fields. There was actually a girl in my class who has the MSW and had worked as a social worker for awhile, and been honored by state organizations, etc.. She realized, after working with down and out clients, that her passion lay with providing legal help to the same population. But that's different from saying, "I don't like being poor, I want to make money." She's not going to make much money doing the kind of legal work she wants to do.

Think carefully about your TRUE interests... many lawyers hate their jobs and there is a high rate of suicide. Many other lawyers love their jobs. Many social workers love their jobs... many are also burned out and hate their jobs.

Do your research into the job markets in both fields, the realities of admissions, tuition, funding, academic difficulty, etc..

My major advice to you is to wait a few years to decide which graduate program you'd like to enter. You'll know yourself and the world better then.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Law is ridiculously competitive once you get out, there are WAY too many lawyers fighting for few jobs. With the mountains of debt associated with most of the law programs...it can be quite dicey. The vast majority of lawyers are pretty much getting paid to do 50+hr of homework a week, hoping that they score well enough to qualify for a bonus. Some can massage their law experience into a biz/consulting job...but that is not a typical path for most lawyers.

Social Work is a completely different animal. I don't really think the fields are comparable because the day to day work is so different.

 

[spctle342]

Law is ridiculously competitive once you get out, there are WAY too many lawyers fighting for few jobs. With the mountains of debt associated with most of the law programs...it can be quite dicey. The vast majority of lawyers are pretty much getting paid to do 50+hr of homework a week, hoping that they score well enough to qualify for a bonus. Some can massage their law experience into a biz/consulting job...but that is not a typical path for most lawyers.

Social Work is a completely different animal. I don't really think the fields are comparable because the day to day work is so different.

I find statements like these interesting, because I'm currently completing an internship under the supervision of an MSW at a nonprofit public interest law firm. Most of the staff are attorneys, there's one MSW, a few law clerks, and numerous social work interns. We're a real high-energy, ambitious, motley bunch... and I love it!

For me, law school was out of the picture because I can't afford to take on the enormous debt only to seek out work in the public sector where I'd be earning around the same salary as a beginning MSW. Because I'm very interested in law, but more personally drawn to the ethics and principles of social work, the place I'm at now (and others like it--there are many) proves the best of both worlds.

Each day I get to collaborate with attorneys on the social work aspects of legal projects, and I'm able to approach them to get legal questions answered before offering advice to citizens who call and request our assistance in both areas. Law and social work can truly go hand in hand.

Ideally, I wouldn't have to select just one, but since I do, I don't mind winding up the lone MSW in an office of attorneys working to eradicate poverty and discrimination while helping to advance some really groundbreaking legislation to help "the system" work for the people. Social justice. That's really what it boils down to.

 

[aequitasveritas]

How is "social justice" different from just justice?

 

[spctle342]

How is "social justice" different from just justice?

Is this a real question?

Are you trying to be condescending?

How is social consciousness different from just consciousness? How is social responsibility different from just responsibility? How is social obligation different from just obligation?

Law can be any number of things. Is a divorce attorney practicing "social justice?" A prosecutor? A legal consultant for the media? Of course social justice is different from "just justice" for reasons that are rather obvious.

 

[lizzo76]

I think the comment about law being "ridiculously competitive" (which is the truth in most areas) referred to jobs that actually pay well, which is, it seems, what the OP wants. (That assumption is based on her statements about a law degree affording a higher standard of living than the MSW degree would.) Sure, there are also laid back jobs, but if you think you're going to go to law school and make $150K or $200K (or even something like $60K in some regions) to start, you're going to have to dive into the competitive world. I have former classmates who have laid back mostly 9-5 jobs, but they also started out in the $30Ks and $40Ks in the northeast.

 

[aequitasveritas]

Is this a real question?

Are you trying to be condescending?

How is social consciousness different from just consciousness? How is social responsibility different from just responsibility? How is social obligation different from just obligation?

Law can be any number of things. Is a divorce attorney practicing "social justice?" A prosecutor? A legal consultant for the media? Of course social justice is different from "just justice" for reasons that are rather obvious.

Would you mind answering the question?

 

[spctle342]

Would you mind answering the question?

Oh, so it was a real question. Even Google can explain it better than I. To me, "just justice" is "law." It's firm and swift and unyielding and decisive. Social justice is primarily concerned with eradicating "social injustices" such as poverty and discrimination. Social justice is aligned with systemic barriers among populations, while justice may be found at an individual level. What is "just" may not be socially appropriate, and vice versa. Sure, there's some overlap, but there's plenty of distinction, as well.

 

[aequitasveritas]

Oh, so it was a real question. Even Google can explain it better than I. To me, "just justice" is "law." It's firm and swift and unyielding and decisive. Social justice is primarily concerned with eradicating "social injustices" such as poverty and discrimination. Social justice is aligned with systemic barriers among populations, while justice may be found at an individual level. What is "just" may not be socially appropriate, and vice versa. Sure, there's some overlap, but there's plenty of distinction, as well.

thanks for giving me an idea of what you meant. I didn't mean to be condescending; my questions probably detracts from the nature of the thread so I'll let it rest (we could get into a philosophical argument though!) Thanks