Abstract

Unlike what happens in several Global North countries, Community Social Work is still relevant in Latin American countries. In the case of Chile, most of the SW programs include courses about community, and they frequently incorporate the concept of territory. In this context, this study aimed to answer how community is addressed in SW education in Chile, and what are the implications of the incorporation of the term territory in the curriculum. The method consisted of the analysis of the courses' programs that explicitly refer to community and territory. After identifying the total number of courses in all universities of the country, the course programs were requested by e-mail to the program heads. 76% of the universities sent their course programs. The analysis was qualitative, and organized in three subsets: courses that in their titles refer only to the community (n = 27), only to the territory (n = 18) and to both (n = 6). The findings show that territory is a concept frequently used in association with community issues, but this does not necessarily mean new perspectives on Community Social Work. The mainstream approaches separate theory from practice, and conceive territory as a mere contextual factor.