SW115 Lesson 2: Organizational Context of Social Work Practice

Vocabulary flashcards covering organizational definitions, types of social welfare agencies, system properties, and organizational hierarchy levels based on SW115 Lesson 2 notes.

Organization

The setting up of the framework or structure of the different units of the system to carry out or perform distinct tasks for the attainment of the goals of administration.

Vision

An outline of what the organization wants to be, or how it wants the world in which it operates to be, representing a long-term view that concentrates on the future.

Mission

A succinct description of the fundamental purpose of an organization or enterprise, explaining why it exists and what it does to achieve its vision.

Goal

A broad, intangible, and abstract idea of what the organization aims to become.

Objective

Specific, tangible, and measurable statements that lead to the attainment of organizational goals.

Guiding Principles

Principles or precepts that guide an organization throughout its existence.

Plans

Detailed proposals or strategies outlining how the organization aims to achieve specific goals and objectives.

Services

Intangible offerings or activities provided to meet the needs of clients, customers, or other stakeholders.

Management

The activity that allocates and utilizes resources to achieve the goals of the organization, encompassing planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.

Administration (Richman and Copen)

An organizational process concerned with the implementation of objectives and plans and internal operating efficiency, often connoting bureaucratic structure, routine decision-making, and maintenance of the status quo.

Administration (Brooks Adam)

The capacity of coordinating many and often conflicting social energies in a single organism, so adroitly that they shall operate as a unity.

Administration (Herman Stein)

A process of defining and attaining the objectives of an organization through a system of coordinated and cooperative effort.

Social Welfare Agency

An instrument of society established by governmental or voluntary effort to meet the social needs of people to achieve a social goal.

Governmental or Public Agencies

Social welfare agencies supported by public funds or taxes, created through constitutional mandate, legislative act, executive order, presidential decree, or letter of instruction.

Private or Voluntary Agencies

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) supported by private contributions, donations, or income from services, governed by their own charters and boards.

Semi-Government or Quasi-Governmental Organizations

Organizations that receive some form of subsidy, either cash or in-kind, from the government.

International Organizations

Social welfare organizations that receive donations, grants, and services from international donors such as UNICEF, ADB, UNDP, JICA, KOICA, and USAID.

Proprietary Agencies

Agencies that provide designated social services with the additional aim of making a profit for their owners, including corporate foundations.

Republic Act No. 7160

The Local Government Code under whose authority Local Social Welfare and Development Offices (LSWDOs) are established at the provincial and municipal levels.

Administrative Bureaucracy (Rosemary Sarri and Robert Vinter)

The perspective viewing social welfare agencies as entities established to attain specific goals using internal structures, technologies, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Social System (Rosemary Sarri and Robert Vinter)

The perspective viewing social welfare agencies as entities that adaptively respond to external and internal pressures, subject to political, socio-cultural, and economic factors.

System (William Link)

A purposefully organized interrelationship of components in which the performance of the whole exceeds the individual outputs of all the parts.

Input

The component of a social system referring to human resources, work methods, beliefs, staff, budget, buildings, goals, funds, materials, time, and information brought into the system.

Throughput

The component of a social system referring to the conversion process of inputs to outputs, including management, technology, leadership, communication, power, authority, conflicts, and relationships.

Output

The component of a social system representing what the system is doing in relation to its goals, including programs, services, goods, individual energy, motivation, and information.

Open System

A system property in which the clientele served and the resources for support and maintenance come from the external environment or community.

Closed System

A system property describing an entity that is not affected by its external environment, maintaining constant programs despite socio-economic or political changes.

Multiple Systems

A system concept applying to many levels of systems and subsystems, moving from a small view (microcosm) to a large view (macrocosm).

Systems Equilibrium

The tendency of an organization or system to maintain uniform and beneficial stability within and between its parts.

Policy Level

The organizational level responsible for overall policy-making, reviewing budgets, contract signing, upholding standards, and fundraising.

Administrative Level

The organizational level responsible for policy formulation guidance, planning, staffing, organizing, fiscal control, and continuous public interpretation of the agency.

Supervisory Level

The organizational level responsible for enabling workers to perform effectively through administrative, educative, and supportive functions.

Direct Service Level

The organizational level having direct/field contact with clients, providing concrete and psycho-social services, making referrals, and advocating on clients' behalf.

Levels in the Organization

The hierarchical structure of a social welfare agency, comprising Policy, Administrative, Supervisory, and Direct Service levels.