Social Work

Social Work

• It is an academic and professional discipline that seeks to facilitate the welfare of communities, individuals, and societies. It facilitates social change, development, cohesion, and empowerment.

• It is both a discipline and a profession (International Federation of Social Workers, 2014). As a Social Science academic discipline, It teaches the students the theories, methods, and practice of the Social Work profession

• The concepts and theories learned inside the classroom are practiced through a profession is also called this. It is where social workers collaborate with individuals, families, and communicaties in various settings in order to create positive social change.

• It is often underrated despite its great impact to people's lives. Part of the challenges of the social worker's profession is the many roles that have to be played.

Goals of Social Work

• To prepare practitioners who engage in evidenca based systems.

• To prepare practitioners who understand and value human diversity.

• To prepare prititioners who understand and value of systematic data collection.

• To encourage the development of a strong identity and a commitment to values and ethics of the social work profession.

• To prepare students to understand the dynamics and consequences of social and economic injustice and the importance of alleviating it.

Scope of Social Work

• Student/Child Development

• Medical Social Workers

• Clinical Social Workers

• Social Works Administration and Management

• International Social Workers

Social Workers’ Roles & Functions

• identify people who need help

• assess clients' needs and strengths

• counsel people who face life challenges

• assist individuals and families in meeting basic needs

• help clients navigate government assistance and programs

• respond to crisis situations

Specific Work Areas of Social Workers

• Schools

• Hospitals

• Nursing Care Facilities

• Government Agencies

RA 9433

In the Philippines, it enumerates the liberties of Social Workers which include their compensation and leave benefits.

Ethics of Social Work

In the Philippines, it is based on the International Declaration of Ethical Principles of Social Work and the International Ethical Standards for Social Workers. One item indicated is the responsibility of social workers to devote objective and disciplined knowledece and skill to aid individuals, groups. communities, and societies in their development and resolution of personal-socictal conflicts and their consequences.

Social Workers

• They are accountable to the clients, general public, and the society.

• It is linked to a general practitioner as he or she is expected to possess a wide range of skills so as intervene effectively in;

1. The common personal and emotional problems of client

2. The common social problems faced by groups, organizations and the larger community Also need to evaluate themselves through SWOT Analysis fo better gauge their ability and limitations in addressing their client’s problems.

Attributes of Social Work

• Well-organized application of the knowledge and skill used to address various issues directly or indirectly affecting the welfare and well being of people.

• Practice in different levels and context through oganized network of professional social workers.

• Observance of ethical norms established by the profession and the sanction of society.

• Carried out in cooperation with other helping disciplies and organization.

Social Workers Practice Their Profession Through Their Clientele and Audience

• Children

• Community

• Family Services

• Corrections

• Group Services

• Medical Clinics

• Mental Health

• Public Assistance

• School Social Work

• Aged

• Substance Abuser

• Mental-development Disabilities

• Other Disabilities

• Occupation Social Work

Client

It is someone who makes an explicit agreement with a social worker about the purpose of their work together.

Applicant

They are not entering into any agreement with the social worker to solve their issue, more often than not social workers encounter participants or resisters.

Client’s Goals

• Obtain help with problems

• Preserve self-respect

• Limit invasions of privacy

• Satisfy needs for dependence and nurturance

• Seek assurance that nothing is wrong

Social Worker’s Goals

• Established and maintain an area of expertise

• Use expertise

• Make money

• Demonstrate competence

• Serve others

Models of a Social Worker’s Perspective towards a Client

• Moral Mode

• Medical or Disease Model

• Compensatory Model

• Enlightenment Model

Moral Model

A person is responsible for both his or her problems and its solution.

Medical or Disease Model

The client is assumed to be responsible for neither the problem nor its solution.

Compensatory Model

The client is viewed as being responsible for the solution but not the problem.

Enlightenment Model

A person is responsible for the problem but not its solution.

Addressing the needs of individual, groups organization and communities

• Social work with individuals

• Social work with families

• Social work with groups

• Social work with organization

• Social work with the community

Social Conversation Groups

These are groups formed by neople who have similar experiences and who would like to share these experiences to each other for introspection for assistance.

Recreational Groups

These are members of these groups participate in activities for enjoyment and exercise.

Recreational-Skill Groups

These are task-oriented groups led by advisers, coaches, or instructors, so that members can develop certain sets of skills, while at the same time enjoying recreation activities.

Education Groups

These are almost similar to recreational-skill, they also require the development of knowledge and more complex skills, but these groups resemble a class, with considerable group interaction where discussions are encouraged.

Task Groups

These are instructional rather than recreational groups set of tasks or objectives.

Problem-solving and Decision-making Groups

These groups are given scenarios similar to their own, which they need to process and come up with various solutions.

Self-Help Groups

These are groups composed of volunteer members within the same socioeconomic backgrounds, who come together to solve common problems through self-help and mutual help.

Socialization Groups

These groups are meant to make members" attitudes and behaviors more socially acceptable through social skills, development, increase of self-confidence, and improvement of planning abilities.

Therapy Groups

The members of these groups provide counselngor those with severe emotional or personal problems.

Zastrow (2008)

He suggested that the most basic skill needed in community practice is the ability to work effectively with people.

The ability to work effectively with people

It is the most basic skill needed in community practice according to Zastrow (2008).

Community Practice Project

• It primarily involves working with individuals and with groups.

• Every practicing social worker occasionally becomes involved in this project.

• Seeing this project developed, approved, and implemented is immensely gratifying.

• These efforts are often fun.

Community Practice

• It is also known as social planning, community planning, locality development, community action, social action, macro practice, community organization, or community development.

• It is the process of stimulating and assisting the local community to evaluate. Plan and coordinate its efforts to provide for the community's health weltere and recreation needs.

Settings

• Government

• Private Sectors

• Civil Society

• School

• Community

Government

Social work is vital in this setting and social workers operate all through various levels and branches of the government as they try to help individuals with various life problems and issues.

Federal Government

Social work is vital in the government setting, but particularly so in this specific part of the government.

Private Sectors

Social Workers are also employed in these sectors as well as public agencies that provide an even wider career opportunity in the field.

Civil Society

As a concept in social work, it is often grounded in local community developments. Participation in civic associations that work collectively towards local development is one means through which residents achieve structural change and social justice.

Schools

• This kind of social worker provides counseling and psycho-social services to children and adolescents alike in school at both micro and macro levels.

• Social workers as mental health expert leaders of social and emotional development, family-school liaison’s, and program development experts.

Community

• Social Workers in a nutshell, help make them better. When social workers strive towards improving the conditions of their community they heighten the quality.

• Branches such as community practitioners help improve the lives of schools, neighborhoods, cities, and states alike. All of which fall into this category.

Social Work Services

• Child, Family, and School

• Medical and Public Health

• Mental Health and Substance Abuse

• Administration and Management

• Developmental Disabilities

• Justice and Corrections

• Politics

Child, Family, and School

Social workers help children, families, and the elderly work towards resolving their problems. They help place children in foster care and assist parents looking to adopt.

Medical and Public Health

Social Workers help the seriously ill and those with chronic health problems to find adequate care, access public resources like Medicare and Medicaid, and find services like nutrition classes and nursing care.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Social Workers help people with a wide variety of mental health and substance abuse problems.

Therapy

It is one common way for social workers to help clients address those problems.

Administration and Management

Social work administrators are proactive leaders in public and private agencies that provide services to clients. Many elements of this area of social work practice are common to administration in other organizations.

Developmental Disabilities

Social workers also help parents of children with developmental disabilities understand their legal rights. They help parents learn to be advocates and find special services that enable their children to be as independent as possible.

Justice and Corrections

Social workers who work in this area can be found in courts, rape crisis centres, police departments, and correctional facilities.

Politics

There is a natural progression in the careers of many social workers from activism to leadership, jncreasingly social workers are holding elective offices from school boards to city and county governments, from state legislatures all the way to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, Social workers also play leadership roles in local, state and federal agencies.

Core Values

• Service

• Social Justice

• Dignity and Worth of the Person

• Importance of Human Relationships

• Integrity

• Competence

Service

Addressing social ills and helping others is a primary goal of all social workers. It is the value from which all other social work values stem.

Social Justice

Social workers advocate on behalf of the oppressed, the voiceless, and others who are unable to advocate for themselves. They often focus on issues such as poverty, homelessness discrimination, harassment, and other forms of injustice.

Dignity and Worth of the Person

Every person is different, with different cultural and social values. Social workers are mindful of those differences, treating each person with dignity and respect and promoting their clients’ capacity and opportunity to address their own needs and improve their personal situations.

Importance of Human Relationships

Social workers recognize that facilitating human relationships van be a useful vehicle for creating change, and they excel at engaging potential partners who can create, maintain, and enhance the well-being of families, neighborhood, and whole communities.

Integrity

In order to facilitate these relationships and improve others' lives, social workers must exhibit trustworthiness at all times.

Competence

Professional social workers often hold undergraduate or Master's decree in Social Work, but a fair amount of their knowledge comes from gaining on-the-job experience.

Understanding the Role of a Social Worker

Being a social worker is often a challenging, yet rewarding career. Social workers are responsible for helping individuals, families, and groups of people to cope with probiems they re facing to improve their patients' lives. One aspect of this is teaching skills and developing mechanisms for patients to rely on to better their lives and experiences.

Social Work Process

It comprises a sequence of attions or tasks that draw on all of the components of practice discussed so far. It follows a clear linear route and is more often a fluid, circular cycle whereby workers move from assessment through to implementation and evaluation and back to assessment again. Despite this fluidity, some parts of the process, such as assessment, have clearly defined procedures guided by local or national policy. Some tasks may be fairly short and discrete, but many are longer term and more complex, such as assessments. You will also find that tasks often overlap and are revisited over a period of involvement with a berice user.

Cycle of the Social Work Process

• Assessment

• Deciding on Outcomes

• Planning

• Intervention

• Evaluation

Assessment

It is the evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of someone or something. It is widely agreed to be of great importance, but that is where agreement ends and contestation over what it is begins.

Deciding on Outcomes

In designing your learning event, think carefully about the purpose and expectations, and how these fit the needs of learners and relates to their individual roles and objectives, and those of the groups and organizations they may be a part of. It is a good idea to define the intended 'learning outcomes clearly in advance, and with others.

Planning

It is the process of thinking about the activities required to achieve a desired goal. It is the first and foremost activity to achieve desired results. It involves the creation and maintenance of a plan, such as psychological aspects that require conceptual skills.

Intervention

It is a situation in which someone becomes involved in a particular issue, problem and etc. in order to influence what happens.

Evaluation

It is the process of judging something's quality, importance or value, or a report that includes the information. It involves collecting and analyzing information about a program's activities, characteristics, and outcomes.

Social Work Method

• Social Case Work

• Social Group Work

• Community Organization

• Social Action

• Social Welfare Administration

• Social Work Research

Social Case Work

It is the method of employed by social workers to help individuals find solutions to the problems of social adjustment that are dificult to navigate.

Mary Ellen Bichmond

She is the founding mother of social case work.

Social Group Work

It is a method of social work that helps a person to enhance their social functioning through purposeful group experiences and to cope more effectively with their personal, group or community problems.

Community Organization

It is viewed from a humanitarian approach is meant to solve the problems of the community is as old as society itself.

Social Action

It has been used to signify a wide range of primarily voluntary initiative to bring out change in the social system, processes and even struoture. Social Workers more often than not have divergent opinion about the scope and relevance of this.

Social Welfare Administration

This is a process by which we apply professional competence to achieve certain goals. It is also called a process of transforming social policy into social action. It involves the administration of government and non government agencies.

Harleigh Trecker (1971)

He interprets social welfare administration as a "process of working with people in ways that release and relate their energies so that they use available resources to accomplish the purpose of providing needed commonly services and programmes.”

Social Work Research

It is the application of research methods to the production of knowledge that social workers need to solve problems they confront in the practice of Social Work. In short, it helps Social Workers to find ways and mean of enhancing social functioning at the individual, group, and social levels.