Knowledge and Philosophical Foundation of the Social Work Profession

Social Welfare: Definitions, Concepts, and Foundations

  • Definition of Social Welfare:

    • Represents everything that men do for the good of society.
    • Defined by Gertrude Wilson as the "organized concern of all people for all people."
    • Defined by Walter Friedlander as "the organized system of social services and institutions, designed to aid individuals and groups to attain satisfying standards of life and health."
    • Defined by Elizabeth Wickenden as "those laws, programs, benefits and services which assure or strengthen provision for meeting social needs recognized as basic to the wellbeing of the population and the better functioning of the social order."
    • Defined by the Pre-Conference Working Committee for the XVth International Conference on Social Welfare as "all the organized social arrangement which have as their direct and primary objective the wellbeing of people in a social context."

  • Societal Responses to Unmet Needs and Social Problems:

    • Individual and Group Efforts: Systematic and voluntary actions undertaken by individuals or groups, such as clean-up drives, tree planting, volunteering, and donations.
    • Major Societal Institutions: Social forces that bring about societal changes, including the family, government, church, cooperatives, and labor unions.
    • Social Agency: A major provision for helping people resolve their problems, functioning as an integral component of a community's institutionalized network of services for its members (e.g., Department of Social Welfare and Development [DSWD], Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office [MSWDO]).

Views, Categories, and Goals of Social Welfare

  • Two Perspectives on Social Welfare:

    • Residual Formulation:
    • Conceives the social welfare structure as temporary, offered primarily during emergency situations.
    • Services are withdrawn once regular social systems (such as the family and economic institutions) resume normal operation.
    • Carries the social stigma associated with doles or charity.
    • Institutional Formulation:
    • Views social welfare as a proper, legitimate, and permanent function of modern society.
    • Recognizes that it is normal for certain individuals to be unable to fulfill all basic needs independently.
    • Helping agencies are accepted as regular social institutions.
    • Reflected in the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

  • Social Welfare Program Categories:

    • Social Security: A compulsory set of measures instituted to protect individuals and their families against consequences arising from unavoidable interruptions in earned income (e.g., PhilHealth, Social Security System [SSS], Home Development Mutual Fund [PAG-IBIG]).
    • Personal Social Services: Service functions directly addressing personal problems, including counseling services, elderly services, child services, and psychological services.
    • Public Assistance: Material or concrete supports provided typically by government agencies to individuals with no income or means of self-support; commonly termed "welfare" in international contexts (e.g., Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program [4Ps], Social Amelioration Program [SAP], Social Pension).

  • Social Services and Structural Economics:

    • Concept: Expresses society's collective concern for member well-being through concrete programs, services, and activities.
    • Rationale: Necessary because individuals encounter problems exceeding their personal coping capacities, to facilitate self-fulfillment, and to help individuals address challenges arising from urbanization and industrialization.
    • Richard M. Titmuss Perspective:
    • Views social problems as structural and fundamentally rooted in the economy.
    • Asserts: "Since we cannot name and blame the culprits and oblige them to make redress, we must either provide social services or allow the social costs of the system to lie where they fell."
    • Regards social services as partial compensation for "socially-generated disservices" and "socially-caused diswelfare."

  • Goals of Social Welfare Services:

    • Humanitarian and Social Justice Goals:
    • Rooted in the democratic ideal of social justice.
    • Founded on the belief that human beings possess intrinsic potential for self-realization, hindered only by external factors.
    • Identifies the most afflicted, dependent, neglected, and least capable of self-help as the priority targets for allocating scarce resources.
    • Social Control Goal:
    • Recognizes that needy, deprived, or disadvantaged groups may retaliate against an alienating or offending society.
    • Aims to secure society against threats to life, property, and political stability.
    • Delivers social services to dissidents, juvenile offenders, and adult offenders.
    • Economic Development Goal:
    • Prioritizes programs designed to support increased production of goods and services.
    • Immediate beneficiaries are often able-bodied and relatively better-off community members.
    • Specific Examples of Economic Development Social Services:
      • Direct productivity enhancement: Youth counseling, worker adjustment to industrial settings, rehabilitation of handicapped workers, and skills training.
      • Burden-relief for adult workers: Daycare centers, old-age homes, health clinics, and rehabilitation centers to prevent dependence from hampering worker productivity.
      • Urbanization counteraction and leadership development: Family life education services and local community leadership training programs.

Social Work Profession and Social Functioning

  • Definition and Scope:

    • Concerned with human adjustment to environment, specifically evaluating a person or group in relation to their social situation.
    • Defined by the United States Council on Social Work Education as seeking to enhance the social functioning of individuals, singly and in groups, through activities focused on social relationships constituting the interaction between man and environment.
    • Defined jointly by the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) on June 27, 2001: "The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of human behavior and social systems, social works intervenes at the points where people interact with their environment. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamentals to social work."
    • Defined globally by the IFSW General Meeting and IASSW General Assembly in July 2014: "Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledges, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing."

  • Three Core Functions of Social Work:

    • Restoration of impaired capacity.
    • Provision of individual and social resources.
    • Prevention of social dysfunction.

  • Social Functioning:

    • Defined as the outcome resulting from an individual's performance of various social roles in society.
    • Causes of Social Functioning Problems:
    • Personal Inadequacies: Pathologies or internal limitations making environmental coping difficult (e.g., physiological factors, incorrect attitudes and values, unrealistic perceptions of reality, ignorance, lack of skills).
    • Situational Inadequacies: External factors exceeding personal coping capacities (e.g., lack of resources and opportunities, accessibility barriers to existing resources, unjust or exploitative workplace environments).
    • Combined Inadequacies: Simultaneous presence of both personal and situational factors.

Pre-Historic and Spanish Periods of Social Welfare in the Philippines

  • Pre-Historic Period:

    • Communities comprised small, scattered settlements along river mouths and coastal plains, chosen for access to water, food, and transportation.
    • Social units were called Barangays, operating as independent structures composed of parents, children, relatives, and slaves.
    • Led by the Dato, who was the oldest community member responsible for overseeing welfare, arbitrating conflicts, and leading in times of danger.
    • Social welfare centered around mutual protection and economic survival, fostering community alliances and inter-barangay marriages.

  • Spanish Period:

    • Reorganized native communities into pueblos (centralized towns), causing large population concentrations that led to health/sanitation issues, personal maladjustment, and economic dislocation.
    • Indigency and poverty became prominent due to punitive Spanish colonial methods.
    • Social welfare activities were motivated by the religious belief that helping the needy served as a means to achieve personal salvation.
    • Establishment of Hospitals:
    • Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi founded the first hospital in Cebu City in 1565 to treat wounded soldiers and sea voyage or local disease victims.
    • Transferred to Manila in 1571; renamed Hospitalito de Sta. Ana in 1578 under Franciscan supervision; renamed Sternberg General Hospital during the American period.
    • San Lazaro Hospital and San Juan de Dios Hospital originated from this institution.
    • San Lazaro Hospital: Originally constructed for Filipino beggars; converted in 1631 into a leper hospital upon the arrival of 150 lepers from Japan; pioneered organized isolation of the sick under Fr. Juan Clemente, who initiated Manila's medical services for the poor.
    • Additional hospitals: San Gabriel Hospital (1587), Hospital Real (1612), Nueva Caceres in Naga (1645), and Hospital for Convalescent (1742).
    • Establishment of Asylums and Orphanages:
    • Founded in 1882 by Augustinian Fathers following a cholera epidemic: Nuestra Senora de la Consolacion for girls in Mandaluyong and Santo Tomas de Villanueva for boys in Tambobong.
    • Hospicio de San Jose (1882): Served the aged, orphans, mentally defective individuals, and young boys requiring reform.
    • Asilo de San Vicente de Paul (1885): Offered young girls religious instruction, primary education, and domestic training; recognized for management and ward discipline.
    • Educational Institutions:
    • Parochial School of Cebu (1565): First school in the Philippines, founded by Augustinian friars; taught Christian religion, Spanish culture/language, music, reading, writing, arithmetic, and vocational skills.
    • Obras Pias (1817): Original charity school out of which the Ateneo de Manila (1859, founded by Jesuits) originated.
    • Boys' Schools: San Ildefonso College (1595), Colegio de San Jose (1601), Colegio de San Felipe (1717), and Artillery School (1754).
    • Girls' Schools: Santa Isabel (1694), Santa Catalina (1696), and Santa Rosa (1750).
    • Public primary education expanded post-1850s; by 1867, 593 primary schools served 138,990 students, funded via government subsidies and private solicitations.
    • Revolutionary Era:
    • Outbreak of revolution shifted focus toward sick and wounded soldiers.
    • Hermanos: A religious order responding to war victims.
    • Dr. Jose Rizal executed on December 30, 1897.
    • National Association of the Red Cross (1899): Supplied medical aid and food to revolutionaries across Luzon provinces.

The American and Commonwealth Periods

  • American Period Initiatives:

    • Occupation in 1899 established a new educational system, modern health methods, and religious freedom.
    • Insular Board (1902): Created following epidemics of bubonic plague, cholera, and smallpox; composed of health officials supervising and subsidizing private welfare organizations.
    • Public Welfare Board (February 5, 1915): Created under Legislative Act No. 2510 to coordinate charitable organizations.
    • Government Orphanage in Makati, Rizal (January 1917): First state-operated welfare agency, establishing organized child welfare in the Philippines.
    • Timeline of Special Services Developments:
    • 1900: Educational programs for deaf children initiated at Philippine Normal School.
    • 1905: Philippine Chapter of the American Red Cross established for disaster relief.
    • 1907: La Gota de Leche established to provide fresh cow's milk from a Pasay dairy farm to child-caring institutions.
    • 1910: School for the Deaf and Blind organized; Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis Society created.
    • 1913: Associacion de Damas Filipinas organized by civic-spirited women to assist destitute mothers and children; founded a Settlement House in 1926 on Rizal Avenue (later moved to Paco, Manila), modeled after Jane Addams' Hull House.
    • 1917: Associated Charities of Manila established by American and Filipino civic leaders; introduced the "Community Chest" concept to centralize donation collection and allocation.
    • 1921: Office of the Public Welfare Commissioner / Bureau of Public Welfare created, absorbing Public Welfare Board duties.
    • 1924: Philippine Legislative Act No. 3203 enacted, governing custody/care of neglected/delinquent children and establishing probation officers.
    • 1926: Transfer of Makati government orphanage wards to Welfareville, a 50-hectare compound in San Felipe Neri (now Mandaluyong, Rizal); introduced the "congregate system" grouping wards by specialized needs in separate cottages.
    • Administration of Governor-General Frank Murphy (1933):
    • Provided US scholarship grants for professional social work education.
    • Appropriated funds for municipal child and maternal health centers in towns with populations of at least 2,000.
    • Established social health centers.
    • Created the First Housing Committee, yielding an experimental project of 31 model houses in Tondo.
    • Encouraged private college and technical school formation; supported women's suffrage.
    • First administration where government assumed full responsibility for relief of distressed citizens.
    • Scientific Social Work Pioneer:
    • Josefa Jara Martinez worked with the Public Welfare Board, introducing a scientific approach to social work after earning a diploma from the New York School of Social Work.

  • Commonwealth Period:

    • Marked by Filipino assumption of government management and social program expansions.
    • President Manuel L. Quezon championed social justice through:
    • Anti-usury legislation.
    • An 8-hour labor law.
    • Minimum wage laws (fixing daily pay at 1 peso1\text{ peso} in provinces and 1.25 pesos1.25\text{ pesos} in cities).
    • Insurance pension schemes and regulations on women and child labor.
    • Public housing initiatives and emergency relief boards for natural calamities, economic crises, and unemployment.

The Japanese Occupation and Post-War Developments

  • Japanese Occupation (1942–1944):

    • World War II induced widespread devastation and health crises.
    • Relief efforts prioritized medical care, food, and clothing for wounded soldiers, prisoners of war, and civilians.
    • Key relief organizations: Philippine Red Cross, Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), and National Federation of Women's Leagues.
    • Churches, convents, and hospitals functioned as operational centers staffed by volunteers.

  • Post-War Reorganization:

    • Social Welfare Commission (SWC): On October 4, 1947, President Manuel A. Roxas abolished the Bureau of Public Welfare, replacing it with the SWC under the Office of the President, establishing social welfare as a direct state responsibility.
    • Feudalistic Tenancy Issues: Late 1940s agrarian unrest and armed conflict under President Elpidio Quirino heightened rural poverty.
    • PACSA: Created in August 1948 by President Quirino as the President's Action Committee on Social Amelioration to deliver relief to hungry, homeless, sick, and dissident-affected populations.
    • Social Welfare Administration (SWA): On January 3, 1951, the SWC and PACSA were merged into the SWA, marking the launch of an integrated public welfare structure.
    • Republic Act No. 4373 (Social Work Law): Passed in 1965 to regulate social work practice and agency operation in the Philippines; mandated a Bachelor of Science in Social Work (BSSW) degree, 1,000 hours of supervised field practice, and passage of a national board examination.
    • Department of Social Welfare (DSWD): Enacted via Republic Act No. 5416 (Social Welfare Act of 1968) by President Ferdinand Marcos, elevating SWA to cabinet rank.

Social Welfare from the 1970s to the 1990s

  • The 1970s Developments:

    • Declaration of Martial Law on September 21, 1972, by President Ferdinand Marcos.
    • Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD): Renamed on September 8, 1976, via Presidential Decree No. 994, shifting focus from institutional care to community-oriented welfare serving the bottom 30%30\% of the population.
    • SPDEFS Program Package (1977):
    • S: Self-employment assistance
    • P: Practical skills development and job placement
    • D: Day care centers and supplemental feeding
    • E: Emergency assistance
    • F: Family Planning Information and Motivation
    • S: Special Services for orphaned, abandoned, and neglected individuals
    • Baranganic Approach: Operational strategy utilizing the barangay as the worker's point of entry for community problem identification and prioritization.
    • Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD): Converted on June 2, 1978, via Presidential Decree No. 1397 to align with a parliamentary system.
    • Community Chest of Greater Manila: Centralized fund-raising and allocation body operating under the slogan "Give once for all."

  • The 1980s and 1990s Reorganizations:

    • Self-Employment Assistance served as the primary banner program of the MSSD during the 1980s.
    • Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD): Reorganized on January 30, 1987, via Executive Order No. 123 under President Corazon Aquino.
    • Devolution via RA 7160 (Local Government Code):
    • Enacted October 10, 1991, transferring DSWD service delivery functions, programs, personnel, and budget allocations directly to Local Government Units (LGUs).
    • Shifted DSWD's primary role during the 1990s from direct service provision to social welfare policy formulation and program development, targeting Low Income Municipalities.

Non-Governmental Organizations and Professionalization of Social Work

  • Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs):

    • Defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as private, non-profit, voluntary organizations committed to socioeconomic development, organized primarily for service.
    • Private social welfare efforts historically preceded state-sponsored programs in the Philippines.
    • Three Structural Levels of NGOs:
    • Primary NGOs: People's organizations and self-help groups managed directly by beneficiaries.
    • Secondary / Immediate NGOs: Professional service-providing agencies serving end-beneficiaries.
    • Tertiary NGOs: Umbrella networks established for inter-agency support or specialized objectives.

  • Development and Institutionalization of the Social Work Profession:

    • Associated Charities (1917):
    • Recognized as the "mother" of social work in the Philippines.
    • Family welfare agency patterned after Charity Organization Societies (COS); utilized home visitors and pioneered casework in the Philippines.
    • Formal US training pursued by Filipino women in the 1930s laid the foundation for professionalization.
    • Philippine Association of Social Workers (PASWI):
    • Founded November 12, 1947, incorporated April 18, 1948, and re-incorporated with the SEC on October 18, 1988.
    • Established to promote the profession, safeguard social worker welfare, and advocate for client rights.
    • Academic Degree Evolution:
    • 1950: Philippine Women's University (PWU) launched a 1-year Master of Arts in Social Administration, followed by the University of the Philippines (UP) and Centro Escolar University (CEU).
    • Later expanded into a 2-year curriculum conferring the Master of Social Work (MSW) degree.
    • Statutory Recognition: Republic Act No. 4373 passed on June 19, 1965, formally establishing social work as a registered profession.
    • National Association for Social Work Education, Inc. (NASWEI):
    • SEC-registered in December 1990; formerly the Schools of Social Work Association of the Philippines (SSWAP).
    • Established to advance social work educational standards nationwide.
    • Board Examination Weight Distribution (Approved 1977 by PRC):
    • Human Behavior and Social Environment (HBSE): 20%20\%
    • Social Welfare Policies and Programs (SWPP): 20%20\%
    • Social Work Methods / Practice: 20%20\%
    • Field Practice: 40%40\%