Social Welfare, Social Services & Social Work – Week 3

Definition, Nature, and Scope of Social Welfare

• General Idea

  • Encompasses everything people do for societal good.
  • Represents an organized concern of all people for all people (Wilson).
  • Friedlander: an organized system of social services & institutions aiding individuals and groups toward satisfying life & health standards.
  • Wickenden: includes laws, programs, benefits, services that assure/strengthen provisions for basic social needs and smooth functioning of the social order.
  • Ashman (2007) & Zastrow (2010): a nation’s program/benefit/service network meeting social, economic, educational, health needs essential to society’s maintenance.
  • Int’l Conf. on SWe: organized social arrangements primarily targeting people’s well-being in social context (income, health, housing, education, culture, etc.).

• Key Significance

  • Provides a safety net and developmental platform.
  • Balances individual welfare with societal stability.
  • Interfaces with major institutions (family, church, government, cooperatives, unions, social agencies).

Societal Response Mechanisms

• Primary Channels
  • Individual & group voluntary efforts.
  • Major societal institutions, each with distinctive mandates (e.g., family = primary caregiving; church = moral/charitable aid; government = formal policy; cooperatives/labor unions = economic protection).
  • Social agencies (public or private) delivering organized services.

Conceptions / Views of Social Welfare

1. Residual View

   • Temporary, emergency-only aid.
   • Withdrawn once normal social/economic functioning resumes.
   • Reflects a "last-resort" orientation, minimizing governmental role except in crises.

2. Institutional View

   • Sees welfare as a regular, proper, legitimate function of modern society.
   • Accepts continuous public responsibility for meeting basic needs.
   • Normalizes programs like public education, health services, pensions.

3. Developmental View (Midgley; cited in Zastrow 2010)

   • Integrates welfare with economic development.
   • Aims to promote population’s well-being while stimulating growth & modernization.
   • Shifts focus from remedial aid to investment in human capital.

Constitutional Foundation (Philippines)

• $1987$ Constitution, Art. II, Sec. 9:
  • The State shall promote a just & dynamic social order, ensure prosperity, independence, poverty-freedom through:
  • Adequate social services
  • Full employment
  • Rising standards of living
  • Improved quality of life for all
• Embeds social welfare as a state obligation and right of citizens.

Categories of Social Welfare

1. Social Security

   • Compulsory measures protecting individuals/families against income interruption or sharp diminution.
   • Mechanisms: employer liability, provident funds, social insurance, pensions, maternity benefits, etc.

2. Personal & Social Services

   • Direct service functions tackling personal problems & stress situations.
   • Require collaboration among professional workers, govt., NGOs.
   • Examples: counselling, therapy, rehabilitation, child protection, offender treatment.

3. Public Assistance

   • Material or concrete supports for people lacking means (due to job loss, disaster, disability).
   • Usually government-funded; means-tested.
   • Examples: cash & medical aid, burial grants, relief/rehab packages.

Social Services (Programmatic Dimension)

• Defined as the concrete programs, services, activities that address members’ needs across physical, mental, social domains.
• Essentially the operational arm of social welfare.
• Acknowledges perennial existence of people whose needs/problems exceed their own capacity to resolve.

Goals / Rationales for Social Services

1. Humanitarian & Social-Justice Goal

   • Premise: all people possess self-realization potential; external forces (poverty, discrimination, neglect) may block them.
   • Ethical imperative to help marginalized, abandoned, disadvantaged, neglected.

2. Social Control Goal

   • Prevents or mitigates potential social unrest by meeting needs of deprived groups who might otherwise “strike out” against society.
   • Links welfare provision to public order & stability.

3. Economic Development Goal

   • Supports increased production of goods/services by upgrading human resources & removing dependency barriers.

   a. Services directly boosting productivity:

   • Job counselling, rehab of disabled workers, skills training, farmer extension services, labor-welfare programs.

   b. Services reducing dependency burden:

   • Day-care centers (freeing adult labor), elder homes, community health clinics.

   c. Services counteracting urbanization/industrialization stresses:

   • Family-life education, leadership training, community self-help initiatives fostering self-reliance & problem-solving.

Social Work: Profession and Discipline

• IFSW Definition: practice-based profession & academic discipline promoting social change, development, cohesion, empowerment, liberation.

• Grounded in principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility, respect for diversity.

• Draws on social-work theories, social sciences, humanities, indigenous knowledge.

• Engages people & structures to tackle life challenges and enhance well-being.

• Central Concern: man’s adjustment to environment – person(s) in relation to social situation.

• Social Functioning: performance of one’s various societal roles (family, work, community, civic, etc.).

Ineffective Social Functioning

• Causative Categories

  1. Personal inadequacies (health issues, low skills, emotional problems).
  2. Situational inadequacies (economic recession, discrimination, natural disasters).
  3. Combination of both.

• Example (combined inadequacies):

  • A person with limited education (personal) living in a region hit by plant closures (situational) — resulting in unemployment, family stress, declining mental health.

Concept Integration & Real-World Relevance

• Social welfare frameworks guide policy (macro), social service programs (mezzo), and direct practice (micro).
• Residual vs. institutional vs. developmental views influence budget allocations, eligibility rules, benefit levels.
• Economic-development-oriented services align with sustainable development goals (SDGs), highlighting welfare’s role in national growth.
• Humanitarian orientation echoes UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially Articles $22$–$25$ on social security & adequate living standards.

Sample Review / Quiz Pointers

1. Social Services – specific, concrete help based on assessed need (physical, mental, social).
2. Humanitarian & Social-Justice Goal – believes in human potential and ethical duty to assist when obstructed.
3. Institutional View – treats welfare as normal/legitimate public function.
4. Social Functioning – ability to fulfill expected social roles satisfactorily.
5. Combined Ineffective Functioning Example – individual disability + unemployment due to economic downturn.
6. Economic Development Service Example – skills training for the unemployed. 7-8. Concurrent Use of Personal/Social Services & Public Assistance?
   • Yes, often complementary. E.g., a disaster victim may receive cash assistance (public aid) and counselling/rehab (personal service) to rebuild capacity.
   • No, if policy restricts simultaneous benefits to avoid duplication— depends on jurisdiction.
7. Employer liability, provident funds, social insurance – under Social Security category.
8. Social Welfare (personal understanding) – organized societal effort, through laws & services, to ensure individuals/families meet basic needs and achieve decent quality of life, thereby sustaining societal well-being.

Ethical & Practical Implications

• Balancing individual responsibility with collective support.
• Addressing equity (fair distribution) vs. efficiency (economic viability).
• Recognizing the role of cultural traditions & indigenous practices in shaping welfare solutions.
• Ensuring services respect diversity and avoid unintended dependency, thus aligning with empowerment philosophy.