SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

DISCIPLINES AND IDEAS IN THE APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES

Course/Year Level 12 SANTIAGO BOSE- HUMSS
Lecturer ELENOR FALLA AGUILA
Module Number & Title MODULE 8: Settings, Processes, Methods, and Tools in Social
Work
LO1: Primary Settings
LO2: Host Settings
LO3: Processes in Social Work
Duration Week 8 (OCT.12-17, 2020)
Lecture Materials and PRINTED LESSON
Format

I. Description of the Module

Social work practitioners work in various types of practice settings. Primary settings chiefly provide social
services, that are directly related to the mission of the organization. Host settings, on the other hand, provide
social work services as adjuncts to the goals of the organization. This module discusses how social workers
perform their jobs in the different settings they are found.

II. Module Objectives

By the end of this module, you are expected to:

• identify the settings in which social workers are found (HUMSS_DIASS12-Ig-26); and
• illustrate the different processes and methods involved in undertaking social

III. Lesson Lecture

1. Primary Settings
Morales and Sheafor (2002, 110) identified three primary settings where social workers can be found:
government sector, voluntary sector, and business sector.

Government
In the Philippines, the government provides job opportunities for social workers primarily through the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). DSWD has regional offices nationwide. Social
workers assigned at the DSWD central office are primarily fulfilling the role of system and program developers,
planners, advocates, and researchers. In its regional offices, in addition to administrative and management
roles, social workers also engage in direct service work a case managers and coordinators for institutions
dealing with different clientele group and for community-based programs.

Social workers also work for local government units, either a City or Municipal Social Welfare and
Development Office. City and municipal social welfare officers usually cater to clientele groups from “womb to
tomb,” meaning children, youth, adults, men and women, disabled persons, and the elderly.

Private Sector
Companies have come to recognize that they also have a responsibility of making the world a better place for
everyone to live in. This “corporate conscience” is referred to as corporate social responsibility (CSR). Social
workers maximize the resources that corporate entities have in improving the quality of life of the members of
a certain community. An example of a private sector group that practices CSR is the Philippine Business for
Social Progress, a nonprofit organization that brings businesses together to address poverty. Another example is
the Ayala Foundation, Inc., which aims to help community members become “productive, creative, self-reliant,
and proud to be Filipinos” (Ayala Foundation, 2013).

Voluntary Sector
The voluntary sector includes civil society organizations (CSOs)—community groups, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), labor unions, indigenous groups, charitable institutions, faith-based organizations,
professional associations, and foundations

NGOs, which is a major employer of social work practitioners, usually focus on specific clientele groups. NGOs
that cater to children, for example, may deal specifically with child domestic workers, children in conflict with
the law, or sexually abused children. Other NGOs dealing with adult clients focus on providing program and
services for battered women, women victim of trafficking, persons with disabilities, and the elderly, among
others.

Local NGOs usually operate in a specific area, say Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, or Davao, or may also have
regional offices depending on the nature and extent of their programs and services.
 International NGOs are usually funding agencies that do not only operate locally but also on a regional level.
Examples of international NGOs are World Vision, a humanitarian organization that addresses issues on
poverty and injustice especially among children; Plan International, one of the oldest and largest development
organizations in the world; Oxfam, an international confederation of organizations that mobilizes people to
thrive against poverty; and CARE, a humanitarian group that aims to support communities implement
sustainable poverty-fighting efforts.

2. Host Settings
Schools, courts, and hospitals are examples of host or secondary settings. In these settings, social work
professionals work as members of an interdisciplinary team.

Healthcare Settings
Social workers in health care settings work hand-in-hand with medical professionals, such as doctors, nurses,
dieticians, and therapists. Social work practice in these settings have greatly evolved since its beginnings.
Whereas, at first, the profession was only focused on improving social conditions that bred health concerns, the
tasks of social workers evolved to include the following tasks (NASW 2005):

• plan for a patient's transition to home or to another level of care;

• provide specialized services, such as care for people with serious illnesses or for the elderly;
• influence policy change and development within systems of care;
• research and case management;
• provide health education and supportive counseling; and
• participate in crisis intervention.

Social workers have also become more equipped to practice in the healthcare field, such as in cases of
traumatic events and disasters. They assist in all practice areas of health care—from assessment, care, to
treatment.

School Settings
The goal of social work in school settings is to make students fully available for learning by promoting their
academic and social-emotional well-being. They address issues that block academic progress by helping clients
overcome their social, psychological, emotional, and physical difficulties. Social workers in academic settings
serve as a link between clients, the family, the community, and other professionals. Social work in these settings
may be in the form of counseling, crisis intervention, and prevention programs.

Court Settings
There are two primary roles that social workers play in court: evidence givers and report writers. Social work
practitioners provide testimonies in court hearings, predominantly in childcare or family proceedings. They also
conduct interviews, gather and assess data, and cite recommendations in social case reports for court use.

Some host settings, such as courts and hospitals, are government-owned and funded. Social workers in said
settings are referred to as court social workers and medical social workers, respectively. NGOs, which can be
considered as host settings for social work, focus on certain issues and concerns—such as education, health,
migration, peace and governance, human rights, disaster risk reduction and management, climate change
adaptation.

No matter what the setting where social workers practice, social workers should have a basic knowledge on
how the other settings work in terms of policies, delivery systems and mechanisms, and procedures as well the
programs and services these settings provide. It is important that social workers establish networks so that they
can tap these resources for their own clientele groups.

3. Processes in Social Work

The beginning generalist social work as a helping profession is also considered as a relationship between the
social worker and the client. Social workers do not just help people based on their motivations and compassion;
rather, it follows certain steps and processes; that is why is it is also called a science.

Exploration and Engagement

According to Timberlake et al. (2008) during the engagement phase, the social worker attends to the seven
guiding processes.

Assessment is defined both as a process and a product of understanding that serves as the basis for action
(Boyle et al, 2006, Timberlake et al. 2008). According to Adams, Dominelli and Payne P. (292), assessment in
social work consist of the following tasks:

• gathering relevant information;

• constructing a “picture” of the situation;
• considering possible courses of action; and
• deciding upon the courses of action to be pursued.

In data gathering for assessment, it is essential for the social worker to apply the “principle of parsimony,”
wherein only information that has relevance to the situation at hand and is essential to the formulation of
valid working judgment must be collected (Brill and Levine 2002).
The primary source of data is the client, while people who play a significant role in the client's life can be
considered secondary sources of information. These include both people with whom they have personal
relationships such as family and friends—and people within the more extended systems of which they are a
part—such as church, job, and so on. The final sources of data are records, test reports, studies, and evaluation
of various kinds.

Johnson (1998) identified the task of assessment as follows: 1) identification of the need or problem as well as of
client strengths and resources; 2) identification of the information needed to further understand the need or
problem and to determine appropriate means for dealing with the need or problem; and 3) collection and
analysis of information.

The skills that are used during the assessment include goal setting, planning, contracting, and recording. Goal
emphasize client system growth and gains in specific terms. In view of the goal’s functions, goal setting is
explored in the context of the client system’s values as well as the goals’ feasibility in light of agency functions,
environmental constraints, and the reality of the situation, behaviors, and attitudes targeted for change.
Moreover, as the social workers involve the client or action system in contracting, interviewing skills, such as
clarifying, bargaining, and confronting, may be needed.

Planning
During this phase, every effort is made to conceptualize and verbalize the identified problems, strengths, and
corresponding goals. Not only were the task identified but they are also placed in sequence. Dialogue between
social worker and system includes a consideration of which tasks need to precede others (Timberlake et al.
2008).

A contract plan specifies the reason for each component and action in the plan. In developing a contract, full
participation of the client is imperative to increase chances of success, seeing how this gives the client a sense of
ownership of the plan. At this particular stage of the helping process, the client should have a sense of being in
control of the helping process so as not to foster dependency. A social worker should only agree to carry out a
task for the client when it is apparent that the client is unable to perform the needed task.

The contracted plan is a tool for ongoing use. Problems, needs, goals, tasks, and the contracted enactor may
change in the course of the helping process. There is a need to continuously update and review the plan to fit
the client system’s requirements. This tool may also serve as a major instrument for evaluating the goals set for
the helping relationship.

Intervention
The goal of social work intervention with client system is to facilitate empowerment transactions between client
and their environments. More specifically, the goal is to enable people to overcome those conditions that keep
them from enjoying the benefits of society. This includes finding ways to meet the client’s needs so that they
may develop and function within their environment to the best of their potential. The goal of direct
intervention is to promote client system empowerment through the objectives of:

• educating the client system about resources, critical problem solving, and skills for taking action;
• providing support as the client system carries out contracted tasks;
• creating opportunities for the client system to be successful in strength-based problem solving and
become empowered;
• assisting the client system to bring about planned change; and
• creating opportunities for the client system to gain mutual collective aid.

The implementation phase of the intervention is directed to meeting established goals and may involve
activities such as:
• counseling;
• role playing;
• engaging other community resources;

• establishing support groups;

• developing resources;
• finding alternative care resources;
• encouraging family involvement; and
• offering play therapy.

Evaluation and Termination

Evaluating one’s practice is an obligation inherent in the role of social worker. It is considered just as important
as doing assessments or selecting and carrying out an intervention. Evaluation is the process of determining the
effectiveness of our work with clients and is concerned with whether the outcomes the worker and client hoped
for have been achieved. The inclusion of evaluation as a step in the social work helping process underscores the
idea that it is widely recognized as a legitimate component of the social worker’s helping activities.

When evaluating practice, social workers must be alert to ways in which decisions in this arena may have
ethical implications and must therefore adhere to obligation. One example of this is ensuring that client
information is secured and safeguarded and that clients remain anonymous. Likewise, clients should not be
coerced in any way to participate in an evaluation. In addition, social workers are supposed to be neutral and
objective when completing the evaluation.
 The purpose of termination, on the other hand, is to sever the professional relationship between the social
worker and client in a timely and responsible manner. According to Sheafor and Horejsi, the following factors
should be considered in deciding whether terminating a relationship with a client is appropriate or not:

• Were the intervention objectives reached?

• Has an agreed upon time limit to service provision been reached?
• Was the problem or situation that the client brought to the agency resolved?
• Will the client now be able to function at an acceptable level and not be at risk of being harmed by
self or others?

In some situation, a transfer of the client to another worker within the agency is necessary. This is also
considered as another type of termination. An intra-agency transfer is necessary when any of the following
occurs: the worker will no longer be available to serve the client (e.g., worker moving to another job); the client
will be better served by another agency staff member due to the conflict between the worker and the client
which cannot be resolved—something that is interfering with the service provision or client progress; or there is
mutual misunderstanding between the client and the social worker due to their differences in values, religious
beliefs, language, or cultural background. Instances like these can also be a cause for terminating the
relationship between the client and the worker.

Ideally, termination is a mutual decision between the worker and client that occurs when the objectives set for
the helping relationship have already been achieved. However, many situations are far from ideal. There are
some cases when relationship has to be terminated because the client is considered to be a physical danger to
the worker or continually harasses the worker.

The following are some guidelines on termination:

• The worker should avoid at all costs the possibility of an abrupt or unexpected termination. Hence,
from the beginning of the helping relationship, it is best for the social worker to discuss this with the
client and should continuously remind him as the relationship progresses.
• As termination approaches, it is desirable to gradually decrease the frequency of contact. If the client is
observed to be quite dependent with the worker, the worker should exert effort to connect the client to
the available social network.
• Utilize rituals to mark the ending of a meaningful relationship. This should involve culturally
appropriate good-byes, such as hugging and shaking hands. In the case of termination within a
support group or treatment groups, they might involve the exchange of small gifts, potluck meals, and
celebration at which the participants recall highlights in the group experience.

IV. ASSESSMENT

Answer the following in two or three sentences. Print your answer in MS word file or write your answer in a
whole sheet of paper. Please know how to paraphrase when getting answer in google.
1. Why is it necessary for the social worker to gradually decrease the frequency of contact with the client when
termination is near?

2. Why is goal-setting an important process in social work?

3. How is a practice of social work evaluated?

V. REMINDERS
Pass assessment on October 30, 2020, at Clarendon College Inc.

Prepared by: Approved by:

ELENOR FALLA AGUILA HAZEL P. PALAPUS, Meng.

Teacher Principal