Clientele and audiences in Social Work

3.1. Characters and needs of various types of clientele and audiences. (Oaland)

All people with various social concerns (in terms of being marginalized or experiencing
social injustice or having their rights violated or disrespected) share characteristic
qualities of the clientele and audience of social work: individuals, families, groups, and
communities experiencing being left out or having some personal social problems like
loss of job, getting sick especially becoming terminally ill, all those deserving of social
welfare benefits, and so on. It is not just about being old and retired, being employed
and having concerns in that place of work, being in a health-care facility, home for the
elderly, home for street children, drug rehabilitation center, mental health facility, or
having conditions that would warrant one to be in such facilities. Being a minority, a
migrant, a divorced woman, neglected child, sexually, physically, or mentally abused
child, suffering discrimination of any kind characterize one as clientele and audience of
social work. The needs are generally that of wanting to be empowered, to be socially
included by way of insuring that one receives what is legally due him/her and that one
receives the necessary care he/she deserves. Some people need their rights respected,
some need justice, and others need social welfare help to put them on their feet. Each
context of social work discussed in this book reflects a unique type of clientele and
audience. However, commonalities do exist.

3.1.1 Individuals (Orly)

We have pointed out that social work can happen on one, two, three, or four levels. The
individual level is generally working on an individual who has to be assisted to fit in a
larger environment or someone who has been deprived space by the larger environment
calling for change in the very environment or simply improving one’s ability to cope with
it.

3.1.2 Groups and Organization (Plaza&Rocyn Eramis)

Groups are people existing with similar or common identity. Gay men and lesbians,
migrants, women, abused or neglected children, elderly, pensioners, veterans, military
service men and women, people in conflict with the law, unemployed, people with
substance abuse and addiction represent groups that social work may focus its services
on. There are also groups such as members of an organization or place of employment,
or pupils and students in school setup. We classify them as groups because they form
collectivities in terms of level of services they have to receive.
3.1.3 Communities (Melvin Ferrer)

Community has the largest share in the clientele and audience of social work because
individuals and families are essentially members of the community. Everything
happens in a community and everyone claims membership in the community. A
community may exist as a marginalized sector, and in which case, the social work
services may gear toward their emancipation and empowerment. In some cases, they
may constitute the majority imposing general norms that seek to marginalize
minorities and those different from them. In this case, social work may focus on
community transformation to cause environmental change so as to make it possible
for individuals and groups on the minority to achieve social well-being or social justice
and respect for their rights.