Course Introduction Applied Social Sciences

Lesson 1. Applied Social Sciences

I. Definition of Social Sciences

Social Sciences is any branch of academic study or science that deals with human behavior in its social

and cultural aspects. Usually included within the social sciences are cultural (or social) anthropology,

sociology, psychology, political science, and economics. Social sciences are disciplines concerned with

the systematic study of social phenomena. Basically, the term ‘social sciences’ is defined as the study of

human society; that particular area of study that relates to human behavior and society. In a broader

sense, it is a branch of science that deals with the institutions, the functioning of human society, and

with the interpersonal relationships of individuals as members of society. There are distinct disciplines

or branches dealing with a particular phase or aspect of human society such as socio-cultural aspects of

human behavior.

II. Definition of Applied Sciences

Applied social science is the application of social science theories, concepts, methods, and findings to

problems identified in the wider society (D. Jary & J. Jary 2000). Using this understanding in the

segmentation of social science into distinct disciplines gives rise to the concepts of applied social

sciences that include counseling, social work, and communication.

In this typology, theories, concepts, methods, and findings of counseling define the counseling practice.

The same is true for social work and communication disciplines. However, this description of applied
social science minimizes or even omits the interdisciplinary aspect that is implicit to social science

when it is applied. There can be no social issue that is purely one-dimensional. Different disciplines

within the field of social science bring some unique dimensions to a better understanding of social

phenomena. This means that applied social sciences cannot afford to be fragmented. Essentially, it has

to unify and cut across.

Counselling

Lesson 1. The Discipline of Counselling

is a relationship characterized by the application of one or more psychological theories and a

recognized set of communication skills appropriate to a client's intimate concerns, problems, or

aspirations (Feltham & Dryden 1993).

1.1 Counseling psychology is a psychological specialty that encompasses research and applied

work in several broad domains: counseling process and outcome; supervision and training;

career development and counseling; and prevention and health

1.2 The goal of the counseling is to enable the individual to make critical decisions regarding

alternative courses of actions without outside influence. Counseling will help individuals obtain

individuals obtain information and to clarify emotional concern that may interfere with or be

related to the decision involved.

 1.3 Counselling is an interactive process between the counselor and the client or counselee to help the

clients' needs. The major and important objective of the counseling is to help individuals become

self-sufficient and self-dependent.

1.4

1.5 The fundamental principles of counseling include autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence,

justice, nd fidelity. ... The counselor must respect the client as an autonomous individual,

including the right to privacy and informed consent.

Lesson 2 Professionals and Practitioners in Counseling

II.1 Roles, function, and competencies of counselor

 The role of the counselor is to assist the person or persons (clients) in realizing a change in behavior or

attitude, to assist them to seek the achievement of goals, assist them to find help, and in some cases, the role of

counselors includes the teaching of social skills, effective communication, spiritual guidance, decision-making, and

career choices.

II.2 Areas of specialization where counselor work

Child development and counseling - includes parent education, preschool counseling, ear childhood

education, elementary school counseling, child counseling in mental health agencies, and counseling with

battered and abused children and their families

2.3 The Code of Ethics goes into specifics to detail professional behavior from respect for fundamental rights,

moral and cultural values, dignity and worth of clients to respect for rights to privacy, confidentiality, self-

determination and autonomy, consistent with the law, and ensuring that the client understands and consents to

whatever professional action they propose. Hence, Codes define parameters for general respect, privacy and

confidentiality, informed consent and freedom of consent, and recognition of limits of competence.

II.3Rights , Responsibilities , Account abilities, and Code of Ethnics

Guidance counselors work with clients, as individuals and in groups, to whom they supply professional

services concerning educational, vocational, personal and social development. The following are the ethical

behaviors and unethical behaviors among counselors:

Ethical Behaviors:

1. They protect members from practices that may result in public condemnation.

2. They provide a measure of self-regulation, thus giving members a certain freedom and autonomy.

3. They provide clients a degree of protection from cheats and the incompetent.

4. They help to protect counselors from the public if they pursued for malpractice.

Unethical Behaviors:

1. Incompetence
 2. Lack of integrity

3. Violating confidences

4. Exceeding the level of professional competence

5. Imposing values on clients

6. Creating dependence on the part of the clients to meet the counselor’s own needs

7. Improper advertising

8. Charging fees for private counseling to those who are entitled to free services through the counselor’s

employing institutions and or using one’s job to recruit clients for a private practice.
Lesson 3 Clientele, Processes, Methods, and Tools in Counseling

3.1 Individuals

Counselors work in various settings- from government to private sectors, to civil society to school setting.

Drawing on a wide range of processes, methods, and tools, counselors are trained to use what is appropriate for the

setting and relative to their specialty. There are classical approaches informed by theories to counseling that

scaffold their process and selection of methods and tools.

3.2 Groups and Organization

Counseling and therapy aren’t just for individuals, couples and groups. Organization can also benefit from

the same techniques to help reduce workplace anxiety, improve communication, enhance performance and support

employees more thoroughly. This type of counseling is used to provide deeply effective coaching to teams who

lack direction, stress, burnout or anxiety.

3.3 Communities

Community counseling is geared towards increasing coordination between community members and all the

services that address all types of discrimination. This type of counseling applies both counseling and social work in

the community setting. Productive community counseling involves facilitating clients work through their mental

health concerns. It recognizes diversity as it must pay attention to the diverse systems noting that a community

consists of individuals with varied personalities and perspectives.

Lesson 4 Settings, Processes, Methods and Tools

4.1 Government

Government agencies that have counselling services such as social welfare, correctional department, the court

system, child and women affairs services, schools, military, police, hospitals, mental and foster homes, and

rehabilitation centers are some of the government settings where counselors are found

4.2 Private Sector

In the private sector, counselors range from independent providers of services or work for NGOs, or

specialized for profit centers and organization that render a variety of counselling services

4.3 CIVIL SOCIETY

Charities or non-profit and issue-based centers or organizations such as for abused women, abandoned

children and elderly, veterans, teachers, professionals, or religious groups comprises the civil society setting were

counsellors are found

4.4 SCHOOL

In the school, the role of the school counsellor is more complex since the needs of students can vary

widely. This gives rise to the more dynamic and complex role of school counsellor; it depended on a school’s local

circumstances as well as the dynamism within the profession itself.

4.5 Community

The widest application of counseling services includes the community setting considering the diversity

of people in the community.

Lesson 5 Counseling Services, Processes, and methods

PROCESSES IN COUNSELING

Counseling process is both considered an art and a science. As an art, it requires the counselor to be sensitive to his

clients. It needs excellent skills in listening and ability of the counselor to demonstrate care and empathy. As a

science, it requires the use of scientific tools to obtain comprehension during the different stages of the counseling

process. According Nystul (2003) there are six stages of the counseling process:

1. Stage 1- Relationship Building provides the force and foundation for the counseling. Here there is a need

to establish rapport, promote acceptance of the client and promote relevant communication between the

counselor and the counselee.

2. 2. Stage 2- Assessment and Diagnosis offers appreciation of the client’s condition and analysis of the root

causes of the problem. Data gathered will be the diagnosis.

3. Stage 3- Formulation of Counseling Goals sets the direction of the counseling process, its parameters of

work and the client-counselor relationship. The client and counselor must agree on their goals.

4. Stage 4- Intervention and Problem Solving comprises of the counseling goals, strategies and intervention.

5. Stage 5- T ermination and Follow- up progresses the client with the help of the counselor.

6. Stage 6- Research and Evaluation can be taken at any point of the counseling stage and provides scientific

appreciation.
1. SOCIAL WORKS

Lesson 1 The Discipline of Social Work

1.1 Definition

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.

1.2 Goals

The main goal of social work is to improve a society’s overall well-being, especially for the most

vulnerable populations. Morales and Sheafor (1983) specified three (3) distinguishing goals of social

work namely: caring, curing, and changing. These goals are outlined and described below: 1. The Goal

on Caring Caring refers to the heart of social work and it focuses on the well-being or the welfare and

comfort of the individual and community. 2. The Goal on Curing Curing refers to the aspect of treating

people with problems in social functioning 3. The Goal on Changing Changing refers to the active

participation of the social workers in social reforms

1.3 Scope

The concern of social work is to help people who are in need so that they develop the capacity to

deal with their problems by themselves. It is both science and an art. Social work is science in the sense

that the knowledge taken from different disciplines form the body of knowledge for a social worker and

she/he uses this theoretical base for helping people i.e., for practice. What theory postulates has to be

put into practice. The required capacity to do it is known as skill. Hence, professional social work with

selected knowledge and the set of social work values, has to be transformed into a professional service
1.4 Core Values

The moral framework is based on these social work core values :

 Service.

 Integrity.

 Social justice.

 Competence.

 The importance of human relationships.

 Dignity and worth of the client.

1.5 Principle

Principles of Social Work Social Work is based on respect for the inherent worth and dignity of all people

and it is cultivated by altruistic and democratic principles. Friedlander (1958) and Biestek (1957) as cited by

Mendoza (2002) indicated seven principles adhered by social workers including the following:

1. Acceptance - Respecting clients under different circumstances

- Understanding the meaning and causes of client’s behavior

- Manifests warmth, interest and concern about the client and her/his situation

- Recognizing the individual or people’s strengths and potentials, weaknesses, and

limitations.

Sometimes, the personal experiences of the worker may come in the way of accepting the client. For

example, a worker who was abused by his alcoholic father during his/her childhood may find it difficult to accept

an alcoholic client who has come for help in restoring his/her family relationships.in this case, the social worker

should not be influenced by his childhood experience of being abused by his alcoholic father whom he hated and
 rejected or show hostility or indifference towards the client. Mutual acceptance is the beginning of the process of

establishing a strong professional relationship towards working out a solution to the client’s social functioning

2. Client’s participation in problem-solving

- Client is expected to participate in the process.

- Gathers information in defining the nature of the problem

- Participates in planning ways in resolving such problems

- Identifying resources to solve

- Act through the help of different available resources

3. Self-Determination

- The idea behind this principle is that the clients-individuals, groups, or communities) who are

in need have the right to determine their needs and how they should be met. Every individual has the right to assess

what is good for him and decide that ways and means to realize it. It emphasizes that the social worker should not

impose decisions or solutions on the client simply because the client has come to him for help. No doubt, the client

has come to social worker because he could not solve the problem by himself. The social worker should support

and guide the client to develop insights into his social situation in the correct perspective and encourage and

involve him to take decisions that are good and acceptable to him. In this way, the client is helped not only to

realize his potentialities but also to fell independent and like a person with worth and dignity.

4. Individualization

- Recognizing and understanding the client’s own unique characteristics and using different

principles and methods for each client.

- No two clients are exactly alike

- Social interventions differ for each client considering their unique qualities and situations
 The principle reminds the social worker that while dealing with the client it is to be kept in mind

that the worker is not dealing with an inanimate object or inferior being. Each individual responds and reacts to the

same stimuli in a different manner and gets into or get out of different challenges, problem and trouble situations in

different ways.

5. Confidentiality

- Client should be accorded with appropriate projection, within the limits of the law, with no

any harm that might result from the information given to the social worker

- The client should be assured that what he or she divulges will be kept in confidence.

- Moreover, confidentiality entails privacy

6. Worker self-awareness

- Social worker is conscious about her/his role in making use of her/his professional

relationship with the client in a way that will enhance the client’s development rather than

his/her own.

- The social worker consciously examines her/his feelings, judgments, biases and responses

whether these are professionally motivated.

2. Client-worker relationship

- The purpose of client-worker relationship is to help the client in some area of his/her social

functioning in which, at the present he or she is experiencing some difficulty, and where the worker is in the

position to offer help.

Lesson 2 Professionals and Practitioners in Social Work

2.1 Roles, Functions and Competencies of Social Worker

Roles of Social Work

These provide direction for professional activities and are best situated in the context of client system

(DuBois & Miley 2008). The roles are generally interwoven with functions but DuBois and Miley (2008) have

provided elements that can be distinctively viewed as roles rather than functions. For individuals and families, their

role is that of an enabler—helping people find solutions. They are broker or advocates in case management, and

they are teachers in terms of information processing. For formal groups and organizations, their role is that of a

facilitator—in aid of organizational development. They are convener or mediator in aid of creating networks, and

they are trainer for professional development. For community and society, their role is that of a planner—

facilitating research and planning. They are activist in aid of social action, and they conduct outreach in aid of

community education. Within the social work profession, their role is that of a colleague and a monitor—in aid of

professional enculturation and socialization. They are catalysts for community service, and they are researcher-

scholars in aid of knowledge development and capacity building. Today, the roles of social workers are grouped

into three, which are case management, direct practice, and advocacy and policy building (Segal, Gerdes, & Steiner

2005). 

Functions of Social Work

These speak of main activities professionally performed by social workers. DuBois and Miley (2008) include

among others:
  counsel with individuals, facilitate groups, work with families, refine agency procedures, initiate new

programs, lobby for legislative changes, organize community action, educate the public, conduct needs

assessments, and evaluate practice and programs at various system levels and targets of change or social

transformation;

 enhance social functioning of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities,

 improve the operations of the social service delivery network; and

 promote socials justice through development of social policy.

DuBois and Miley (2008) provide a typology to these by grouping them into consultancy, resource management,

and education. Consultancy refers to the professional activities through which social workers and their clients plan,

initiate, and pursue actions toward desired change. Resource management refers to the act of coordinating,

systematizing, and integrating resources and services needed to support social functioning, meeting needs and

resolving problems. Education refers to the provision of knowledge and critical information necessary for

empowerment practice that facilitates informed decision-making, increased abilities, and gain access to

opportunities and resources for a client.

Competencies of Social Work

These cover all necessary skills and personality qualities needed by the profession to perform their various roles

and skills. Foundationally, social work requires the following abilities and skills (DuBois & Miley 2008):

 think critically;

 build and sustain relationships;

 execute empowering processes;

 use practical methods;

 analyze policies;

 communicate effectively;
  strong cultural and intercultural competence;

 good computer literacy;

 conduct research;

 do social planning;

 perform crisis intervention; and

 sound time management.

On the other hand Segal, Gerdes, and Steiner (2005) suggest a host of functional competencies that social workers

should be capable of, such as:

 handle case management with various clients and population groups;

 perform direct practice depending on the needs of the client and the environment in which the social

worker operates;

 conduct mediations among parties especially where one party is socially disadvantaged;

 make referrals to appropriate agencies and service sectors needed by the client;

 in gerontological context, perform program planning and administration in numerous settings;

 in mental health setting, function as case managers, advocates, administrators, therapists, and to use

research as a basis for problem-solving and choice of intervention in empirically-based practice; 

 in the school system, analyze the transactions between students, teachers, parents, and the school

system;

 in the judicial system, make the system more fair and beneficial to both convicted criminals and their

victims; and

 pursue social change on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals, eliminating economic inequality

and poverty.
 In addition to these, social workers should have the capacities generic to all helping professions: empathic,

compassionate, observes confidentiality, has a sense of humor, and others that are made more explicit in the .code

of ethics for social workers. Compassion is necessary in working with people who are socially marginalized or

suffer deprivation. They require a deeply empathic and non-judgmental social worker who intends to empower

them. Listening skills will also occupy a very special role in the social work toolkit. It allows people, regardless of

how they take in that information, to make sense of and understand what they are saying. Listening skills allow a

person to understand what someone is talking about no matter how difficult the subject or issue may be.

2.2 Areas of Specialization where Worker Work

Social work profession requires full professional training with college degree just like other

professionals. Social work degree holder is encouraging to proceed for master’s and doctor’s degree depending on

his field of interest. Social work specialization covers five major fields:

1. Family and Child Welfare. This includes services to families in situations that seriously disrupt

family life such as physical or mental illnesses, unemployment, divorce, in aid of improving client’s

family life.

2. Health. Social workers help patients and their families in clinics, hospitals and other health-care

facilities.

3. Corrections. Social workers are involved with programs concerned with the prevention of crime and the

rehabilitation of criminals and provide counsel to people who are on probation or parole.

3. Mental Health. Social workers provide aid to people suffering from mental and emotional stress and other

services similar to the ones offered by medical social workers.

 4. Schools. Social work in schools provide vocational counselling school adjustment counselling, help

behavioral management and personal problems. They also assist student who have learning difficulties and

help them work to their potential.

2.3 Career Opportunities of Social Worker