DISCIPLINE AND IDEAS IN THE APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES Changing refers to the active participation of the social workers
ers to the active participation of the social workers in socialreforms. This goal
Disciplines of Social Work
SOCIAL WORK
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) in the US defined social work as the
professional activity of helping individuals, groups or communities enhance or restore their capacity for
social functioning and creating societal conditions favorable to the goal.
GOALS OF SOCIAL WORK
The principal mission of social work profession is to develop human beings and assist other
institutions in attaining the basic human needs the people and in empowering the lost, the least, and the
last (dela Cruz, et. al., 2016). Catalyzing mission of the social work profession are the goals of social
work. 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 is dubbed as the heart of social work and it focuses on the wellbeing or the welfare and
comfort of the individual and community. Goals in caring involve the enhancement of the quality of life
in prisons, the upgrading and humanizing services in nursing homes and juvenile facilities, and the
constant advancement of care given to populations in need.
The caring portion is significantly necessary in the effective execution of social work's role in
the society. The need for the caring function increases and it is realized that in the field of social work
the curative function is inadequate in our goal to improve the situation of people in need. In the context
of a more complicated and problematic social situation, we expect an increased number of more
disturbed clients in many social institutions which require the enhancement of the caring aspect of
services.
2. The Goal on Curing
Curing refers to the aspect of treating people with problems in social functioning. This covers a
range of aiding techniques for individuals, families, and groups. Techniques are compose of: (a)
popular counseling approaches comprising of transactional analysis, family therapy, gestalt family
therapy,
behavior modification, and reality therapy, and (b) unpopular approaches such as Rolfing therapy,
psychomotor therapy, and psychodrama. The above techniques are the individual-focused approaches
which may not automatically provide an effective method of helping clients toward social functioning. It
is necessary to facilitate the participation of the clients in the helping process and create an appropriate
environment for them.
3. The Goal on Changing
comes from a perspective that there is a persistence of poverty, environmental destruction, and social
disintegration. It recognizes that the political, economic, and social structures add in the worsening of
social conditions. This reality puts the poor and the needy in a more challenging situation which
consequently becomes a critical concern of social institutions and the social work profession. It is
therefore vital for the social workers to be aware and be actively vigilant in identifying structures that
exacerbate the situation and deepen social destruction. Social reforms are necessary to improve the
social services and the quality of life of those in need. This is one of the most significant goals because
it contributes in the struggle to pursue a lasting social change.
SCOPE OF SOCIAL WORK
Because of varied human problems, a widened scope and field of social work also emerged
from the scene. Child development, medical social work, clinical social work, administrative and
management, social work, international social work, social work in acute psychiatric hospital, and social
work as community organizer are some of the scopes of social work according to Lishman et al., 2014.
As cited by dela Cruz, et. al., 2016, Morales and Sheaftor (1983) identified and described
fields included in the area of social work, which are follows:
1. Social Work as a Primary Discipline
a. In terms of child welfare, social work offers adoption and services to unmarried parents,
foster care, residential care, support in own home, and protective services.
b. In terms of family services, social work offers family counseling, family life education, and
family planning.
c. In terms of income maintenance, social work offers public assistance, social insurances, and
other income maintenance programs.
2. Social Work as a Equal Partners
a. In terms of aging, social work offers support for people in their own homes and support for
people in long-term care facilities.
b. In terms of community services, social work offers community organization, community
planning, and community development.
c. In terms of youth and group services, social work offers recreational and educational
facilities such as YMCA and scouting and settlement houses.
Other activities such as crafts, sports, camping, friendship groups, drama, music, informal
counseling, and other groups of participation are also provided for.
d. In terms of mental health and retardation, social work refers to: (a) initially, the
institutionalizing of the victims through individual treatment in hospitals; (b) due to the influence of the
family and community in the improvement of the patient, the movement to deinstitutionalize by bringing
them to foster homes and residential care came into fruition.

3. Social Work as a Secondary Discipline
Social workers are also present in the correctional facilities. They provide counseling and
serve as link to the outside world, comprising of the family, potential employers, and the community
service network that will provide support upon release.
a. In terms of industry, social workers act as a support to both the managers and the
employees of the companies. They make themselves available to the employees with social problems
for individual, family, and group counseling. They also provide information to the managers as basis for
management decisions that might have an impact on the social atmosphere in the working
environment.
b. In terms of medical and health care, social workers attend to the social and psychological
factors that are contributing to the medical condition of the patients. They also link patients with
community resources, provide necessary counseling, and link with self-help groups.
c. In terms of schools, Lela Costin (as cited by Morales and Sheafor, 1983) has identified
seven (7) primary tasks of social workers in schools:
• Facilitate the provision of direct educational and social services and provide direct social
case work and group work services to selected students;
• Act as a pupil advocate, focusing on urgent needs of the selected group of students;
• Consult with school administrators’ major problems toward which a planned service approach
will be aimed;
• Consult with teachers about techniques for creating a climate in which children are freed and
motivated to learn by interpreting social and cultural influences in the lives of students, facilitating use of
peers to help a troubled child, or assisting in managing relationships in the classroom;
• Organize parent and community groups to channel concerns about students and the school
to improve school and community relations,
• Develop and maintain liaison between the school and critical fields of social work such as
child welfare, corrections, mental health, and legal services for the poor
• Provide leadership in the coordination of interdisciplinary skills among student services
personnel such as guidance counselors, clinic staff, psychologists, and attendant officers.
Principles and Core Values of Social Work
Table 1: Principles of Social Work by Friedlander (1985) and Biestek (1957) as Cited by Mendoza
(2002)
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 (1985) and Biestek (1957) as cited by
Mendoza (2002) indicated seven principles adhered by social workers including the following:
1. Acceptance - This involves respecting the clients as they are under any circumstances and
understands the meaning and causes of the client’s behavior. This also means recognizing people’s
strength and potentials, weakness and limitation.
2. Client's participation in problem-solving - Client is expected to participate in the process.
3. Self-determination - Individual, groups and communities who are in need have the right to determine
their needs and how they should be met.
4. Individualization - Understanding client’s unique characteristics and different methods each client.
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.
6. Worker self-awareness - Social worker consciously examines her feelings, judgments, biases,
responses whether it is professionally motivated.
7. Client Worker Relationship - The client is in need of help in social functioning and the worker is in the
position to help.
CORE VALUES OF SOCIAL WORK
Core Values of Social Work developed by Council on Social Work Education as Cited by
Mendoza (2002)
Core values, as a vital organizational component, play a significant role in the organization.
They serve as guiding principles that shape the behavior and action of its members in interacting with
their clients and other people. Social work has its own core values----values that are shared by the
social work profession. These are the following:
1. Right to self-fulfillment - Each person has the right to self-fulfillment which is derived from his/her
inherent capacity and thrust toward the goal.
2. Responsibility to common good - Each person has the responsibility as a member of the society to
seek ways of fulfillment that contribute to common good.
3. Responsibility of the society - The society has the responsibility to facilitate self-fulfillment of the
individual and the right to enrichment through the contribution of its individual members.
4. Right to satisfy basic needs - Each person requires for the harmonious development of his powers
socially provided and socially safeguarded opportunities for satisfying his/her basic needs in the
physical, psychological, economic, cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual realms.
5. Social organizations required to facilitate individual’s effort at self- realization- The notion that
individual and society are interdependent provides a perspectives that the society has the responsibility
to provide appropriate social resources, it is the right of the individual to promote change in social
resources that do not serve his/her need-meeting efforts.
6. Self-realization and contribution to society- To permit both self- realization and contribution to society
by the individual, social organization must make available socially-provided devices for need-
satisfaction as wide in range, variety, and quality as the general welfare allows.