Social Problem:

A social problem is any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers
of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed. 
A condition or a situation which a bunch of people in the community consider as being
undesirable is called social problem.
“Social problem is a generic term applied to a range of conditions and aberrant behaviours which
are manifestations of social disorganization. It is a condition which most people in a society
consider undesirable and want to correct by changing through some means of social engineering
or social planning” (Oxford Dictionary of Sociology, 1994).
The concept of social problem was first developed by sociologists. Fuller and Myers in 1941.
They defined it as ‘those conditions or situations which members of the society regard as a threat
to their values’. Raab and Selznick (1959) hold that a social problem is ‘a problem of human
relationship which seriously threatens society or impedes the important aspirations of many
people’.
Merton and Nisbet (1961) have defined it as ‘a way of behaviour that is regarded by a substantial
part of a social order as being in violation of one or more generally accepted or approved norms’.
Walsh and Furfey have defined a social problem as a ‘deviation from the social ideal remediable
by group effort’.
They can be the general factors which influence and damage the society. Social problems today
might be viewed differently by different people. For example, not all people consider playing
loud music in the park a social issue but as some consider it undesirable, therefore, it is a
problem. The news is always filled with stories about undesirable situations which have now
become a common practice.
Component of Social Problem:
(1) An objective component, like crime, poverty, communal tensions and so forth, the presence
and magnitude of which can be observed, verified and measured by impartial social observers;
and
(2) A subjective definition by some members of the society that the objective component is a
‘problem’ and must be acted upon. Here is where values come into play. People start perceiving
that some values are being threatened.
Characteristics of Social Problem:
All social problems are situations that have harmful consequences for the society.
All social problems are deviations from the ideal situation.
Social problems are caused by many factors.
All these factors are social in origin.
Social problems are interrelated.
 Social problems affect every individuals of the society.
Social problems affect different individuals differently.
Examples of Social Problem:
Drug abuse
Suicide
Global warming
Tax reforms
Abortion
Alcoholism
Poverty
World population
Environmental pollution
Discrimination on the basis of religion
Child labor
Gender issues
Obesity
Stress
Violence
Terrorism
Education
 
Theoretical Perspectives on Social Problem:

Theoretical
Major assumptions Views of social problems
perspective

Functionalism Social stability is necessary for a Social problems weaken a

strong society, and adequate society’s stability but do not
socialization and social integration reflect fundamental faults in how
are necessary for social stability. the society is structured. Solutions
Society’s social institutions perform to social problems should take the
 Theoretical
Major assumptions Views of social problems
perspective

form of gradual social reform

important functions to help ensure
social stability. Slow social change
is desirable, but rapid social change
threatens social order.
rather than sudden and far-
reaching change. Despite their
negative effects, social problems
often also serve important
functions for society.

Social problems arise from

Society is characterized by
pervasive inequality based on social
class, race, gender, and other
Conflict theory factors. Far-reaching social change
is needed to reduce or eliminate
social inequality and to create an
egalitarian society.
fundamental faults in the structure
of a society and both reflect and
reinforce inequalities based on
social class, race, gender, and
other dimensions. Successful
solutions to social problems must
involve far-reaching change in the
structure of society.

People construct their roles as they

interact; they do not merely learn
the roles that society has set out for
them. As this interaction occurs,
individuals negotiate their
Symbolic definitions of the situations in which
interactionism they find themselves and socially
construct the reality of these
situations. In so doing, they rely
heavily on symbols such as words
and gestures to reach a shared
understanding of their interaction.
Social problems arise from the
interaction of individuals. People
who engage in socially
problematic behaviors often learn
these behaviors from other people.
Individuals also learn their
perceptions of social problems
from other people.

Social Work:
Social work is a practice-based profession that promotes social change, development, cohesion
and the empowerment of people and communities. 
“Social work is a specialized kind of work – honorary or paid, done by making use of scientific
knowledge and technical skills with humane and democratic outlook, to render help to people in
need to enable them to realize their potentials optimally, to perform their social roles effectively
and to live in a free, decent and dignified manner, particularly by introducing required changes in
personality as well as social structure.”
Social work practice involves the understanding of human development, behavior and the social,
economic and cultural institutions and interactions. Social work professionals working with
families and institutions have helped to provide and advance the following social impacts:
Civil Rights
Unemployment Insurance
Disability Pay
Worker’s Compensation
Reduced Mental Health Stigma
Medicaid and Medicare
Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention

Functions of Social Work

1. Curative Function - (medical and health services, services

Characteristics of Social Work

• Social work is a welfare activity based on humanitarian philosophy.
• It respects the worth and dignity of individuals.
• It assists individuals, groups and communities to become self reliant and inter dependent.
• Social work has a strong scientific base.
• It is closely related to psychology and sociology.
• It is an activity that helps to cope with problems.
• It requires specific knowledge, skills acquired through formal training.
• It is remunerative.
Objectives of Social Work
1. To Solve psycho-social problems.
2. To fulfil humanitarian needs.
3. To solve adjustmental problems.
4. To create self sufficiency.
5. To make harmonious social relations.
6. Develop democratic values.
7. Provide opportunities for development and social programme.
8. Provide socio legal act.
9. Change the environment in favour of individuals growth and development
10. Bring change in the social system for social development.
Functions of Social Work
1. Curative Function - (medical and health services, services relating to psychiatry, child
guidance, child welfare services, services for the differently abled etc.)
2. Correctional Function - (prison reform, family welfare services,school social work, industrial
social work etc.)
3. Preventive Function - (public assistance, social legislation, adult education and prevention of
diseases etc.)
4. Developmental Function - (socio-economic development activities such as: education,
recreational services, urban and rural development and programmes of integration etc.)
Social Service:
Social service in its broadest sense means any aid or assistance provided by society to enable its
members to optimally actualise their potentials to effectively perform the roles
expected/prescribed by society and to remove obstacles that come in the way of personality
development or social functioning. According to H.M. Cassidy (1943:13) the term “social
services” means“those organized activities that are primarily and directly concerned with the
conservation, the protection and the improvement of human resources”, and “includes as social
services: social assistance, social insurance, child welfare, corrections, mental hygiene, public
health, education, recreation, labour protection, and housing” (Friedlander, 1963:4).
Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards
particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided
by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administered by a government
agency. Social services are connected with the concept of welfare and the welfare state, as
countries with large welfare programs often provide a wide range of social services.
The characteristic features of social services are as under:
1) Social/public services are visualized and organized by society/state.
2) These services directly benefit all sections of society.
 3) These services have a very wide scope including every thing that has a direct bearing on the
quality of life of people.
4) These services aim at promoting human and social development, protecting human rights of
people and creating a sense of duty among them towards society .
Social services are very important for social work because –
1) Social work is concerned with promoting human and social development
2) Social work seeks to enhance effective social functioning and create new social institutions
which are required and modify the existing institutions in order that people may optimally realize
their potentials and effectively contribute their mite towards society’s proper functioning.
3) Social work aims at promoting ‘sustainable’ development by conserving and developing
environment so that enough resources may be left for future generations also to enable them to
lead proper life.
Social Welfare:
Social welfare is a designed system of services and institutions aimed at protecting and
promoting the interests of weaker and vulnerable sections of society who are left to themselves
and are not in a position to maximally develop and effectively compete to enter the mainstream
and to live with liberty, decency and dignity.
Derived from ‘welfaren’, the term ‘welfare’ means “the state or condition with regard to good,
fortune, health, happiness, prosperity, etc”. (Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary,
1996:1619). While expressing his views on the concept of welfare, Sugata Dasgupta (1976:27)
has observed: “By welfare we refer to the entire package of services, social and economic, that
deal with income support, welfare provisions and social security, on the one hand, and view the
whole range of social services, on the other.” Social welfare is the people’s well-being promoted
by society through a wide variety of ways and means. Wilensky and Lebeaux (1957:17) define
social welfare as those formally organized and socially sponsored institutions, agencies and
programs which function to maintain or improve the economic conditions, health or inter-
personal competence of some parts or all of the population. According to Friedlander (1963:4), “
‘Social Welfare’ is the organized system of social services and institutions, designed to aid
individuals and groups to attain satisfying standards of life and health, and personal and social
relationships which permit them to develop their full capacities and to promote their well-being
in harmony with the needs of their families and the community.” In the opinion of Wilensky and
Lebeaux (1965:11-19): “ two conceptions of social welfare seem to be dominant today: the
residual and the institutional. The first holds that social welfare institutions should come into
play only when the normal structures of supply, the family and market, break down. The second,
in contrast, sees the welfare services as normal, “first line” functions of modern industrial
society, the major traits which, taken together, distinguish social welfare structure are :
1) Formal organization
2) Social sponsorship and accountability
3) Absence of profit motive as dominant program purpose
4) Functional generalization: integrative, rather than segmental, view of human needs
5) Direct focus on human consumption needs,”
Important characteristics of social welfare are:
1) It is a deliberately organized system of services and institutions.
2) These services and institutions specifically cater to the varied kinds of needs of weaker and
vulnerable sections of society.
3) The weakness and vulnerability of these sections may emanate not from any personal fault of
people belonging to them but from different types of physical, mental, social and, moral
handicaps that may encounter and adversely affect them.
4) The aim of social welfare is to protect and promote the interests of these sections to enable
them to optimally realize whatever protentials, talents, abilities they may have to carve out a
dignified place for themselves in society, and to effectively discharge the duties and
responsibilities of positions which they happen to occupy.
History of Social Work in the United Kingdom
In primitive society, sometimes referred as the ‘folk society’, the larger family or tribe took over
the support of those whose needs were not satisfied in the normal way. Children deprived of
parental support were taken into the homes of relatives or adopted by childless couples. Food
resources were shared among relatives and neighbours. In course of time, when the feudal
system gave way to the wage economy, legislation was enacted to compel the poor to work.
Whipping, imprisonment, and even death punished begging.
Role of the Church
In Europe, in the early Christian era, the folk tradition continued and the faithful considered it a
religious obligation to care for those members of the group who could not care for themselves.
Religion provided the greatest motivation for charity. The church, especially the monasteries,
became the centres for distributing food, medical aid and shelter. Alms were collected in the
parish and distributed by the parish priest and other clergymen who knew the individuals and
their situation. Welfare Becomes a State Responsibility The shift from church responsibility to
government responsibility for relief is seen first in the restrictive legislation forbidding begging
and vagrancy. In England between 1350 and 1530, a series of laws were enacted, known as the
“Statutes of Labourers,” designed to force the poor to work. The decreasing authority of the
church and the increasing tendency to shift responsibility to governmental authorities gave rise in
England to a series of measures which culminated in the famous Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601.
The Elizabethan Poor Law 1601
The Poor Law of 1601 was a codification of the preceding poor relief legislation. The statute
represented the final form of poor law legislation in England after three generations of political,
religious, and economic changes that required government action. The law distinguished three
classes of the poor:
1) The able-bodied poor were called “sturdy beggars” and were forced to work in the house of
correction or workhouse. Those who refused to work in the house of correction were put in the
stocks or in jail.
2) The impotent poor were people unable to work—the sick, the old, the blind, the deaf-mute,
the lame, the demented and mothers with young children. They were placed in the almshouse
where they were to help within the limits of their capacities. If they had a place to live, they were
given “outdoor relief” in the form of food, clothes and fuel.
3) Dependent children were orphans and children who had been deserted by their parents or
whose parents were so poor that they could not support them. Children eight years and older able
to do some domestic and other work were indentured with a townsman. The Poor Law of 1601
set the pattern of public relief under governmental responsibility for Great Britain for 300 years.
It established the principle that the local community, namely the parish, had to organize and
finance poor relief for its residents. The overseers of the poor administered the poor law in the
parish. Their function was to receive the application of the poor person for relief, to investigate
his or her condition, and to decide whether he or she was eligible for relief.
Influence of The Elizabethan Poor Law
Though there were similar reform plans advocated in Europe; it is the Poor Law of 1601,
sometimes known as 43 Elizabeth, which was most influential in the development of public
welfare and social work. There are several important principles in the English Poor Law, which
continue to have a dominating influence on welfare legislation four centuries later.
1) The principle of the state’s responsibility for relief is universally adopted and has never been
seriously questioned. It is in tune with democratic philosophy as well as with the principle of the
separation of church and state.
2) The principle of local responsibility for welfare enunciated in the Poor Law goes back to
1388 and is designed to discourage vagrancy. It stipulates that “sturdy beggars” to return to their
birthplaces and there seek relief.
3) A third principle stipulated differential treatment of individuals according to categories: the
deserving as against the undeserving poor, children, the aged, and the sick. This principle is
based on the theory that certain types of unfortunate people have a grater claim on the
community than other types.
4) The Poor Law also delineated family responsibility for aiding dependants. Children,
grandchildren, parents, and grandparents were designated as “legally liable” relatives. The
Elizabethan Poor Law was noteworthy and progressive when it was enacted. It has served as the
basis for both English and American public welfare.
The Poor Law Revisions: 1834-1909
In 1834 a Parliamentary Commission presented a report which aimed to revise the Elizabethan
and post Elizabethan Poor Laws. Upon the basis of the committee’s report legislation was
enacted enunciating the following principles:
(a) doctrine of least eligibility, [The doctrine of least eligibility meant that the condition of poor
person shall in no case be so eligible as the condition of persons of the lowest class subsisting on
the fruits of their own industry. In other words, no person receiving aid was to be as well off.]
(b) re-establishment of the workhouse test, [According to the second principle, the able-bodied
poor could apply for assistance in the public workhouse, but refusal to accept the lodging and
fare of the workhouse debarred them from qualifying for any aid. Outdoor relief was reduced to
an absolute minimum.]
(c) centralization of control. [As per the third principle, a central authority consisting of three
Poor Law Commissioners had power to consolidate and coordinate poor law services throughout
the land. Parishes were no longer to be the administrative units.]
Between 1834 and 1909 there were numerous changes in Poor Law legislation, the cumulative
effect of which was to veer the entire system away from the principles of 1834. The most
important changes were those that began to develop specialized care for certain disadvantaged
groups. For instance, for dependent children district schools and foster homes were provided and
for the insane and feeble-minded specialized institutions were started. A more positive approach
to the poor laws can be seen in The Poor Law Report of 1909. The report stressed curative
treatment and rehabilitation rather than repression, and provision for all in the place of the
selective workhouse test. If the principles of 1834 provided a ‘framework of repression’, those of
1909 may be termed as the ‘framework of prevention’. The Beveridge Report In 1942
Sir William Beveridge, chairman of the Inter Departmental Committee on Social Insurance and
Allied Services, presented the Committee’s Report to the government. The report emphasized
four major principles:
1) Every citizen to be covered,
2) The major risks of loss of earning power -- sickness, unemployment, accident, old age,
widowhood, maternity-- to be included in a single insurance,
3) A flat rate of contribution to be paid regardless of the contributor’s income, and
4) A flat rate of benefit to be paid, also without regard to income, as a right to all who qualify.
Beveridge emphasized that the underlined social philosophy of his plan was to secure the British
against want and other social evils. Everyone is entitled to benefits, which include maternity,
sickness, unemployment, industrial injury, retirement and grant for widows. The related services
are Family Allowances, National Health Services and National Assistance.
The Beveridge Report of 1942 takes its place as one of the great documents in English Poor Law
history --- 601, 1834, 1909, and 1942. The Report became the foundation of the modern social
welfare legislation for UK.
Beginnings of the COS Movement and Settlement House Movement
In England, where the problem of competing and overlapping social services in London had
been increasing over the years, a group of public-spirited citizens founded in 1869 the London
Charity Organization Society (COS). Octavia Hill and Samuel Barnett were two of these
founders. In her work as housing reformer, Octavia Hill introduced a system of “friendly rent
collecting” as a method of improving slum housing. Octavia Hill communicated to the volunteers
certain principles or laws to be followed in their activities, through weekly meetings and ‘Letters
to Fellow Workers’. She stressed that ‘each case and each situation must be individualised.’
Everyone must be treated with respect for his or her privacy and independence. She advised her
workers not to judge the tenants by their personal standards. She believed in the value of dignity
of even the most degraded of her tenants. Samuel Augustus Barnett was the founder of Toynbee
Hall, the first settlement house, in which wealthy Oxford students “settled” in an attempt to
improve living conditions in the slums of Whitechapel. The basic idea was to bring the educated
in contact with the poor for their mutual benefit. Realization had dawned on the Christian
Socialists that mere distribution of charity does not solve problems. In order to better understand
the situation of poverty and underdevelopment, one needed to live with the poor and listen to
their problems. After outlining the beginnings in England, we shall now see the growth and
spread of the social work profession in the United States.
History of Social Work in The United States of America
The English Poor Law legislation’s and related developments provided the background for the
development of American systems of relief. The colonists from England, who came in the early
and mid-seventeenth century, brought with them English laws, customs, institutions and ideas
and implanted them in America. Three Social Movements During the last half of the 19th
century, the US experienced an increase in social problems as a result of rapid industrialization,
urbanization, and immigration, together with the massive growth of the population. In response
to these problems, three social movements began that formed the basis for the development of
the social work profession:
1) The Charity Organization Societies (COS) movement, which began in 1877 in Buffalo, New
York;
2) The Settlement House movement, which began in 1886 in New York City; and
3) The Child Welfare movement, which was a result of several loosely related developments,
notably the Children’s Aid Society and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children,
which began in New York City in 1853 and 1875, respectively.
Let us look at these movements in more detail as they form the basis for future developments.
COS Movement
The settlement house movement and the child welfare movement eventually made important
contributions to the development of the social work profession, but it is in the COS movement
that the origin of the profession is to be found. S. Humpherys Gurteen, an English cleric who had
been impressed with charity organization in London, founded the first COS in the United States
in Buffalo, New York, in 1877. The Buffalo COS served as a model for rapid development of
similar organizations. Within 15 years, there were COS agencies in 92 American cities. The
beginning of professional approach to the problems of human need can be seen in the philosophy
of COS movement. The “scientific charity” attitude adopted by the COS enabled them to
understand and cure poverty and family disorganization rather than merely assisting the poor.
The charity organizations wanted to apply science to social welfare in the same way that it had
been applied to medicine and engineering. The COS leaders sought to replace chaotic charity
with a rational system that would stress investigation, coordination, and personal service. Each
case was to be considered individually, thoroughly investigated and assigned to a “friendly
visitor.” The techniques used by the friendly visitors consisted of personal attributes such as
sympathy, tact, patience, and wise advice. The COS friendly visitors, most of them women, are
the true forerunners of today’s social workers. Besides, the COS movement fostered the
development of the family service agencies of today, the practice of family casework, family
counselling, schools of social work, employment services, legal aid, and many other programs
which are a part and parcel of social work today. In addition to these contributions may be listed
the establishment of the first social work publication, Charities Review, which was merged into
The Survey in 1907 and continued publication until 1952.
Settlement House Movement
Another significant development of social services in America has been that of the social
settlement house. Settlement houses in the United States began in the late 1800s and were
modelled after Toynbee Hall, founded in England in 1884 by Samuel Barnett. Many settlement
houses were established in cities across the country, including Chicago’s Hull House, started by
Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889. The settlement house movement, which combined
social advocacy and social services, was a response to the social disorganization that resulted
from widespread industrialization, urbanization and immigration. Through group work and
neighbourhood organizing strategies, the settlement house workers established neighbourhood
centres and offered services such as citizenship training, adult The settlement house leaders
believed that by changing neighbourhood they can improve communities and by changing
communities they can develop a better society. The seeds of social work methods, namely,
Group Work, Social Action and Community Organization, were thus sown in the settlement
house movement.
Child Welfare Movement
The Children’s Aid Society (1853) and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
(1875) which began in New York City formed the basic elements of a child welfare movement.
However, the beginnings of the Child Welfare movement can be traced back to 1729 when the
Ursuline sisters established an institution in New Orleans for children of parents massacred by
Indians. The child welfare agencies had limited aims. They were basically concerned with
“rescuing” children from inadequate homes or from the streets and finding for them wholesome
living situations. Once their goals were accomplished, the agencies considered their job to be
over. education, counselling, recreation, and day care. The settlement house workers were young,
idealistic college graduates from wealthy families who lived among the poor as “settlers” and
thereby experienced the harsh realities. For the most part, they were volunteers and community
leaders and not employed as social work professionals.
Social Action:
Thus social action may be defined as a method of social work in which conscious systematic and
organized efforts are made under the guidance of professional social worker, by some elite(s)
and /or people themselves to bring about change in the system which facilitates the problem
solving and evil eradication and thereby improves the conditions in society to enable people,
particularly the weaker and vulnerable sections, to optimally realize their potentials and
effectively function as part and parcel of the mainstream of society.
Social action means taking steps to change the things that are wrong in our society and
introducing new ideas and processes for doing things better in the future.
Social action is a method of social work used for mobilizing masses in order to bring about
structural changes in the social system or to prevent adverse changes
Social action is a mass approach in a most peaceful manner used for changing or modifying
existing social and economic institutions which do not function properly & which mode social
work effective. Social action has been described as a method concerned with mass solution of the
mass problem. It aims at changing social policy, norms, institutions & social relations which are
a source of injustice and malpractice. Problems can be solved by social action are dowry
problem, untouchability, prostitution, Jamindari system, superstation, child marriage, restrictions
in widow remarriage.
Important characteristic features of social action as used in social work are:
1) It is a method of social work which is practised in close collaboration with other methods;
2) It aims at bringing about changes in social structure and system to enable people realize their
innate and inherent capacities and to participate in social functioning at equal plane. The ultimate
aim of social action is to promote equality--- social as well as economic and curb injustice, abuse
and exploitation.
3) The process of social change sought to be introduced through social action may be
reformative in nature directed towards eradication of social evils or it may be developmental
geared towards creation of new institutions or strengthening of the existing institutions
threatened by vested interests of certain dominant sections of society.
4) The method of social action seeks to attendant in the desired changes in society through
conscientisation, awareness generation, promotion of social integration, formation and
strengthening of people’s own organizations, formulation of conducive policies, enactment of
socially healthy laws, eradication of existing social evils which thwart the desired development
of people and retard social progress.
5) Social action in its basic nature is non - violent. Undoubtedly, there are times when vested
interests in society--- the powers which exercise domination and rule and want to perpetuate the
status quo. They become impatient due to organized strength of the people involved in social
action and direct and the deprived and depressed) yet at the practical plane it has to adopt and
follow the methods and techniques which do not lead to violence and bloodshed. Thus, by
making two the types of approaches, of change of heart of the dominant and powerful sections in
society through exposition of varied kinds of atrocities, abuses and exploitations of the suffering
brethren, and social transformation through changes in policies, laws and enforcement
machinery, which may result in promotion of human and social development.
6) Social action as a method contemplates that all power is taken away from the so called ‘do
gooders’ and it should actually be transferred to the people who are the intended beneficiaries,
and in order to achieve this, it takes recourse to desired transformation in social policies, laws,
plans and programmes.
Max Weber define social action as “action is social in so far as by virtue of the subjective
meaning attached to it by acting individual it takes account of the behaviour of others and is
thereby oriented in its course it includes all human behaviour when and insofar as the acting
individual attaches a subjective meaning to it”. Max Weber defined four types of ideal actions.
But what did he mean by ideal actions? He meant that these actions might not occur similarly in
the real world as they have been explained in the Weber theory. However, they may exist as a
mixture of a contaminated form of social action.
Types of Social Action
Goal Rational Action
Goal rational action is goal-oriented. The goal is derived from the desire of the actor. The means
and ends are decided by the goal that needs to be achieved. The purpose is to find effective ways
to achieve the goal. Efficiency is central but the action also has to be rational. Rationality is
based on logical and scientific grounds. The purpose of the action is to fulfil some other goal and
is treated as a means in itself i.e. the action is instrumental. This action may be rationally
convenient if it is based on logical or scientific grounds. This action entails a complicated
plurality of means and ends. The ends of action (for example goals, values) are either taken as
means to the fulfilment of other ends, or are treated as if they are set in concrete. In this way
action becomes purely instrumental.
For example,  if the goal of an individual is to maximize income, then if the individual chooses
to cheat on his income taxes or to sell drugs but in the end can maximize income the goal-
oriented action is considered purposely rational than someone who requires less money.
Value Rational Action
The means and goals are defined by a person’s value system. Rationality is also judged based on
aesthetic, religious or constitutional values. If individuals are valued rational, they commit to a
certain subjective goal which may or may not result in material benefits. Police, clergy and
lawyers take actions and choose goals and means based on abstract values like justice, honour
and patriotism. The means are chosen for their efficiency while the ends are justified by their
value. Conscious belief in the absolute value of some ethical, aesthetic, religious or other value
codes define value rational actionn. According to Weber, when individuals are value rational,
they make commitments to certain subjective goals and adopt means that are effective in
attaining these ends.
Affective Social Action
While the first two types are dependent upon rational systems (goal-oriented and value-oriented),
this is considered the most irrational social action as it is motivated by the emotion of the
individual. No calculated decision of means and ends is made. Sometimes the means used may
not even serve the end but still, the action is carried out in the heat of the moment. Affective
action fuses means and ends together so that action becomes emotional and impulsive. Such
action is the antithesis of rationality because the actor concerned cannot make calm, dispassonate
assessment of the relationship between the ends of action and the means that supposedly exist to
serve these ends. Rather the means themselves are emotionally fulfilling and become ends in
themselves.
This kind of action results from the emotional state of mind of the actor. If someone is teasing a
girl in a bus, she may get so irritated that she may slap the offending person. She has been
provoked so much that she has reacted violently. In this example, the action is defined not with
reference to a goal or system of values, but by the emotional reaction of an actor placed in a
given set of circumstances.
Traditional Social Action
Traditional Social Action occurs when the means and ends are not decided by the individual but
by the social customs of the society. There are no alternative means to achieve a certain end
comprehensible to the individual except the social code. The means and end for a certain action
are already decided by social convention. Traditional action occurs when the ends and the means
of action are fixed by custom and tradition. This is an action which is guided by customs and
long standing beliefs which become second nature or habit.
For example, all actions done in the presence of elders in Asian societies are always respectful
and keep social rules in mind. Such actions become second nature to the individual and might
need no prompting. For example, doing Namaskar or Pranam to elders in India is second nature
to the individuals and does not have any logical means to achieve.

Social Work Research

Social work research is the application of research method to the production of knowledge that
social workers needs to solve problems they confront in the practice of social work. The
knowledge is useful in appraising the effectiveness of methods and techniques of social work.
Social work research provides information that can be taken into consideration by social workers
prior to making decisions, that affect their clients, programs or agencies such as use of
alternative intervention techniques or change or modification of programs and so forth.
Social work research offers an opportunity for all social workers to make a difference or
modification in their practice. Social worker will become more effective practitioner guided by
the findings of social work research. Social work research deals with those methods and issues,
which are useful in evaluating social work programmes and practices. It explains the
methodology of social research and illustrates its applications in social work settings.
Characteristics of social work research
It is directed towards the solution of problems. The ultimate goal is to discover cause-and-effect
relationship between social problems.
It emphasis the development of generalizations, principles or theories that will be helpful in
predicting future occurrences.
It is based upon observable experience or empirical evidence.
It demands accurate observations and description. Researchers may choose from a variety or non
qualitative description of their observations.
It involves gathering new data from primary sources or using existence data for new purpose.
Although social research activities may at time be somewhat random and unsystematic, it is
more often characterized by carefully designed procedure that applies rigorous analysis. It
requires expertise.
Objectives of social work research
To facilitate the understanding of human behavior.
To acquire knowledge about social phenomena, events, issue, problems etc.
To identify functional relationship existing in the social phenomena.
To find out the natural laws that regulates or directs social phenomena.
To standardize the society concept, e.g. culture, struggle, génération gap, social distance etc.
To formulate solution to social problems.
To maintain social organization, remove social tension, misconception, etc
To develop social revival plan
Principles of Social Work:
Principle of Acceptance: The client and the social work professional should both accept each
other for getting the best results. The client should accept the worker because the worker is the
one who is helping the client to overcome his problem situation. Unless the client feels that the
social worker has the potential to understand his predicament and is concerned about helping him
out of the problem the client may not cooperate in the relationship through which the social work
intervention is to be planned. Any doubt about the competence of the social worker by the client
results in serious complications in the helping process. Similarly the worker should also accept
the client as a person with a problem who has come to him for help. Irrespective of the
appearance and background of the client the worker should accept the client as he is, without any
reservations. 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
childhood may find it difficult to accept an alcoholic client who has come for help in restoring
his family relationships. In this case the social worker should not be influenced 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 dyfunctioning.
Principle of Self-determination: This principle emphasizes the client’s right to self-
determination. Every individual has the right to assess what is good for him and decide the ways
and means to realise it. In other .words, it points out 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 is good and
acceptable to him. In this way the client is helped not only to realise his potentialities but also to
feel independent and like a person with worth and dignity.
Principle of Individualisation: This 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. Because the client could not find a way out of his problem, he need not be looked
down upon as a person without dignity, worth or value. This is a general response the client gets
from the community. And this makes the client feel that he is a human being without any worth
and develops a poor image of himself The social worker, as a caring and helping professional
should believe that the client is an individual with dignity, worth and respect and has the
potential to come out of his undesirable situation with dignity and respect given the right
environment and encouragement. Further, the social worker should always consider that each
client is unique and distinct from other clients having a similar problem as each person responds
and reacts to the same stimuli differently and gets into or get out of different problem situation in
different ways.
Principle of Confidentiality: This principle provides a strong base for effective use of social work
intervention. It helps in building a strong worker client relationship. In social work it is most
important to provide information to the worker. This ranges from simple factual information to
what may be very confidential. A person may not be willing to share certain information about
his personal details with anyone unless the person with whom it is shared is trustworthy. He must
have confidence that workers will not misuse it to cause discomfort, or to ridicule or to cause
damage to his reputation. In social work unless the client provides all the information that is
necessary for the worker, it is not possible to help the client. For this to happen the client should
have absolute faith in the worker that the information passed on to the worker will be kept
confidential and will be used only for assessing and working out possible solutions to the client's
problem. That is why the worker should assure the client that the confidential information about
the client is not divulged to others to the disadvantage of the client: To follow this principle the
worker faces certain dilemmas. Firstly, should the confidential information be shared with other
agency personnel who are associated with the case and fellow professional social workers who
too can assist the worker in resolving the problem of the client. Secondly, what should he do
about some information concerning the criminal activities of the client, wherein as a responsible
citizen he may be required to pass it on to the investigation agencies whenever he is asked? In
the case of the former the social worker may share the information in the best interest of the
client. But in the case of the later, it is really tough for the social worker to withhold information
as it has been received under the promise of keeping it confidential. In such circumstances, the
decision is to be left to the client whether to disclose it to the social worker or not. And the social
worker shall make it clear to the client that he cannot give any guarantee of non-disclosure to the
concerned authorities. Where legal requirements compel ordinary citizens to make disclosure of
information received by him.
Failure to maintain confidentiality seriously acts the worker client relationship. Therefore the
worker has to show discretion while securing and sharing information about the client with
others. Information that is needed should only be gathered I from the client. Prior consent of the
client is to be taken before sharing the information with even those who are concerned about the
client.
Principle of Non-judgmental Attitude: The principle of non-judgmental attitude presumes that
the social worker should begin the professional relationship without any bias. That is, he should
not form opinions about the client, good or bad, worthy or unworthy. He has to treat the client as
somebody who has come to him for help and he should be willing to help the client without
being influenced by the opinions of others about the client or his situation. This enables the
worker to build the professional relationship on a sound footing as both the worker and the client
feel free to their understanding of each other. However it is to be noted that a non-judgmental
attitude does not mean not making professional judgments about the problem situation and the
various optioils being considered in order to tackle the problem.
Principle of Controlled Emotional Involvement: The principle of controlled emotional
involvement guards social worker from either getting too personally involved in the client's
predicament or being too objective. In the case of the former the worker may over-identify with
the client because he finds a lot of similarities between the problem situation of the client and
over life situations or with the personality of the client. This may interfere with the professional
relationship and judgments about the client's problem. The worker may start sympathizing with
over indulging in the client's life and this may interfere with the client's right to self-
determination and independence. In the case of the latter, by being too objective and detached
the client may feel that worker is not interested in him and his predicament. This may inhibit the
client from coming out with all the confidential information. The feelings of worthlessness and
helplessness may be reinforced in the client. All this may result in a premature end to the
professional relationship. Therefore the social worker should maintain a reasonable emotional
distance even while sympathizing with the client. He should indicate the understanding of the
predicament of the client without showing pity or appearing to be indifference.
Principle of Communication: In social work, the communication between the social worker and
the client is of paramount importance. The communication could be verbal, that is oral or
written, or non-verbal where gestures, signs or actions are used to send the message. Most of the
problems concerning human relations arise due to faulty communication. In communication, a
message is sent by the sender and received by the receiver. A true communication takes place
when the meanings of the terms and other symbols the sender and the receiver use and act upon
are shared and have the same meanings. If the message of the sender is properly or correctly
understood by the receiver then the communication is smooth. But if the receiver fails to
interpret the message correctly (the sender wants to convey), then there is a break or
misunderstanding in the communication process, which results in confusion and problems.
Sometimes, the sender is unable to express the feelings or what he wants to communicate, then
also there is miscommunication. In addition to these there are other barriers to the smooth flow
of messages, such as distance, noise, temperament, attitudes, past experiences, mental capacity to
comprehend and so on. The social worker should have enough skills to grasp the verbal and
nonverbal communication of the client. Communication is stressed in social work relationship
because the backgrounds of the client and the worker may be different, the mental state of the
client and the worker may vary. The environment in which the communication takes place may
change from time to time giving enough scope for miscommunication. Therefore, the worker
should make all the efforts to see that the communication between him and the client is proper.
The client should be made to feel comfortable and at ease to express his thoughts, feelings and
facts. Further. he should be assured that the worker understands correctly what he wants to
convey. For this, techniques such as clarifications and reclarifications, elaborating what the client
has said, questioning and reframing of what the client has said, can be effectively used. Similarly
the worker has to make sure that the client understands correctly what he is conveying to him.
For this the worker may ask the client to repeat what he is saying. In this way,
miscommunication between the worker and client can be reduced and make sure that the worker
client relationship is well established and strengthened.
Social Policy:
social policy means a framework within which or stated course by adopting which the state as
protector and promoter of the interests of society as also of human rights of people wants to
conduct its affairs so that the goal of welfare of all may be promoted by organizing a series of
services in diverse fields of nutrition, water supply, education, health, housing, employment,
recreation, etc. Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which
aim to improve or reform society.
Social policy primarily refers to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the
living conditions conducive to human welfare. Thus, social policy is that part of public policy
that has to do with social issues. Social policy often deals with wicked problems. Social Policy is
defined as actions that affect the well-being of members of a society through shaping the
distribution of and access to goods and resources in that society
The term 'social policy' can also refer to policies which govern human behaviour. In the United
States, the term 'social policy' may be used to refer to abortion and the regulation of its practice,
euthanasia, homosexuality, the rules surrounding issues of marriage, divorce, adoption, the legal
status of recreational drugs, and the legal status of prostitution

The term ‘social policy’ has been used to denote three specific areas or aspects, namely :
the social objectives of state policy, including those of economic growth;
the policy with regard to the promotion of social services as an integral part of a developing
economy;
the policy governing promotion of social welfare services as a part of development plans.
The salient features of social policy are as under:
1) Social policy is the policy of state responsible for conducting the affairs of society.
2) It states the framework within which and course of action by adopting which affairs of society
are to be conducted.
3) It relates to people in general and concerns itself with provision of social services which in
their nature are direct and general.
4) It aims at promoting human and social development. A finer distinction has to be clearly
understood here between social policy and social welfare policy.
The scope of social policy is fairly wide. It includes within its ambit all such services which have
a direct bearing on the modus vivendi of people in a society and varied kinds of related matters
which may have a bearing on such services.
Social policy aims to improve human welfare and to meet human needs for education, health,
housing and economic security. Important areas of social policy are wellbeing and welfare,
poverty reduction, social security, justice, unemployment insurance, living conditions, animal
rights, pensions, health care, social housing, family policy, social care, child protection, social
exclusion, education policy, crime and criminal justice, urban development, and labor issues.
Some examples of social policies include: government pensions, welfare for the poor, food
stamps, affordable housing initiatives, health care, unemployment benefits, equal
opportunity employment laws, antidiscrimination laws, and policy initiatives which are designed
to benefit disadvantaged people in society. For instance, many nations encourage their colleges
and universities to accept students regardless of need, with the goal of giving people at an
economic disadvantage the chance to go to college, improving their opportunities.
As observed by Kulkarni (1987:94), “Modernisation of society, implying adoption of science
and technology, raising the national standard of living , building up civic and political
institutions to suit the changed and changing needs and problems, and generally to work towards
an open, pluralistic society of equal opportunity, could with all these elements be regarded as the
pith and substance of social policy.” The basic source of social policy is the Constitution of any
country and varied kinds of social enactments made there under because the Constitution acts
like a fountainhead wherefrom flow all the directions in the light of which specific laws
promoting proper human and social development are enacted.
Social Work with Individuals
A majority of social workers spend most of their time working with individuals in public or
private agencies or in private practice. Social work with individuals is aimed at helping people,
on a one-to-one basis, to resolve personal and social problems. Social work with individuals
encompasses a wide variety of activities, such as counseling runaway youths, helping
unemployed people secure training or employment, counseling someone who is suicidal, placing
a homeless child in an adoptive or foster home, providing protective services to abused children
and their families, finding nursing homes for stroke victims who no longer need to be confined in
a hospital, counseling individuals with sexual dysfunctions, helping alcoholics to acknowledge
that they have a drinking problem, counseling those with a terminal illness, supervising
individuals on probation or parole, providing services to single parents, and coordinating services
for individuals who have AIDS. All of us at times face personal problems that we cannot resolve
by ourselves. Sometimes other family members, relatives, friends, or acquaintances can help. At
other times we need more skilled intervention to help us handle emotional problems, obtain
resources in times of crisis, deal with marital or family conflicts, resolve problems at work or
school, or cope with a medical emergency. Furnishing skilled personal help is what social work
with individuals is all about. In their role as change agents in working with individuals, social
workers perform many of the functions discussed earlier: enabler, broker, advocate, educator,
and so on. An essential skill and role of a social worker is counseling. (Some authorities assert
that counseling and relationship skills are the most important abilities needed by social workers.
Social Work with Families:
Often the focus of social work services is on the family. A family is an interacting,
interdependent system. The problems faced by any individual are usually influenced by the
dynamics within a family. Because a family is an interacting system, change in one member
affects other members. For example, it has been noted that the abused child is at times a
scapegoat on whom the parents vent their anger and hostility. If the abused child is removed
from such a home, another child within the family is likely to be selected as the scapegoat.
Another reason for focusing on the family is that the participation of all members is often needed
in the treatment process. For example, other family members can put pressure on an alcoholic to
make her or him acknowledge that a problem exists. The family members may all need
counseling (or support from a self-help group) to assist them in coping with the alcoholic when
she or he is drinking, and these family members may play important roles in providing emotional
support for the alcoholic’s efforts to stop drinking.
Family Problems
The following is a small listing of some of the infinite number of problems that may occur in
families:
■ Divorce
■ Alcohol or drug abuse
■ Unwanted pregnancy
■ Bankruptcy
■ Poverty
■ Terminal illness
■ Chronic illness
■ Death
■ Desertion
■ Empty-shell marriage
■ Emotional problems of one or more members
■ Behavioral problems of one or more members
■ Child abuse
■ Child neglect
■ Sexual abuse
■ Spouse abuse
■ Elder abuse
■ Unemployment of wage earners
■ Money management difficulties
■ Injury from serious automobile accident involving one or more members
■ Cognitive disability in one or more members
■ Incarceration or institutionalization of one or more members
■ Compulsive gambling by one or more members
■ Crime victimization
■ Forced retirement of a wage earner
■ Alzheimer’s disease in an older relative
■ Involvement of a child in delinquent and criminal activities
■ Illness of a member who acquires AIDS
■ Runaway teenager
■ Sexual dysfunctions of one or more members
■ Infidelity
■ Infertility
When problems arise in a family, social services are often needed. The types and forms of
services that social workers provide to troubled families are extremely varied. We can group
them into two major categories: in-home services and out-of-home services. In-home services
are preventive. Although not all are offered literally within the home itself, they are specifically
designed to help families stay together. They include financial aid; protective services (services
to safeguard children or frail older adults from abuse and neglect); family preservation services
(intensive crisis intervention within the home setting where children are so seriously at risk that
removal to foster care would otherwise be required); family therapy (intensive counseling to
improve family relationships); day care (caretaking services for children or older adults to
provide respite for caregivers who might otherwise be overwhelmed, or to permit them to work
outside the home); homemaker services (for the same purpose); and family life education
(classes, often offered at traditional family service agencies, that cover such topics as child
development, parenting skills, communication issues, and so on). Obviously, not all of these
services can be provided by social workers, but workers must know where to find them and how
to help the family obtain them when needed. Out-of-home services, on the other hand, are those
services that must be operationalized when the family can no longer remain intact. They are a
manifestation that something has gone seriously wrong, as the breakup of any family amounts to
a tragedy that will have ramifications beyond family boundaries. Although family members
usually receive the blame, the larger system (social environment, and the level of support it
provides to troubled families) may be called into question. Out-of-home services include foster
care, adoption, group homes, institutional care (for example, residential treatment centers), and
the judicial system (which provides a different kind of institutional care, prison or jail, for family
members who have run into difficulty with the law). These services require the social worker to
perform a variety of roles (broker, educator, advocate, case manager, mediator, and so on).
Corporate Social Responsibility:
It refers to practices and policies undertaken by corporations that are intended to have a positive
influence on the world. By practicing corporate social responsibility, companies can be
conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic,
social, and environmental. To engage in CSR means that, in the ordinary course of business, a
company is operating in ways that enhance society and the environment, instead of contributing
negatively to them. The key idea behind CSR is for corporations to pursue other pro-social
objectives, in addition to maximizing profits. Examples of common CSR objectives include
minimizing environmental externalities, promoting volunteerism among company employees,
and donating to charity.
Three Core Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility:
The three core focuses of corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a somewhat unclear concept, and consequently there are
several ways of understanding the underlying concept. A relatively popular model is
the responsibility model mapped out by Stefanie Hiss. She separates CSR into three core areas,
which are each named according to the nature of their work:
The internal area of responsibility encompasses all internal strategies and processes that do not
reach the public but which are essential for the ethical orientation of the company.
The middle area of responsibility includes all of the fields that are publicly effective and have a
direct effect on the environment and society, but which are still a normal part of the working
process.
The external area of responsibility is for all activities that require action; for instance, if a
company becomes charitably active (mostly financially) and interrupts or adapts its daily work
processes.

Values:
A value is a belief or principle to which the social work profession adheres and which guides
practice.
Value :Beliefs, preferences, or assumptions about what is desirable or good for humans. It
Cannot be scientifically investigated or proven.
Values account for the stability of social order. They provide the general guidelines for social
conduct. Values such as fundamental rights, patriotism, respect for human dignity, rationality,
sacrifice, individuality, equality, democracy etc. guide our behaviour in many ways. Values are
the criteria people use in assessing their daily lives; arrange their priorities and choosing between
alternative course of action.
H.M. Johnson: “values are general standards and may be regarded as higher order norms.”
Peter Worslay: “General conception of “the good”, ideas about the kind of ends that people
should pursue throughout their lives and throughout the many different activities in which they
engage.”
M. Haralambos: “a value is a belief that something is good and worthwhile. It defines what is
worth having and worth striving for.”
Functions or Importance of Values
Provides goals or ends for the members to aim for.
Provide for stabilities and uniformities in group interaction, hence create sense of belongingness
among people who shared commonly.
Bring legitimacy to the rules that govern specific activities.
Help to bring about some kind ‘of adjustment between different sets of rules.
differentiate between right and wrong and what is desirable and undesirable
Creates social harmony and cohesion.
Mutual respect
Creates loyalty and love
help us to grow and develop
help us to create the future we want to experience.
Nature of Values:
1. Values are not feelings, but they are concepts.
2. Values are express feelings but they are more than feelings.
3. Values exist in the mind, and, are independent of Public affirmation.
4. Values are absolute but they are dimensional. That is, values are a criteria for judging the
degree of goodness of badness, Tightness or wrongness.
5. Values are concepts heavily weighted with emotions and influence the child’s selection from
variable modes, means and ends of action.
6. Values are primarily, ethical, social and subjective. Therefore, they are strong dispositions of
human behaviour than concepts with less heavy emotional weightage.
7. Values are based on respect for human dignity. They assume that personal integrity is the
nucleus around which ethical community and global stewardship resolve.
8. Values are the very essence of human life.
9. Values are essential for a fair and equitable community which reflects our respect as well as
responsibility for the global environment.
10. Values are cross-cultural and are essential for the development of community and global
citizenship.
11. Values are that in which people are interested.
12. Values are the things of worship.
13. Value is the product of feeling, set and action.
14. Values are the product of human spirit and not of intellect.
15. Values never change. It is only the perceptions of these that undergo changes as a result of
ever-evolving human consciousness.
16. Values act as forceful tools for the cultivation of social good.
17. Values are caught through literature.
18. Value is a motivating force behind the individual’s thought, emotion and action.
19. Values are integrated into personality and many times they act as barriers to the acceptance
of new change or innovations.
20. Every value is reflected in a person’s reactions.
21. Values influence every aspect of educational process.
Basic Human Values:
Love: Kindness, Friendship, Forgiveness, Generosity, Service, Tolerance, compassion
Truth: Truthfulness, Honesty, Fairness, Reflection, Trust and determination
Right Conduct: Manner, Helpfulness, Courage, Independence, Responsibility
Peace: patience, Concentration, self-acceptance, Thankfulness,
Non-violence: collaboration, cooperation, Loyalty, Justice, Respect
Types of Values:
Personal Values:

Personal values are those beliefs we hold most dear. They can be desirable goals that motivate
our actions and guide us through our lives. Values often weave into our personalities and define
who we are. They become a part of us and influence our decisions and actions. Personal
values differ from person to person and are often affected by one’s culture, upbringing and life
experiences—among other factors. Personal values developed early in life may be resistant to
change. They may be derived from those of particular groups or systems, such as
culture, religion, and political party. However, personal values are not universal; one's
genes, family, nation and historical environment help determine one's personal values. This is
not to say that the value concepts themselves are not universal, merely that each individual
possess a unique conception of them i.e. a personal knowledge of the appropriate values for their
own genes, feelings and experience. Personal values of other persons is dignity of that other
person.  Personal values denote a sense of right or wrong, good or bad, and other judgmental
criteria based on our strong sense of what the ideal ought to be 

Professional Value:
A generic term for the principles that are central to practising a profession which
includes integrity, compassion, altruism, continuous improvement, excellence and ability to partn
er with members of the wider workplace team. Professional values encompass the traits that
many employees look for in their employees. Individual’s professional values are the character
traits that he/she adopts and demonstrates in the workplace that showcase how successful s/he is.
It includes: strong work ethic, responsibility, integrity, honesty, reliability, adaptability,
accountability, self-motivation, confidence, loyalty, compassion, empathy, patience, positivity,
flexibility.
Social Values:
Social values are a set of principles that are morally acceptable by society. These principles are created
by the dynamics of the community, institutions in the society, traditions, and cultural beliefs of the
people in the society. The laws are a guide for people in society on how to conduct themselves
appropriately.
Basics of Social Values:
Participation in the decision making process.
Protection of privacy and freedom of information.
Equality and integration
Protection of the environment
Protection of unborn
Social work values focus on three general areas: values about people, values about social work in
relation to society and values that inform professional behavior (Dubois & Miley, 1999).
Some of the fundamental values of social work are discussed below:
The value is the conviction in the Inherent worth, integrity and dignity of the individual
(Friedlander,] 977). A person failing to perform or follow the social functioning prescribed to
him is considered an unworthy and undesirable element by society. He is denied dignity and
considered as person with no integrity and treated degradingly by the society. People are not so
much concerned about why the person has not been performing his social responsibilities
properly. This value reminds the social worker that every client that comes (with a problem) to
him is not to be considered as a person having no value and no virtue because he is in a
disadvantageous situation. For a social worker the client is as worthy as any other person and the
client is in that situation because of many other factors acting upon*him. Given an opportunity to
understand and analyse the social situations better, the person may get out of the problem and
may not get into a similar problem situation again. a person feels worthy of himself and treating
him with dignity, encourages the person to engage seriously and overcome his problem. The
conviction in the dignity, worth and the integrity of any individual, enables the social worker to
deal with any type of client with a positive frame of mind.
The second value is belief in democratic functioning. Social work relies on the democratic
process while dealing with the client system. This implies that decisions are taken through
consensus and nothing is imposed on the client. The worker, the client and others, are all
involved in the decision making process. While doing so, the right of the client system in
choosing the solution is given utmost importance.
The third value is the firm belief in equal opportunity for all, limited only by the individual's
capacities (Friedlander, 1977). This value expresses the need for social justice. Social work
fights against social injustices meted out to the disadvantaged and vulnerable sections of society.
Irrespective of caste, religion and economic status, intelligence, etc., every one must have equal
access to societal resources. At the same time, social work also takes into consideration, the
limitations of the individual's capacity to access to these resources and make use of them. For
example, if a disabled person wants to pursue mountain climbing as a past time - activity, he
should not be disallowed because he is disabled. But at the same time, if he does not have the
physical strength and capacity to climb mountains, then he may be made to realise that
mountaineering is not suitable for him and he should choose some other activity more suitable
which is more suitable for him.
The fourth value is social worker's social responsibility towards himself, his family, and his
society (Friedlander, 1977). This value cautions the social worker not to neglect himself, his
family and the society in which he is Iiving while discharging his professional duties. If he fails
to perform his responsibilities towards himself and his family, then he himself or his family may
fail to perform their social functioning and may become failures needing social work
intervention.
The fifth value is to transmit knowledge and skills to others (Sheafor & Morales 1989). This
value instructs the social worker to provide the information that he has, that would enable the
client to take care of himself, in case the client faces similar problems in future. This is to ensure
that the client does not become dependent on the social worker through out his life. Further, it
also suggests that sharing of information and skills among the co-professionals goes a long way
in promoting the competence of the professional practice.
The sixth value is separating personal feelings hm professional relationships (Sheafor & Morales
1989). This value reminds the social worker that he should not allow personal feelings to intrude
in a professional relationship, as this may make him over concerned or develop a biased or
prejudiced view about the client and his problem situation. The social worker might have
undergone similar experiences and been in similar social situations in his personal life. And there
is a possibility that h& might for him to relate these to the present client and may lose the
objectivity needed for social work intervention. Therefore he should be watchful about any of his
personal feelings are affecting his professional relationship.
The seventh value assumes high standards of personal and professional conduct (Sheafor &
Morales 1989). It emphasizes that the conduct of the social worker should be exemplary at both
personal and professional levels. As a professional, he should follow the code of ethics outlined
for the social work practitioner. The success of any profession depends on the integrity and
character of the professionals practicing it. In social work practice situations, clients come with a
number fears, hesitations and doubts and distrust about everything around them. They have to
confess a number of confidential and emotional information and expect a lot of trust from the
worker. Divulging the confidential information carelessly or making fun of the clients plight or
looking down upon the client does great harm Even his personal behaviour outside practice hours
should not only be acceptable to people but should also gain him respectability. The social
worker is a respectable member of society and he should not indulge in any conduct that is
considered bad or disapproved by society. Therefore it is essential that a social worker be a
person of high integrity and of high ethical conduct.
Value Conflict:
Value conflict arise only when people attempt to force one set of values on others or lay claim to
exclusive value systems that do not allow for divergent beliefs.
CAUSES OF CONFLICT
Differing values can lead to conflicts.
Making assumptions can lead to conflicts.
Differences in the way you were brought up can lead to conflicts.
Differing expectations can lead to conflicts.
Knowledge and ability to deal with conflict can result in conflicts.
Types of Value Conflict:
INTRAPERSONAL CONFLICT
 Intrapersonal conflict occurs within an individual. It is a type of conflict that is psychological
involving the individual’s thoughts, values, principles and emotions. Intrapersonal conflict leads
to restlessness and uneasiness, or can even cause depression.
INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT
Interpersonal Conflict refers to a conflict between two individuals. This occurs typically due to
how people are different from one another. We have varied personality which usually results to
incompatible choices and opinions thus resulting in a conflict.
INTRAGROUP CONFLICT
Intragroup conflict is a type of conflict that arises among individuals within a group. The
incompatibilities and misunderstandings among these individuals lead to an intragroup conflict.
INTERGROUP CONFLICT Intergroup conflict takes place when a misunderstanding arises
among different groups within an organization. This is due to varied set of goals and interests of
these different groups.
Value Crisis:
Value crisis is when the practice of members of the society starts deviating from the values we
hold. When there is a general acceptance of corrupt practices and unethical activities, then the
society as a whole is in value crisis. It creates a new normal of acceptance of dishonesty, lies and
immoral behavior. 
In the contemporary world, there has been gradual deterioration of moral and ethical moors.
Things are being justified in terms of ends and opportunities. In Nepal, we have started accepting
retail corruption as normal and in fact justifying

Values Crisis at different levels:

At Individual Level
• Personal Success & Selfish Individualism
• Following "Higher the quantity of consumption, better the
quality of life."
• Overlaying of importance of material values of life
• Downplaying of other life values like moral values etc.
• Rise in rights consciousness but decline in duties
• Adoption of Double Standards

b. At Societal level
• Group oriented society but limited to caste, clan & village community
 • Communitarian feeling declined but social consciousness reminds that individual attainments
are related to society
• No attention on social problems like poverty, injustice, caste and gender inequalities
At Intellectual Level
Value crisis is linked with society's intellectual temper and it's tone is set by writers,
academicians, other intellectuals Generate New ideas & solutions to human problems but
contemporary intellectual temper is critical, imitative & reactive Academic compartments
produce only narrowly focused specialists We want stamp of degree from prestigious inst.,
awards, recognition, but not the virtues of character displayed
At Cultural Level
• Due to socio economy cond. & copying western modes, affect food habits, dress, forms of
greetings, modes of entertainment
• Ambivalent and confusing attitude of educated Indians towards culture. Peculiar characteristic
of our culture is tolerance of New ideas with old ideas which create two opinions of 'Unity in
diversity' and contradictory ideas

Strategies to control value crisis in the contemporary world are as follows:

Parents should be made aware of the importance of raising children with right values and that
they should themselves become role models for their children.
Schools should have value lessons embedded in syllabus.
Code of ethics for organizations. Right ethical conduct should be rewarded.
The cost of unethical behavior should be made high by increasing punishment. Just increasing
the punishment will not do. Implementation should also be proper.
People who are generally the victims in the society should be made aware of their rights. Dalits
and women should made aware of their rights and ways to register complaints and get justice.
Popular leaders should use their appeal to inculcate good values in the society.
The downward spiraling ethical stock of the society need to be stopped and ethical standards
should be raised. A prosperous society with no ethics is no good for anybody.
Ethics

Ethics also called moral philosophy is concerned about what is right and what is wrong. It can be
divided into two sections - normative ethics and metaethics.
Normative ethics deals with the principles we live by.
 Metaethics has a larger concern and its deals with the nature and methodology of moral
judgments. In other words, it deals with the basis on which decisions should be made.
Ethical principles are based on social work’s core values of service, social justice, dignity and
worth of the person, importance of human relationships etc.
Value :Beliefs, preferences, or assumptions about what is desirable or good for humans. Cannot
be scientifically investigated or proven.

Values- Service
Ethical Principle: Social worker’s primary goal is to help people in need and to address social
problems. Social workers draw on their knowledge, values and skills to help people in need and
to address social problem. Social workers are encouraged to volunteer some portion of their
professional skills with no expectation of significant financial return.
Value- Social Justice
Ethical Principle: Social workers challenge social injustice. Social worker persue social change,
particularly on the behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social
workers’ primary focus on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination and other forms of
social injustice. They can create the justifiable society.
Value: Dignity and Worth of the Persons
Ethical Principle: Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person.
Social workers treat each person in a caring and respectful fashion, mindful of individual
differences and cultural and ethnic diversity.
Social workers promote clients' socially responsible self-determination.
They seek to resolve conflicts between clients' interests and the broader society's interests in a
socially responsible manner consistent with the values, ethical principles, and ethical standards
of the profession.
Value: Importance of Human Relationships
Ethical Principle: Social workers recognize the central importance of human relationships.
Social workers understand that relationships between and among people are an important vehicle
for change.
Social workers engage people as partners in the helping process.
Social workers seek to strengthen relationships among people in a purposeful effort to promote,
restore, maintain, and enhance the well-being of individuals, families, social groups,
organizations, and communities.
Value: Integrity
Ethical Principle: Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner.
Social workers are continually aware of the profession's mission, values, ethical principles, and
ethical standards and practice in a manner consistent with them.
Social workers act honestly and responsibly and promote ethical practices on the part of the
organizations with which they are affiliated.
Value: Competence
Ethical Principle: Social workers practice within their areas of competence and develop and
enhance their professional expertise.
Social workers continually strive to increase their professional knowledge and skills and to apply
them in practice.
Social workers should aspire to contribute to the knowledge base of the profession.
Need for Ethical Behavior in Social Work:
Social work is a problem solving profession. The social worker comes across varied and
complex situations. Ethics help professionals to act morally in difficult situations. The need for
such behaviour in social work is important due to the following reasons.
Social workers during their interaction with clients and their significant others have to sensitive
information: The purpose of the client to share information is to enable the social worker to get
better insight into the problem and then help the client to solve the problem. But if the social
worker reveals this sensitive information inadvertently or purposely to others helshe will be
damaging the client's cause and furthering complicate the problem. Strict observance of the
principle of confidentiality is necessary in this situation.
Social workers are often in situations where their decisions can cause serious damage to the
client: Social workers often deal with clients who are facing serious problems. Their
personalities are often disintegrated and they may be vulnerable to emotional and physical abuse.
Even otherwise there is a power relation between the social worker and the client. The case
worker has more knowledge and is in greater control of his/ her emotions than the client. This
power should not be used to the disadvantage of the client. In some cases the caseworker may
unconsciously commit an error which causes damage to the client. The chances for such errors
are minimized when the social worker has internalized the social work ethics.
Social workers occupy positions of authority in governmental and non governmental
organizations: Any position of authority has an element of accountability attached to it.
Accountability means 'to give count of. You have been entrusted with certain goods and after use
you have to account for what you have used, for what purpose, how and to what effect. Social
workers, unlike others have an additional responsibility - they have to see that the human dignity
and human self is preserved. Probably no other profession deals with these aspects as directly as
social work. A policeman has to only think whether his action would reduce the crime rate and
whether he is following the due process of law when he is acting. The lawyer has to only think
whether hisher client's interests will be served by hisher actions. A priest has to only worry
whether his actions will help hlfill the individual's religious needs. But the social worker's
decisions should express concern for human dignity and human self.
Social workers are often in positions where they can allocate resources: In most cases, allocating
resources to one party means not allocating it to others who are also be needy. This is true of a
country like India where scarcity exists almost everywhere. In an adoption center a social worker
may be asked whether a particular couple can be allowed to adopt a child. The social worker's
opinion will have a bearing on the lives of at least three individuals.
Social workers have to preserve professional autonomy: In a democratic country the government
is the ultimate authority and it plays an important role in regulating other institutions. But some
times this regulation becomes an intrusion into the internal affairs of the professions which is not
desirable. If the professionals themselves regulate their affaires, government action becomes
unnecessary and their professional autonomy can be preserved.
Code of Ethics:
We have seen the importance of ethical behaivour in social work. Those countries in which
social work has been fully accepted as a profession by the society, have a code of ethics. A code
is a systematic collection of regulations and rules of procedure or conduct. Code of ethics in
social work can thus be defined as a set of rules and regulations that should govern the conduct
of the social worker in his/her relationships with his/her clients, fellow professionals, colleagues,
the agency and society in general. According to the National Association of Social Workers,
USA (NASW) Code of Ethics serves six purposes: I 1) The Code identifies core values on which
social work's mission is based.
2) The Code summarizes broad ethical principles that reflect the profession's core values and
establishes a set of specific ethical standards that should be used to guide social work practice
3) The Code is designed to help social workers identify relevant considerations when
professional obligations conflictual or ethical uncertainties arise.
4) The Code provides ethical standards to which the general public can hold the social work
profession accountable.
5) The Code socializes practitioners new to the field, to social work's mission, values, ethical
principles and ethical standards.
6) The Code articulates standards that the social work profession itself can use to assess whether
social workers have engaged in unethical conduct.
Ethical Standards of the Social Worker:
The Social Worker's Ethical Responsibility to Clients

1 The social worker's primary responsibility is towards the best interests of the client: The social worker
is expected to serve the client with full loyalty and to the best of his/ her abilities. The phrase 'best
interest is easy to say but difficult to practice in real life situations. In the Indian situation many aspects
related to the client's welfare may have to be compromised as the choices available are very limited.
Social welfare programmes and social welfare institutions have their limitations and so does the
bureaucracy who manages and implement these programmes. Further the severity of the social control
mechanisms at different levels prevalent in the society limits the scope for independent action by
individuals. For example, a woman who is facing harassment by her husband's family for more dowry is
most likely to be sent back to her parental home as there are hardly any options. Her parents may not
want to keep her in their house for the fear of humiliation and apprehension about her future. In these
cases social workers also have to accept the choices available and act accordingly. But the social worker
can do regular follow up visits to check the condition of the woman and prevent Mer harassment. The
social worker should not under any circumstances use the relationship with the client for private
benefit. The social worker should collaborate and consult with fellow social workers and professionals of
other disciplines if it serves the interest of the client. In some cases when other professionals will not.be
as cooperative as one may want them to be, the social worker should remember that he/ she has to
take a holistic view of the client and also protect his/ her dignity. Hence he/ she can set aside his/ her
ego in the interest of the client.

The social worker's relationship with the client is a professional one and therefore has specific
objectives. It would be wrong on the part of the social worker to interfere in those areas of the client's
life which are related to the problem. For example, a social worker may be a noralist who believes that
homosexuality is a sin, but hislher client who has come to himher for HIVIAIDS cou~~selling may be a
homosexual. In such a situation, one should not condemn the patient. It is always advisable to
understand the client's problem from hislher perspective. Riglzts and Prerogatives of Clients: The social
worker should make every effort to foster maximum self-determination on the part of clients. Self
determination means giving the client the necessary opportunities, support, confidence and knowledge
to make decisions that will affect his1 her life. The social worker when confronted with situations where
the client cannot make decisions should keep in mind the rights of the clients, his1 her socio-cultural
situation and other relevant facts . that affect the client while making decisions for the client.
Confinentiality and Privacy: The social worker should respect the privacy of the client and hold in
confidence all information obtained during the course of professional service. Information regarding the
client can be given to those individuals who need to be informed with the knowledge and consent of the
client. Information kept in records should be carefully maintained and access to these records should be
restricted. When information has to be shared with others, the social worker should tell the client about
it and seek hid her consent. The client's feelings and emotions regarding this should be respected and
action may be taken accordingly. Fees: When setting fees, the social worker should ensure that they are
fair, reasonable, considerate, and commensurate with the service performed and with due regard for
the clients' ability to pay. The social worker is not in the profession solely to make money. Social workers
should not make their endeavours, merely money making activities. Therefore the social worker should
charge fees that are fair and reasonable, taking into consideration the time and expertise helshe has
used in course of the service delivery It inay be noted that unlike in the West, social work practice in
India is yet to gain professional status. There is no accrediting body or regulatory body. The common
man is not adequately educated or informed about the social work profession and the benefits one can
seek from them. As on date social worker are only employed and paid by agencies and private practice
for monetary gain hardly exists. 111) The Social Worker's Ethical Responsibility to Colleagues Respect,
Fairness, and Courtesy: The social worker should treat colleagues with respect, courtesy, fairness, and
good faith. This is applicable to colleagues who are social workers as well as those who belong to other
professions. Dealing witlz Colleagues' Clients: The social worker has the responsibility to relate to the
clients of colleagues with full professional consideration. In case of the absence of the colleagues, the
social worker should deal with the clients as he1 she deals with his/ her own. The social worker should
not steal a colleague's client, influence them outside the formal channels or try to mar the reputation of
the colleague. A colleague client can be transferred only with the full knowledge and consent of the
colleague. However a client is free to change hisher counselor on hisher own free will. IV) The Social
Worker's Ethical Responsibility to Employers and Employing Organisations Social worker as an
employee: The social worker should adhere to rules and regulations of the employing agencies. Most
agencies have a hierarchy and will assign the social worker a position in an agency. The social worker
should try to follow all the legitimate instructions of hid her superiors. The social worker's response to
unethical practices in the agency will have to be dealt according to the seriou,- crless of the offense, its
adverse effect on the clients and on with society. In no circumstances should the social worker be part
of any wrong- doings done by the agency even if he/ she is employed by that agency.

V) The Social Worker's Ethical Responsibility to the Social Work Profession

Maintaining the Integrity of the Profession: The social worker should uphold and advance the values,
ethics, knowledge and mission of the profession. The social worker should remember that he/ she is
part of a larger community of professionals and hisl her actions will positively or negatively affect the
profession and its professionals. The social worker should take to the appropriate agency any instances
of serious wrong-doing by members of the social work profession. The social worker should not
misrepresent hisl her professional qualifications and abilities. For example, a social worker should not
claim that helshe is a medical doctor even though that may increase hisl her credibility with the
community and make them more responsive to hisl her message. The social worker should not
misrepresent facts regarding the clients even when it seems to benefit them. The profession's credibility
and the social worker's credibility will be affected if the impression is given that facts are distorted for
that purpose.

The social worker should assist the profession in making social services available to the general public:
The social worker's involvement in providing social services does not end with hisl her working hours.
The social worker should make available his her time and expertise for efforts which seek improvement
in society.

The social worker should take responsibility for identifying, developing, and fully utilizing knowledge for
professional practice: The pursuit of new knowledge and-clarifying issues pertaining to existing
knowledge is an important aim in any profession. The social worker should participate in the continuous
process of updating knowledge and skills and keep himself/ herself informed about the latest
developments in the discipline

VI) The Social Worker's Ethical Responsibility to Society Promoting tlte General Wevare: The social
worker should promote the general welfare of society. The social work should participate in all efforts
which seek to eradicate social problems of discrimination and exclusion, violation of human rights and
promotion of equality.

Ethical Dilemma:
Ethical dilemmas occur when the social worker see themselves faced with a choice between two
equally unwelcome alternatives which may involve a conflict of moral principles and it is not
clear which choice will be the right one. Ethical Dilemma can occur when:
A social worker has to take a moral responsibility of an action out of two different moral
philosophies that conflict with each other.
A social worker has to make a decision from the available choices without even knowing in
advance the outcome of the decision. The result can either be beneficial or harmful.
A social worker has to make a choice that might be best only for a certain section of individuals
involved in the conflict and is harmful for the other party.
Social Work with Family:
Family Problems Social Work Methods/Approach Skills Needed for Social
Worker
Domestic violence Family therapy Listening
Divorce/ Separation Problem solving approach Interviewing
Abuse Family Counseling Observation
Alcohol and addiction Rapport building
Death Critical thinking
Unwanted children or Advocacy
adoption Linking resources
Step parent or children Home visit

Social Work with Community:

Community Problems Social Work Methods/Approach or Skills needed for
Community Practice Social Worker
Poverty Community organization Listening
Discrimination Social planning Interviewing
Children Community planning Observation
Education Locality development Rapport building
Unemployment Community development Critical thinking
Health: physical and Community action Advocacy
mental health Social action Linking
Old age/Elderly resources Home
Crime visit. Case work
Alcoholism and drug Group work
addiction Community
Injustice organization
Abuse and exploitation Management
Gender Coordination
Human rights violation Public speaking
Disability Strategic
Housing planning
 Sanitation and hygiene Budgeting
Culture Conflict Networking
Environment and natural Media
resources mobilization
Mediation
Social Work with Individuals:
Individual Problems Social Work Skills Needed for Social
Methods/Approach Worker
Developmental problem Case work Listening
Health Crisis Case management Interviewing
Depression Counseling Observation
Drug and addition Rapport building
Discrimination Critical thinking
Violence and abuse Advocacy
Separation Divorce and death Linking resources
Education Home visit
Unemployment

Role of Social Worker:

When a social worker helps his client, he works as an enabler. He has to work as a servant, not
for a group. He makes not the direct impacts but indirect impacts upon the group. He makes the
group members act, not works as a coordinator between group and organization. In order to
fulfill the goal of
organization, a group social worker helps the group to solve its problem on its own, to make
aware of its existence, to understand its limitation and capability, to develop the capabilities to
take the initiative and make the decision in order to solve its own problems on its own which aim
at enabling the group to understand its own internal problems, to identifying and mobilizing the
means and resources to solve the problems, keeping the rules and regulations and reputation of
the organization. As a result, the group will be able to accomplish the task on its own,and tries to
develop its skill and
competence in order to maintain social control and determine the norms and values and standard
by itself. Similarly, the social worker enables the group to identify and use the means and group
in the community, identify the objects of diverse aspects, to establish the relation, cooperation
and understanding, permission and responsible
relation.
The role and responsibilities of social worker are determined based on the program to be
operated to solve the problems to meet their needs. The common responsibilities and roles of a
social worker are as follows:
1. Group formation
2. Analysis and research on group's needs and problems
3. Establishment of group relation and strengthening
4. Leadership development
5. Assist in group development and progress
6. To find the resource, fulfill the objectives
7. To solve the problems of social adjustment
Apart from this, social worker also has to importantly play the role of accomplishing the
remedial work. Social worker should have full knowledge of his own role and work with a group
accordingly. After the accomplishment of this work, the works he has to accomplish are as
follows:
1. Guide interaction
2. Controlling of group
3. Development of programs
4. Home visit
5. Demolish the anti-social behavior
6. Minimize feeling of infertility
7. Solve the feeling of aggressive
8. Solve the problems of social adjustment
9. Help in decisions making
10. Evaluate
A scholar named Ross also has mentioned four principal roles of a community organization
worker such as:
As a guide
As an enabler
As an expert
As a social therapist
1. Worker as a Guide
In a community organization, a professional worker, working as a guide, helps to find the means
to ascertain and obtain the goals of community. And he/she helps the community to move further
towards its development and progress. Similarly, a social worker helps the community to find the
ways of its own based on its own
knowledge, rational and understanding. Social worker should not put any kind of pressure on the
community for the sake of his/her own benefit. But he/she helps the community directly and
openly as well as gives instruction if needed. Hence, as a guide, social worker got the following
roles to play.
Initiative
Objectivity
Identification with the community
Acceptance of role etc.
2. Worker as an enabler
As an assistant a social worker tries to make the community organization process much easier. It
means a social worker as an enabler just makes the community organization process easy and
simple. His roles are taken from the following perspectives:
Focusing discontent
Encouraging organization
Nourishing the good interpersonal relations
Emphasizing common objectives
3. Worker as an Expert
A social worker acts as an expert to give good and sound advices to the organizations members
when needed. He/she also does the work of analyzing and diagnosing the community problems.
Likewise acting as an expert, he/she gives useful working procedures to the community to make
its works more effective and legal which helps to
observe the organization's workers and their activities thoroughly. Furthermore a social worker
as an expert counsels or advices the community members based on information and experiences
of the community whenever needed. Similarly, a social worker as an expert makes things like
research data, technical experience, resource materials, and advice on method etc. available to
the community and its members. He/she as an expert tires to know exactly the related fact means
and resources of the community, and also take the social facts to the community. Thus, this role
of a social worker is to understood from the following perspectives:
Community diagnosis
Research skill
Information about other community
Technical information
Evaluation etc.
4. Worker as a Social therapist
Some occupational workers of the community work as the social therapists. Here, what we
should understand by therapist means a community therapist. This therapy is done in community
level, which means entire community diagnosis and treatment. Here social worker as a therapist
act to find out that social forces and prohibiting attitudes which cause obstacles and disunity
within the community. He/she as a social worker finds the ways out how to remove all kinds of
obstructions and difficulties within the community. But in order to do it successfully, a social
worker should be well-informed of the community's nature and characteristics. Thus, what we
would say out of all these things motioned above is that a social worker as a social therapist
develops self-confidence, self-determination and self-sufficient within the entire community.
Similarly, a social worker as a social therapist acts to enable the community to plan its work on
itself and come out with self-decision and make a community effort based on cooperativeness of
the community members to reach its goal successfully. A social worker, while acting as a social
therapist never works as a community leader, rather he/she tires to develop leadership capacity in
the community members. A social worker has to play the following roles unrestrictedly while
running the community organizationally.
As a Motivator
A social worker as a motivator motivates the community members to find out their exact needs
and problems through encouragement and help.
As a Friends
A social worker as a friend should go to the depth of their problems dealing with them as a
friend, but not as someone big people. This is how he/she should become able to find their
problems and necessities that they've been going through.
As a teacher
A social worker as a teacher works for public awareness among the community members
through teaching so that they could be more active in community's betterment/benefit and
develop the community spirit.
As a Learner
A social worker as a learner can have the opportunities to understand and study the entire
community structure and community behavior through his/her humble, faithful and friendly
behavior with them.
As an Informer
A social worker as an informer provides the information to the community according to the
needs at different times. But he/she as an informer should believe them only based on their real
problems, desires and information.
As a facilitator
A social worker as a facilitator acts to make them express their problems, things among each
other and do communicate each other so that they could be motivated to know each other much
better.
As an interpreter
A social worker as an interpreter has to act to explain all of the thing like received information,
data, potential means and resources, possible problems, organizational policy, government
policy, social services and facilities etc to the community members in detail.
As an enabler
A social worker as an enabler helps the community group and individuals to be self-sufficient.
As a trainer
Social worker as a trainer imparts the skill to the group or community members. And he/she also
enables them by giving them training on skill development for planning and needed
identification.
As a Confronter
A social worker as a confronter helps asking them to tackle the difficult situations and things that
have created necessary obstructions and difficulties in every aspect of their life. For example:
Any kind of problem, challenges, their own ideas and perspectives, community prejudice,
superstitions, opposing attitude etc.
Role of Social Worker in Group
The main job of social worker is to play the role of coordinator between the organizations that
provide services and among the every members of the group. A social worker plays an active
role in order
to get the purpose of organization attained in a right way on behalf of service providing
organization. Thus, the principal work of a social worker has to act being responsible in
diagnosing the problems by identifying the group members and making maximum use of
available means and resources. Generally, the roles of social worker in group are as follows:
Group formation
Establishment of group relation and strengthen it
Analysis and research on the needs and problems of group.
Leadership development
Assisting in group development and programs
Finding resources to fulfill the objectives
Solving the problems of social un-adjustment
A social worker always should have multiple leadership capacity. See below:
As a broker
As a mediator
As an educator
As a facilitator
As a encourager
As a gate keeper
As a follower
As an informer
As an information seeker
As an opinion giver
As a clarifier
As an elaborator
As a coordinator
As a group former
As a analyzer and researches on the needs and problems of the group.
As an assistant in group development and progress, etc.
Social Reform in Ancient Period
Charity and religious devotion was the mainstay of the Indian culture in ancient period. The
main characteristic was doing or initiating welfare and common good of all, the glimpses of
which can be found in folk tales and legends in old literary works, Smiritis or Dhramsastras. The
earliest mention to charity can be obtained from Rigveda which encourages charity by saying
"May the one who gives shine most". The Arthasastras, ascribed to Kautilya is one of the oldest
works in polity- that refers to the construction work for public good by joint efforts of villagers.
It also mentions social work as care of children, old or invalid in case of no protectors. Special
regulations were established for persons living in cities for common good. Collective charity was
popular form of social work, of which progress of education or Hdyadana was an important one
as one of the numerous Jatakas reflect. Other Upanashidas like Brihadarnayaka, Chhandogya and
Taittiriya prescribes that every householder must practice charity. Next to education, reference
may be made to religion, which took precedence over everything else to the people of ancient
India. One of the popular methods of performing social activities, hence was Yagnas. The main
aim of yagnas was the common welfare of all, devoid of any personal benefit or profit. There
were several Yagnashalas, which were like classrooms wherein students were instilled with the
feeling of working without the egocentric desires. This learning and spirit transcended to the
home, workplace and in the ordinary community life. The community was urged to move ahead
as one entity and achieve progress. According to Geeta privileged-sections must strive towards
the fulfilment of its duty to serve the poor, handicapped and underprivileged.
The communitarian structure of early Vedic period functioned like an extended family, where
everybody catered to everybody's needs. Due to the simple nature of activities and relationships
community welfare was a concern of everybody. With the gradual development of agrarian
societies, private ownership of land and charity came into being. Charity or Dana became the
instrument and virtue of the privileged sections to be dispensed voluntarily. By later vedic period
charity/dana became institutionalized and became associated with religious ideology. It was
extolled as a cherished virtue . The advent of Buddhism changed the character of the society to
class based agrarian society. Its philosophy attempted to explain the class differences and
emphasized upon the punya and dana (charity). Charity was not merely a means to ameliorate the
conditions of the marginalized populace but also as the giving of the gifts to Sangha, which were
centres of shelters and learning. Guilds, also arose as significant corporate body entrusted with
political and economic functions during this period. These also provided social security to the
downtrodden sections of the society, and parts of its funds were utilized for the relief of blind,
destitute, invalid, infirm, orphan and widowed women. With the establishment of new political
system in Magadha states, earliest attempts to establish administrative system was made. General
welfare, construction of roads, agriculture etc. was given attention. Kautilya highlights the duties
of the King towards the welfare and happiness of his subjects. During the reign of Ashoka and
later Kanishka, similar range of social welfare activities were initiated which encompassed
women's welfare, rehabilitation of prisoners, rural development, free medical care, regulation of
prostitution, provision of public utility services etc.
Social Reform in Medieval Period (1206-1706)
The approach followed while mentioning the social reform activities during the medieval period
would be to focus not on individual kings and their achievements but to the extent of their
contribution to changes in social institutions and structure. The Muslim Sultanate who formed a
significant phase of the medieval period were motivated and driven by the same spirit of social
service in the fields of religion and education. The practical needs of consolidating conquered
territory and providing efficient administration in a foreign country necessitated the delineation
of the role and functions of the kings. These duties included maintenance of peace, protection
from external forces, levying of taxes and providing justice to subjects. Beyond these limited
secular functions, the rulers took little interest in promoting the general welfare of the masses.
The religion enjoined upon the Muslims to render help to the underprivileged by the payment of
Zakat, "the annual legal alms of five things, namely money, cattle, grain, fruit and merchandise".
Provision of drinking water, building of mosques, provision of sarais, charity to poor was
regarded as pious act.
Humayun was the pioneer amongst the Muslim rulers to make the efforts to prohibit Sati system.
Akbar was an illustrious ruler who took initiatives in bringing reforms in Indian society by
abolishing slavery in 1583. He introduced equality among people irrespective of class and
religion, and established comprehensive system of poor relief which was of two types: granting
relief in cash/kind to every needy person who made requests for the same and the other was
systematic and organized assistance provided regularly.
Social Reform in Modern Period (AD 1800 onwards)
The Indian society gradually underwent several major changes in the political, economic and
social spheres during this period. Some of the major changes which reverberated the entire
structure were new legal system based on western ideas of property rights, rule of law, judiciary
and the emergence of market economy, development of railways and communications, and a
new educational system which opened visions to ideals of liberty, justice, equality. These
changes affected the family, kinship, marriage and caste. It influenced and led to the growth of
an elite group of western liberal rational outlook that spearheaded the movement for social
reform during the nineteenth century. The genesis of social reform movement can be traced to
the work of Rammohan Roy, who sowed the seeds of religious and social reforms. A number of
reformers like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Jotirao Phule, Sasipada Banerjee, Gopal Krishna
Gokahale, Swami Dayanand, Swami Vivekananda, Bal Shastri Jambhekar in different parts of
the country for a period of almost a century concentrated their efforts on reforming certain
features of Indian society like caste system, child marriage, sati, widowhood, idol worship. The
ideals of justice, equality, liberties were underlying principles of these reform movements.
Several of them established schools and institutions to provide service to individuals affected
with the harmful aspects of the Hindu society. They based their attack on spreading education
and propaganda encouraging the governments to pass legislation to eradicate these social
practices. Some of the important organizations that played a key role in development of this
movement are Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Theosophical Society, Ram Krishna Mission, Indian
Social Conference, Servants of India Society etc. However, this social reform movement
confined to small elitist segment of the population mostly consisting of English speaking middle
class. But with the advent of Gandhiji on the scene, the entire social reform and political
independence movement took a turn. Significantly, Gandhiji linked political movement with the
social movement and transformed this into a mass movement with the participation of all
sections of population notably women and peasants and lower castes. The establishment of the
first school of social work, Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work, Bombay in 1936
marks a watershed in training and education of social work profession. Subsequently, several
institutes of social work were established in various parts of the country. After independence, the
government shifted towards the welfare approach and took several areas of social work under its
purview. The popularity of ideas of social change, social development, institutional change and
programmes of family planning, elimination of mass poverty and reduction of income gaps
among the population reflect the direction of social orientation towards seeking and striving to
achieve the goals.
Theory in Social Work/ Social Work Theory:
Social work theories attempt to describe, explain and predict social events based on scientific
evidence, studies and research. Social work perspectives draw from psychology, philosophy,
economics, education and other fields to attempt to explain what drives and motivates people at
various stages of life.
Why Is Theory Important in Social Work?
Social work theories help social workers analyze cases, understand clients, create interventions,
predict intervention results and evaluate outcomes. While the theories are constantly evolving as
new evidence is produced, referencing social work theories that have been used over time
enables social workers to explore causes of behavior. They can then help their clients find the
best solutions.
Learning about various social work theories helps remind social workers that their personal
assumptions and beliefs should be suspended during social work practice. Social workers should
use evidence-based theories to investigate issues and drive their practice, instead of applying
their own attitudes, reactions and moods to client work.
Applying Social Work Theory to Practice
Social work theory provides a starting point for social workers to create interventions and plan
their work. It gives social workers a way to address client problems through a research-based
lens.
The theories help social workers better understand complex human behaviors and social
environments, which influence their clients’ lives and problems. A good grasp of theory helps
guide social workers by providing them with a sense of direction, purpose and control by using
research-based scientific evidence in theory.
One challenge of applying social work theories to practice is choosing the right theory for the
situation at hand. It can be difficult to assign a single theory to complex client issues. Often, it’s
more practical to draw upon the knowledge of multiple theories and use that understanding to
design multifaceted interventions.
List of Important Social Work Theories
1. Social learning theory
Social learning theory, which is also known as social cognitive theory, was developed by
psychologist Albert Bandura. External link  This theory posits that learning occurs by observing
others and modeling their behavior.
In order for social learning to occur, a person must want to emulate the person they’re watching.
The individual pays close attention to the action and retains the action in memory. Then, the
individual must experience a situation where the behavior can be repeated and must be motivated
to repeat the behavior.
Social learning theory relates to social work because social workers may want to understand how
role models affect the behaviors and moods in those they work with. Social learning theory can
also help social workers form intervention strategies that use positive modeling and
reinforcement to create new positive behaviors in their clients.
2. Systems theory
Systems theory proposes that people are products of complex systems, rather than individuals
who act in isolation. In this theory, behavior is influenced by a variety of factors that work
together as a system. These factors include family, friends, social settings, religious structure,
economic class and home environment, which can all influence how individuals act and think.
Systems theory can be used to treat issues External link  like eating disorders, depression, bipolar
disorder, anxiety, school trauma and risky behavior. In ecological systems theory, individuals are
observed in multiple environments so that behavior is fully understood. Family systems theory
examines the family as a social system influencing behavior and thoughts.
Social workers using systems theory will work to understand how their clients are influenced by
the systems they’re a part of. Social workers then identify where systemic breakdowns are
affecting behavior.
3. Psychosocial development theory
Psychosocial development theory was introduced by German psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, who
believed personality develops in a series of stages. Erikson created an eight-stage theory of
psychosocial development External link . According to the theory, the eight stages of
development that people pass through in life are:
Trust versus mistrust
Autonomy versus shame and doubt
Initiative versus guilt
Industry versus inferiority
Identity versus confusion
Intimacy versus isolation
Generativity versus stagnation
Integrity versus despair
In psychosocial development theory, humans are believed to go through these stages as they age.
Psychosocial development theory can influence social workers, who can look at what stage of
development their clients are going through and use the theory to better understand the
challenges their clients are experiencing during certain stages of psychosocial development.
4. Psychodynamic theory
Psychodynamic theory was introduced by the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. This
theory is founded on the idea that humans are biologically driven to seek gratification. The
theory states that people do this based on processes that have developed outside of conscious
awareness, with origins in childhood experiences. This drive influences everyday behavior,
leading to actions like aggression, sex and self-preservation.
In social work, psychodynamic theory can help to explain the internal processes External
link  individuals use to guide their behavior, some of which may be unconsciously motivated.
Social workers may also examine how early childhood experiences have played a role in
influencing their clients’ behavior today.
5. Social exchange theory
Social exchange theory originates with Austrian sociologist George Homans. It says that
relationships are based on cost-benefit analysis. Each person seeks to maximize their benefits
and is expected to reciprocate for the benefits they’ve received. When risks outweigh potential
rewards, relationships may be abandoned. When one person in a relationship has greater personal
resources than another, that person is predicted to have greater power as well.
Social workers can use social exchange theory to understand the relationships their clients
have External link  with others and why they continue to maintain certain relationships or
abandon them.
Social exchange theory can also be applied to the techniques social workers use to connect with
their clients. Social exchange theory can influence how social workers position the social
worker-client relationship as one that benefits their clients.
6. Rational choice theory
Rational choice theory helps explain why people make the choices they do, as people weigh
risks, costs and benefits before making decisions. This theory says that all choices are rational
because people calculate the costs and benefits before making a decision. Even when a choice
seems irrational, there was reasoning behind it.
This theory can help social workers understand the decision-making processes and motivations
of their clients. Using rational choice theory, social workers can examine how their clients make
decisions External link  based on their rational preferences.
Settlement House Movement:
The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked
around the 1920s in England and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of
society together in both physical proximity and social interconnectedness. Its main object was the
establishment of "settlement houses" in poor urban areas, in which volunteer middle-class
"settlement workers" would live, hoping to share knowledge and culture with, and alleviate the
poverty of, their low-income neighbors. The settlement houses provided services such as daycare,
English classes, and healthcare to improve the lives of the poor in these areas. The most famous
settlement house of the time was Hull House, founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Starr.

First Settlement Houses

The first settlement house was Toynbee Hall in London, founded in 1883 by
Samuel and Henrietta Barnett. This was followed by Oxford House in 1884, and
others such as the Mansfield House Settlement.

The first American settlement house was the Neighborhood Guild, founded by
Stanton Coit, in 1886. The Neighborhood Guild failed soon after and inspired
another guild, the College Settlement (later the University Settlement), named
because the founders were graduates of the Seven Sisters colleges.
Famous Settlement Houses
The best-known settlement house is perhaps Hull House in Chicago, founded in
1889 by Jane Addams with her friend Ellen Gates Starr. Lillian Wald and the
Henry Street Settlement in New York is also well known. Both of these houses
were staffed primarily by women and both resulted in many reforms with long-
lasting effects and many programs that exist today.
The Movement Spreads
Other notable early settlement houses were the East Side House in 1891 in New
York City, Boston's South End House in 1892, the University of Chicago
Settlement and the Chicago Commons (both in Chicago in 1894), Hiram House in
Cleveland in 1896, Hudson Guild in New York City in 1897, and Greenwich
House in New York in 1902.

By 1910, there were more than 400 settlement houses in more than 30 states in
America. At the peak in the 1920s, there were almost 500 of these
organizations. The United Neighborhood Houses of New York today
encompasses 35 settlement houses in New York City. About 40 percent of
settlement houses were founded and supported by a religious denomination or
organization.

The movement was mostly present in the U.S. and Great Britain, but a movement
of "Settlement" in Russia existed from 1905 to 1908.