INTRODUCTION

Before understanding what social worker does we need to look at social work
and what role they play in the human development in our societies we ought to
understand what social is all about .
What is social work ? according to Skidmore and Thackery “ social is defined
as an art , a science , a profession that helps people resolve personal problems and
attain satisfying personal , group and community relationships through social work
practices”
Social work is simply a practice or rather a profession that promotes ,cohesion and
social change for the betterment of human development and empowerment and
liberation of people.
It also looks at principals of social justice and human rights .it seeks to improve the
quality of life and not leaving out the subjective well being of individuals ,families
and the community at large.
A social worker is an individual trained or professionalized to enhance the
overall of individuals and help meet basic complex need in any given
community .social workers are trained to address some injustices poverty , lack of
housing and employment also supporting the physically challenged those living with
disabilities and offer support to those from broken homes those who experience
domestic violence.
Depending on the speciality and place of employment a clinical social worker
for instance focuses mainly on the diagnosis ,treatments ,mental illnesses emotional
and behavioral issues. Functions,goals and characteristics of a social worker is what
will be discussed further .
 FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL WORK

The cardinal functions of social work involves restoration , provision of possessions

and also prevention of which they are interdependent .
Restoration has two characteristics which are curative and rehabilitative.
The curative aspect removes the factors that hinder an individual from normal social
functioning or by eliminating the root cause of a problem in interpersonal dealings .
Rehabilitative is when a person is helped to to adjust to the new situation for instance
when a partially deaf child they can suggest that the child should be given a hearing
aid which is a curative and the child adjusting to the hearing aid is what we can term
as the rehabilitative aspect.
Under curative function we find health services relating to psychiatry ,child
guidance ,services to the disabled in form of protection and rehabilitation. These are
aimed to cure the social,mental and psychological well being of people in society .
The rehabilitative function is to recognize and rebuild the interaction channels or
patterns in a given society
Provision of possession can be sub divided into two namely the developmental and
educational aspect.
Developmental aspect is aimed at enhancing effectiveness of the possessions and
improve personal factors for effective communication . it can be counselling to settle
the differences in a family to improve the the family connection .
Educational aspect is intended to familiarize the public on specific circumstances or
changing situations . it can be a talk that is given by the person conducting the
counseling to alleviate marriage or family troubles .
Prevention of social dysfunction en campuses early detection ,control and elimination
of situations that could or hinder effective social functioning. For instance opening up
recreation facilities can prevent juvenile delinquency and premarital counseling in
teenagers can prevent problems in marriages in the future.
 GOALS OF SOCIAL WORK

The goal of social work is to minimize the suffering of people by solving problems
Offer support to those with psycho social problems with regard to their physical or
mental health .social work enhances the social operations of individuals ,groups and
communities by providing recreational services to the general public .social work
helps individuals in relation to the environment in favour of his own development .
It works for social justice through legal aid and promotes social justice through
development of what is known as social policy and on top of that it social work
improves the running of the social service delivery network
Therefore the five major goals are
(i) enhance problem solving,coping and developmental capacities of people
Which focuses largely on the person and the social worker serves as the facilitator.
(ii). link people with systems that provide them with resources ,services and
opportunities.