Content of Fieldwork Part II

Introduction

This Module is a continuation of the Previous Module (number 3). That one
focused on two skills that the student can use in field work mainly Observation
and Interview. This Module continues to focus on content of field work but the
discussion is about the external context, the environment, the organisation etc.

The Organizational Context

There is always a need to see ourselves as meaningful and worthwhile both in

our individual and working lives. This applies to all human beings more in
connection to the clients we engage with, both in our engagements with people
and organizations. While the needs for physical survival are essential, our
psychological and spiritual survival (and development) depends on whether
we can find values within ourselves. While engaging with target groups it
becomes essential that the following simple guidelines be adhered to:
1. Help client understand that the feeling of personal worth, or our level of
self-esteem, is rooted in how we think of ourselves in relation to others. A
person who is violent and dishonest may have high self-esteem whereas
another person, who others view as a generally good human, being may
have low self-esteem.
2. Self-esteem can be learnt from one’s experiences. Certain types of
experiences can provide learning opportunities that aid clients to
reconsider and re-evaluate his/her beliefs about self.
3. People with low self-esteem often have the habit of aligning themselves
with the best in their respective fields of practice.
4. In helping clients to examine their beliefs and assumptions about
themselves, you can encourage them to imagine specific conditions in
which they existed and elevate their feeling of self-worth.
5. Self-esteem tends to grow from experiences of success and achievements.
6. You can encourage and help clients develop a sense of purpose and meaning in
their lives. There could be circumstances which demand that you help the client,
such as when they are faced with challenges. Clients who are defensive will
tend to reject a message/ advice given that you may offer by either rationalizing
their defeat or by attacking you. Therefore, the following guidelines must be
followed while using this technique:
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 1. For a challenge to be truly effective, it must be used at a point when the
client appears open and ready to hear and consider the message.
2. Try not to confront or challenge client when you are feeling angry or
exasperated with the client. Unless you have a genuine concern for the
client, confrontation will not help in this situation.
3. Your message must be presented in a non-judgemental manner.
4. Present the facts or observation on which your message is based and make
sure that the clients understand the differentiation between your facts and
the deductions you have drawn from these facts.

How you can help clients make difficult decisions

As you learn the tools and techniques of social casework, you will begin to
understand and appreciate that decision-making can be facilitated in the
following ways. Help the client consider their usual approach to decision
making. Encourage them to think about dreams they have made previously.
Guide them through a discussion which will help them to make a clear
distinction between the problem to be addressed and the options available. Help
them distinguish the means from the end. Use a decision-making matrix by
helping them through the pros and cons of the situation. Finally, help them to
prepare a decision-making worksheet by focusing the client’s attention on
important questions, factors, and possible consequences that need to be
considered.
Most of the times, clients approach the agency only in times of crises. A crisis is
defined as sudden but temporary breakdown in a person's capacity to cope and
function, which is brought by some threatening event. Situations which might
result in a crisis include sudden death of close friend/ relative, diagnosis of an
ailment, loss of job, or some other traumatic event. It's important to be able
to distinguish between a genuine personal crisis and a life cycle crisis in which
one emergency occurs after another but with no real or substantial change in
how the person/client behaves, copes or functions.

As a student you need to be able to appreciate the following guidelines when

dealing with a person in crisis.
1. An individual who is in a crisis is more preoccupied with the event which
precipitated them than his/her own fears and anxieties.
2. They involve others in the helping process, including their friends, family,
peers, neighbours.
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 3. The person in crisis feels that he/she is confronted with an unsolvable
problem and, therefore, feels paralyzed to take actions.
4. A helpful attitude and approach is essential when responding to a crisis.
5. If the whole family or several individuals are involved, who have
experienced a similar traumatic event, a group approach or family therapy
approach may be useful.

How you can work towards your clients’ empowerment

Empowerment means to invest the other with power or to authorize another to

develop/ nurture a certain power. As a social work strategy, empowering is a
way of working with clients that assist them to organize and exercise the
competencies and power they need to improve their own functions, and to
change attitudes and policies that adversely impact their lives.
The following guidelines must be followed to empower clients. You need to
understand that agencies working to enhance empowerment believe that power
and responsibility must be shared. Therefore, to achieve clients’ self-
determination, they must work in partnership.

Every individual is a valuable resource to others and it is through sharing

responsibility and cooperating that they are able to better understand the socio-
political-economic context of situation .You need to help client prepare a list of
powers that they already possess, such as motivation, earlier knowledge,
understanding of a particular problem, willingness to take risks so that by
encouraging them to make decisions, they will be benefitted in the long run
and will move towards independent decision making. Encourage your client and
assist them to arrange and attend meetings and events which will help them to
understand the people, organization, and system they want to influence and
change. Clients can be encouraged to arrange meetings with local leaders and
politicians

Once your client recognized their own potential, you will be able to assist them
to use their power in a planned way.You will need to remember that an
organization may not able to accomplish far-reaching changes due to budget
constraints and other reasons. While dealing with conflicts, you may have to
sometimes mediate on behalf of the client. Mediation is basically a dialogue
between parties who are in conflict over such things as values, power, status or
access to resources in which a social worker or other third party facilitates a
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balance or a level-headed search for a solution. Facilitative mediation is a
method where a neutral third party, who has no authority or decision-making
powers in the situation, works with both sides and helps them agree to terms for
settling the disputes. When a working with a group, agency or community, you
will be required to use varied programming activities, such as dance, drama
campaigns, puppet shows, storytelling etc. Within social group work,
programming implies the purposeful use of non-verbal media.Recreation and
other activities move group processes in the desired direction and create
opportunities for group members to learn new skills and experiences, and
develop positive relationships.

Games and groups activities teach various important skills, such as self-control,
problem- solving, communication, decision-making, planning, dealing with
failure and authority. An individual behaviour during an activity can provide
important diagnostic information. For example, if you observe a child’s
interactions during a game, it may help you to get insights into the child’s
behaviour.

You must remember that

a. The selection of particular activity is always linked to the question of what
behaviour, attitude and skills you wanted to teach. The activity should
help bring forth such behaviour of and by its members which will help the
group to achieve its purpose
b. When selecting an activity, such factors need to be considered as the
number of members, age, intellectual abilities, social skills, etc. You also
need to consider the skills or knowledge required for the activities.
c. The activity selected needs to be interesting.
d. Does the activity require you to function as teacher, leader, advisor,
planner? Also, the group size needs to be taken into consideration.
e. Consider how the rules of the activity will affect individuals. Can they
cope with the rules?
f. The appropriateness of the activity will depend on stage of development
the group is in.
g. Consider how the activity fits with the physical environment. How
much time is required? Is the activity safe? Is it noisy?

Organizations working with children

When planning for an interview with children you may consider the following:
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a. You need to be clear about why you are meeting the child and what is it
that you hope to accomplish. Plan alternative methods to achieve your
goals.
b. You would need to conduct the interview in a room that is familiar and
comfortable for the child. If that is not possible consider a park or open
space.
c. You would need to consider using some form of play to put the child at
ease to unable communication.
d. You will need to place yourself at the child level physically.
e. You will need to be prepared to offer a simple and honest explanation as
to why you need to speak with the child
f. You might begin with some friendly conversation.
g. If the child refuses to talk or interact try engaging him/her in parallel
activity and then gradually initiate the conversation about the activity.

Gathering information from children who are in after-care

homes/shelter/street children/adopted agencies/special schools

In such settings, you need to consider the following.

a. Because young children have limited verbal ability, most of the
information you gather will be from observing the child’s nonverbal
behaviour during play and social interactions.
b. Children tent to act out the concerns they have in play and project their
concerns and feeling into stories.
c. Children between the age of 3 to 6 are usually eager to please adults. They
may modify what they want to say to make it fit with what they believe
adults want to hear.
d. Young children are easily distracted and move quickly from one topic to another.
e. Most children older than 6 years can answer simple and age-appropriate
questions. If you need to probe you may need to ask: what happened next?
Then what did you do ? Where were you when this happened? Who was
with you?
f. Special techniques like story completion, doll play and drawing may be
useful when interviewing children between 7 and 9 years but many
children who are older may give a thoughtful response to a clear question.
Many children of this age group find it easier to talk about personal
matters if they can do so while engaged in simple activity that doesn't
require much concentration.
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If you are placed in children's homes or in a school for children or an adoption
agency, how will you assess the truthfulness of the child's statements? This is a
challenge. You consider the following possibilities.
1. If you and your para-professional at the agency are responsible for
investigation reports of abuse and neglect or conducting child custody
evaluation you will need to form an opinion about whether the child is
telling the truth.
2. Sometimes a parent or another adult in the child's life may pressurize the
child to lie to a social worker to avoid disclosing some problem or
criminal activity or the way of hurting another person.

If you are engaged in Field Action Projects of various Departments/ Schools

of Social Work, you must understand that these projects work mostly with
marginalized populations. They help enhance the teaching-learning experience.
However, only a few colleges/ Schools/ Departments of Social Work initiate
Field Action Projects to support field-based learning for students. The value of
these projects lies in the fact that they demonstrate the efficacy of social work
profession and also provide quality fieldwork training to students. By
conducting training programmes and field-based seminars, the quality of
fieldwork training can be enhanced. Given below are a few examples of Field
Action Projects. They cover different issues and help understand how field work
is done in such varied settings.

Integrated Rural Health Development (IRHD) Programme

IRHD primarily adopts a Preventive Health and Health Promotion Framework

and works in multiple domains to achieve wellbeing of people in communities.
Field Action Project teams in IRHD work with individuals in areas related to
their beliefs and attitudes, health-seeking behaviour, awareness and
enhancement of knowledge. In community engagements, the effort is to
organize periodic community meetings, create awareness of various
communicable and non-communicable diseases through street plays and other
means, undertake camps to identify people with disabilities and individual
counselling as and when necessary. They also undertake training and capacity-
building of PHC doctors, Anganwadi teachers and ASHA workers.

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The teams work with population sub-groups, such as women’s groups, children
and adolescents for better outcomes. Community-based rehabilitation for
persons with disability and persons with mental illness is also undertaken. The
Village Health Committee periodically submits documents and reports to the
Tehsil health office and also periodically demands for changes in the local
health system. The Social worker also is a member of VHC who provides inputs
to the committee for improvements; and also, to guide policy decisions as and
when necessary.

Prayas

Prayas is a social work demonstration project of the Centre for Criminology and
Justice, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. It was established in 1990. Prayas’
focus is on service delivery, networking, training, research and documentation,
and policy change with respect to custodial/institutional rights and rehabilitation
of socio-economically vulnerable individuals and groups. To this end,
permission to visit criminal justice or custodial institutions and interact with
persons detained or confined in police stations, prisons and government
residential institutions in Maharashtra and Gujarat has been obtained from the
Departments of Prisons and Women and Child Development.

Prayas aims to contribute knowledge and insight to the current understanding of

aspects of Criminal Justice System policy and process in India- with a specific
reference to socio- economically vulnerable and excluded communities, groups
and individuals who are at greater risk of being criminalised, or exposed to
trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

The objectives of Prayas are

1. To demonstrate the need for social work intervention in the criminal
justice system, such as police stations, prisons, courts and institutions for
women.
2. To work towards the rehabilitation of persons coming out of or vulnerable
to crime, sexual exploitation or destitution.
3. To improve access to the legal rights of persons processed by the criminal
justice system and to promote the use of the correctional laws to aid
rehabilitation of vulnerable groups.
4. To identify issues relevant to rehabilitation and attempt to address them at policy
level.
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 5. To increase awareness in government and society about issues related to
rehabilitation of persons affected by crime, sexual exploitation or
destitution.
6. To generate knowledge in the field of social work, criminology and
corrections through the analysis of field experience.

● Women and youth undertrial prisoners and those being processed by the
criminal justice system; and their families (including children of women
prisoners left outside, while the mothers are in prison).
● Women and girls rescued by the police from sexually exploitative situations.
● Destitute women and girls, especially those vulnerable to crime and/or
commercial sexual exploitation.
● Women or youth referred by personnel within the criminal justice system,
voluntary organisations, ex-beneficiaries of Prayas and the general public.
Prayas work with these groups because it believes that persons drifting into
exploitative situations have done so as a result of their social circumstances and
have adopted alternative supportive structures and behaviours to counter life
situations. Since they have been subjected to a series of exploitative situations,
they may get drawn to behaviours that are destructive to self or others. They
have been separated from their families and face exclusion from mainstream
society. Further, they need support to prevent further exclusion. Moreover,
every person rehabilitated adds to a contributing member in the legal economy.

Social workers and training instructors who work in this project visit various
settings, including prisons, police stations and government-run institutions for
women. Services like information and awareness programmes, educational
sessions, family support and legal aid are focused on. This is done with the
objective of establishing rapport and to provide information about rehabilitative
services.

Koshish

Koshish is another Field Action Project in multiple locations – Mumbai Delhi

and Patna. It was started as a TISS Field Action Project in August 2006 with the
primary objective of repealing the harsh beggary prevention law which had
failed to recognize the circumstances that force people into destitution and
criminalizes poverty. It acknowledges the historical and contextual realities like
resistance and exclusion faced by denotified communities, transgender
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communities, persons with mental illness, those affected by leprosy, etc.
Koshish aims to humanise existing institutions operated under the beggary
prevention law and work towards the rehabilitation of custodial populations
living in beggars’ homes. It also works for the creation of policies and
programmes for homeless populations and those who live at the margins of
society in urban areas.

Koshish, which started as student initiative, has developed into a comprehensive

intervention influencing critical policy decisions. The project is at a crucial
stage where it has successfully advocated with the state as well as central
governments for the repeal of the current legislation and formulation of central
legislation that will be community-based with non- custodial framework. Some
of the key programmes are:

Myspace which is an experimental process facilitating 'free and secure

environment' within custodial institutions. Counselling , Life Skills Training
and Capacity-building o f clients. Mental Health Intervention with residents
through individual and group sessions and referral. Medical Intervention
Calling Home programme to contact and trace families and help them reunite.
Institutional Placement programme to facilitate social and vocational skill
building. Recreational Activities inside institutions to create an environment
conducive to rehabilitation. Protection of Legal Rights for persons arrested
under the beggary prevention law. Employers' Collective to help released
clients find employment. Advocacy for repeal of the anti-poor beggary law.
Alliance Building and Networking with multiple stakeholders towards
creation of a lobby of organisations working with homeless and destitute
populations. Action Research on various aspects relating to beggary,
implementation of law and situation of homeless. Training of police,
superintendents, probation officers and other institutional staff. Youth
Engagement Programme with college youth to develop their spirit of
volunteerism. Community based intervention, linking the clients with existing
government schemes while enhancing their capacities through range of
interventions to exit destitution. The impact of all these sustained efforts has
been such that today, Koshish has grown to occupy a very significant position
in the policy space in the context of homelessness and destitution. All these
provide immense learning opportunities for students and enable them o
contribute to society and grow as professionals, besides providing them
opportunities to think and work towards empowering the marginalized.
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Summary
The focus of this module was to look at the organisation, agency or environment
within content of field work. It introduced different kinds of issues and types of
organisations. It also discussed a few examples of types of client groups that
one can work with. This module has helped you to understand examples from
the field and the organizational context. References from field action projects
have helped you understand its value for student learning.

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