The Discipline of

Social Work
Objective/s:
1.Identify the goals of social work.
2.Identify the scope of social work.
Alone we can do so little, together we
can do so much.
- Helen Keller
Are you willing to confront realities of social
problems and human needs?
 Are you concerned with the plight of the many
who experience hardships of poverty and the
tears of hunger and pain?
Do you want to be involved in shaping a society
that strives to ensure a high quality of life and
social justice for all social members?
If YES, then welcome to the profession of Social
Work.
Scenarios in relation to
Social Work
What can you say about the picture/s?
What makes it social work?
Definitions of Social Work
The National Association of Social Workers
(NASW, n.d.), defined social work as the
professional activity of helping individuals, groups
or communities enhance or restore their capacity
of their personal interaction with their
environment and creating societal conditions
beneficial to the mission.
The United Nations of Economic Social
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO,
2000), considers social work as a field
within human services and a part of
services of the government.
The International Federation of Social
Works (IFSW, 2006), defines social work
as a practice-based and academic
discipline that promotes change and social
development.
Australian Association of Social Workers
(AASW), as cited in Cox & Pawar, 2006)
defines social work as a practical
profession designed at helping people
addresses their problems and matching
them with the resources they need to lead
healthy and productive lives.
The International Association of Schools
of Social Work (IASSW), states that social
work profession promotes social change,
problem solving in human relationships,
and the empowerment and liberation of
people to enhance well-being. (IFSW &
IASSW, 2004 as cited in Co & Pawar,
2006).
Goals of Social Work

The primary mission of social work

profession is to develop human beings and
assist other institutions in attaining the basic
human needs of people and in empowering
the lost, the least, and the last.
1. The Goal on Caring

Caring refers to the heart of social work and

it centers on the well-being or the welfare
and comfort of the individual and
community.
Volunteers of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) form part of an active corps of
capable, caring by sharing their resources, time, and efforts to alleviate human
suffering.
2. The Goal on Curing

Curing refers to the aspect of treating

people with problems in their social
environment. Some examples are
counselling and therapy.
3. The Goal on Changing

Changing refers to the active participation of

the social workers in social reforms. Some
examples are promoting social change and
justice.
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is a human
development measure of the national government that provides
conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor, to improve the
health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18.
Scope of
Social Work
The scope of social work includes:
1. Child development Social Work
2. Medical Social Work
3. Clinical Social Work
4. Social work administration and management
5. International Social work
6. Social work as community organizer
7. Women welfare
8. Crisis intervention
9. Criminal justice
1. Child development Social Work

• Social workers need to have a good

understanding of child development in
order to recognize normative patterns of
development and be alert to issues of
concern.
 2. Medical Social Work

The Medical Social Worker is responsible

for the classification of admitted patients.
They prepare social case studies, perform
assessment of the psychosocial condition of
patients and families and facilitates their
needs as necessary.
3. Clinical Social Work

A clinical social worker draws on evidence-

based theories and methods of prevention,
assessment and treatment with a special
focus on psychosocial and behavioral
problems and disorders.
4. Social work administration and
management
Social work administrators juggle the financial and
legal priorities within social service organizations.
On any given day, their duties could entail
balancing budgets or writing grant proposals—all
crucial aspects in supporting clinical social workers
and their clients. Also responsible for crafting
policies for their organizations, social work
administrators serve as decision makers.
5. International Social work

International social work is a discrete field of

practice within social work that seeks to
improve the social and material well-being
of people everywhere. It is practiced across
geopolitical borders and at all levels of
social and economic organization.
6. Social work as community
organizer
Community organizing can bring about
social change for disadvantaged groups,
improve community decision-making,
reduce crime, improve safety and public
health, spur local economies, and more.
 7. Women welfare
Social workers are involved in the broadest range
of professional activities that are critical to the well
being of women and girls. Specific efforts include
the delivery of health and mental health care
services and public health programs; prevention
and early intervention efforts addressing both
interpersonal and community-based violence;
education, employment, and training programs and
many more.
8. Crisis intervention

Historically and today, crisis intervention

social workers support and advise people in
distress, keeping them from harming
themselves and others. They also arrange
for care and counseling after stressful
events and disasters.
9. Criminal justice

Criminal justice social workers may provide

testimony and research for criminal and civil
court cases. They may collaborate with
adult and juvenile criminal justice systems in
areas including: Child custody issues
involving divorce, neglect, parental rights
termination and/or separation.
Morales and Sheafor (1998, 8th edition)
identified and described the fields
included in the area of social work.
1. Social Work as a Primary
Discipline

In terms of child welfare, social work offers:

a. The adoption and services to unmarried

parents – the difficult decision of unmarried
parents whether to keep the baby or place
the child for adoption
b. The foster care – removes the children
from their homes and placing them
temporarily in a foster care
c. The residential care – a group care home
or a residential treatment center for children
d. The support in own homes – provides
support services in order to keep children in
their own homes
e. The protective services – protect the child
from child abuse, maltreatment, and
exploitation by one or both parents
Family services, social work offers:

a. Family counselling – utilize the three

approaches to this type of counselling
a.1. family case work, involves helping
individual members of the family change
their behavior to make them more effective
contributors in the family:
a. 2. family group work, the process by
which the family examines its relationships
and resolves their problem with the help of
the social worker: and lastly,
a. 3. family therapy, focuses on transforming
the structure of the family to make it more
supportive to its members
b. Family life education - an intervention to
strengthen the family through educational
activities that seek to prevent family
breakdown
c. Family planning – assisting the families
plan the number, spacing, and timing of the
births of children to fit with their needs
Income maintenance, social work offers:

a. Public assistance – refers to the provision

of the financial aid to the poor. Services
include cash grants, food stamps, general
assistance such as hospital and medical
care, and supplemental security income.
b. Social insurances – social provisions that
are funded by employers and employees
through contributions to a specific program.
c. The other income maintenance programs
include cash in kind benefits, emergency
support funds, and other resources which
can be used by the poor for food and
shelter.
2. Social Work as an Equal
Partner
Aging, social work offers:

a. The support for people in their own

homes program consists of helping older
people remain in their own homes by linking
them with community programs that bring
health care services into their homes.
b. The support for people in long-term care
facilities program refers to nursing home
care services into their homes.
Community services, social work offers:
a. Community organization
b. Community planning
c. Community development
3. Social Work as a Secondary
Discipline
Industry, social workers act as:

a. Support to both the managers and the

employees of the companies. They make
themselves available to the employees with
social problems for individual, family, and
group counselling
b. Provide information to the managers as
basis for management decisions that might
have an impact on the social atmosphere in
the working environment
Medical and health care, social workers:

a. Attend to the social and psychological

factors that are contributing to the medical
condition of the patients
b. Link patients with community resources

c. Provide necessary counselling, and link

with self-help groups
Schools, the primary tasks of social
workers in schools, (as cited by Morales
and Sheafor, 1998, 8th edition)

a. Facilitate the provision of direct

educational and social services and provide
direct social case work and group work
services to selected students;
b. Act as a pupil advocate, focusing on
urgent needs of the selected group of
students;
c. Consult with school administrators in
major problems;
d. Consult with teachers about techniques
for creating a climate in which children are
freed and motivated to learn by interpreting
social and cultural influences in the lives of
students;
e. Organize parent and community groups
to channel concerns about students and the
school to improve school and community
relations.
 What will you choose to work with out of 9
scope of social work?
Why?
Criteria Point Description
Content has three or more supporting sentences that
3 points demonstrate a deep understanding of and engagement with
the question.
Content has two supporting sentences that demonstrate a
2 points
deep understanding of and engagement with the question.
Understanding
Content has one supporting sentence only that demonstrates
1 points
a deep understanding of and engagement with the question.
No Content has no idea at all that demonstrates a deep
points understanding of and engagement with the question.
4 points Sentences are excellently organized and easy to read.
Organization of
Ideas 2 points Sentences are moderately organized and easy to read.
No points Sentences are poorly organized and hard to read.
The scope of social work includes:
1. Child development Social Work
2. Medical Social Work
3. Clinical Social Work
4. Social work administration and management
5. International Social work
6. Social work as community organizer
7. Women welfare
8. Crisis intervention
9. Criminal justice