Strength- Inherent capabilities (talent,
Skills, Knowledge)
Resources- External Factors available to
everyone
1. Holism and Social Work- in social
work there is a philosophical valuing of
persons as whole human beings
- The total person and the
interdependent dimensions of spirit,
minds and feelings
- The person within and transaction
with the environment
- The environment as consisting of
social, physical, economic,
physiological and political forces
that support and impacts individual
and collective social functioning
and well-being
Social Problem- a condition that at
least some people in a community
view as being undesirable
Elements of Social Problem
1. It causes physical or mental damage
to individuals or society
2. It offends the values or standards of
some powerful segment of society
3. Its pursuit for an extended period of
time
Understanding Social Problem
Social Problem- A threat for people to
reach their full potential
- It is a problem in human
relationship
- Exist when a significant number of
people perceive and
understandable difference between
social ideas and social realities,
and believes that this difference
can be eliminated by collected
action
Social problems are always individual
problems
- For it is the individuals who
experience the adverse effects
- If they are to be solved at all
Nature of social Problems
1. Objective element- refers to the
existence of social condition involves
empirical evidence of the negative
2. Subjective element- refers to the
belief that a particular social condition
is harmful emphasizes that a condition
or behavior does not become
Characteristics of social problems
1. The existence of a particular social
problem is relative
2. Most social problems are interrelated
and intertwined
Primary
- Poverty
Secondary
- Slums
- Desertion
- Malnutrition
Tertiary
- Delinquency
- Addiction
- Dependency
- Illness
- Mental retardation
- Apathy
3. Social problems are complex and not
simple as many people think
4. Social problems differ in their life span
3 different patterns of public
concern for social problems
- Some problems are more or less
continual concern
- Other appear periodically overnight
- Other have natural history of
emergence and disappearance
5. Some problems can be categorized
- Physical Sources
- Economic sources
- Mental sources
- Cultural sources
6. Some problems are normal
consequence of societal excesses
 History of social problem
Stage1.- emergence aid and claims
making
A social problem emerges when a
social entity begins to call attention to
a condition or behavior that is
considers serious
Stage2- Legitimacy
It tries to persuade the government
(local, and or/federal) to take some
action spending and policy making to
address the problem
Stage3- renewed claims-making
Advocate often decide to press their
demands anew by reasserting their
claims and by criticizing the official
response they have received from the
government or other established
interest
Stage4- Development of alternative
strategies
advocate realized to develop their own
strategies for addressing the social
problem
The Anatomy of social problems
Social Pathology- it refers to
problems and behaviors that violate
social norms and often have a
negative effect on society
Deviant behavior- it refers to behavior
or actions that societies have agreed
are immoral or unacceptable
Type of Social Problem
Norm Violations- the discrepancy between
social standards and reality for several
reasons
1. This approach directs attention to
society’s failures; the criminals,
mentally ill, school dropout and the
poor
2. Deviance is culturally defined and
socially labelled. Sociologist is
interested in the social and cultural
process that label some acts and
person as deviant and other as
normal
Social Conditions- it evolves conditions that
cause psychic and material suffering from
some category of people.
Institutional deviance- Exists when the
society and its formal organizations are not
meeting the needs of the individuals
3 characteristics of social problem
- Social problems involve a gap
between suicidal ideas
- A social problem must be
perceived as problem by a number
of significant people
- Social problem must be regarded
as capable of solution
3 perspectives of social problems
1. Social disorganizations- it refers
to the disruption or breakdown of
social system
2. Value conflict- different values
and attitudes of people
3. Deviance- it is a product of both
organization and disorganization; it
reveals the weakness of social
structure and at the same shows
how alternative pattern are created
and sustained
Alfred Kadushin- states that “knowledge
base of social work is comprehensive topic
which encompasses the facts
Kinds of knowledge
1. Tested knowledge- Comes in the
form of borrowed knowledge from
different professions and disciplines,
as well as from that which has been
developed through social work
research
2. Hypothetical knowledge- still has to
undergo transformation into tested
knowledge
 3. Assumptive knowledge- practice
wisdom of course, abound in social
work
Social welfare policies and services-
Concerned with the organization,
administration, and operation of social
welfare programs and services which are
established in society in order to meet human
needs and problems
Social Work practice- Commonly referred to
as social work methods
- Appropriate attitude
- Skills
- Knowledge
- Attitude
Human Behavior and social Environment
Concerned with the material necessary for
understanding the client in his problem
situation, the dynamics of individual and
group behavior, and of group and community
processes which affect or influence the
individual