SOCIAL WORK IN HUMANITARIAN

ORGANISATIONS

ASW 121
Introduction.
 INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS.

This section will conceptualize preliminary issues

to this course, this includes answering to
questions like
What are human services?
What are the human needs which human
services seek to meet?
What is an organization?
 Maslow (1968) Hierarchy of Needs

Human services exist to respond to the human needs,

• Need for self-actualization
Ability to direct one’s own life,
a sense of meaning and fulfilment
• Esteem needs
Self-esteem, esteem of others,
achievement, recognition, dignity
• Belongingness and love needs
Love, affection, belongingness;
need for family and friends
Safety needs
Security, stability, freedom from anxiety
and chaos; need for structure and order
• Physiological needs
Homeostasis; specific hungers; food,
water, air, shelter, and general survival
 What are human services?
- Social workers in the human service delivery
uphold the objective of meeting human needs
through an interdisciplinary knowledge base,
focusing on prevention as well as remediation
of problems … promotes improved service
delivery systems by addressing not only the
quality of direct services, but also by seeking to
improve accessibility, accountability and
coordination among professionals and agencies.
 Cont..
• The term social welfare has only recently developed in the context of social
problems of modern society. The industrial revolution of the 19th and 20th
century have brought poverty, sickness, suffering and social disorganization.
• The post revolution industrial society had to face so many social problems
that the basic institutions namely family, neighbourhood, church and
community could no longer adequately resolve them.
• Then it was deemed necessary to organize private (voluntary) and public
initiatives for the needy.
• Since then the government has taken an increasingly greater responsibility
for the wellbeing of the poor, sick, disabled and impaired citizens.
• Social sciences have since then provided new perspectives of investigating
the cause of poverty, human deficiencies with the aim to cure or alleviate
these social problems.
 Defining human services
• ideas about human services have changed over the course of time.
• Early approaches to human services were centred on the hazards
of illness, disability and economic dependence. Programs were
designed to help people who were unable to take care of their
own needs. This view, which equates human services with
providing services only to the economically dependent, which now
seems rather narrow.
• Another approach define human services in terms of the activities
of modern society that enhance the well-being of its citizens.
Hasenfeld (1983) suggests that human services are designed to
“protect or enhance the personal well-being of individuals”
 Cont..
• This is a broad definition which includes a wide spectrum
of services, ranging from job creation to maintaining a
clean, safe, and pleasant environment, all aimed at
helping people achieve the highest possible level of self-
sufficiency.
• It should be noted that human services do not include the
help given by family, friends, or other primary supports.
• To be considered human services, the help must be
provided by some type of formal organization, be it a
clinic, hospital, nursing home, agency, or other service
institution.
 Woodside and McClam (2009)
• The definition of social welfare services is
derived from six perspectives:
– (1) the themes and purposes of human services,
– (2) the interdisciplinary nature of human services,
– (3) the helping relationship,
– (4) management principles,
– (5) professional roles, and
– (6) professional activities.
1) Themes and purposes of human services.

• Academics define human services by

describing the themes and purposes that
guide human services. In this section we will
discuss the ideas of a range of scholars writing
in the field today and include concerns with
problems in living, the increase in problems in
our modern world, the need for self-
sufficiency, and the goals of social care, social
control, and rehabilitation.
 Problems in living
• Human services have developed in response to the need of
individuals, groups, or communities for assistance to live better
lives. Human beings are not always able to meet their own
needs. Examples of such people are often publicized in the
media: the very young; the elderly; people with disability;
survivors of crimes, disasters, or abuse; immigrants; the
chronically ill; and many others. Families and groups also receive
the attention of human service professionals, as do communities
and larger geographic areas.
• Social services recognize such problems in living. The focus is
not on the past but rather on improving the present and
changing the future. Doing so involves directing attention to the
client, the environment, and the interaction between the two.
• Individuals grow and develop through the life cycle,
encountering problems in living such as adolescent
rebellion, parenthood, mid-life crises, caring for
aging parents, and death and dying. Many difficulties
in living arise in connection with families and
communities; these may involve relating to children,
spouses, and parents; maintaining progress in
education; adapting to a new culture and language;
sustaining performance at work; and assuming
responsibility for the very young or the very old.
• An important aspect of problems in living is the
difficulty individuals encounter in interacting with their
environments. If unemployment is high, finding work is
not easy; if friends and relatives abuse drugs and
alcohol, abstaining is difficult; if parents and peers do
not value education, choosing to stay in school is
problematic; if the family is living in a new country and
culture, adjustment is difficult. Human services
addresses problems in living, with a focus on both the
individual or group and the situation or event.
 Broad increase in problems of the modern
world.
Human services emerged in response to the growth in human
problems in our modern world. A growing number of people
feel alienated and isolated from their neighbourhoods and
communities. No longer can they count on family and
neighbours to share everyday joys and sorrows and assist in
times of trouble and crisis. Households are in constant
transition, as people leave family and friends to seek new job
opportunities.
- Lifestyles changing (one which were once assured by a good
education are no longer guaranteed) , people being trained for
jobs that are now being deemed irrelevant, low wage
employment.
 Self-sufficiency
• For many human service professionals, the key to successful
service delivery is providing clients, or consumers of human
services, with the opportunity and support to be self-sufficient.
Economic self-sufficiency strengthens an individual’s self-esteem.
• One important facet of moving clients to self-sufficiency is to
empower them to make decisions and assume responsibility for
their actions. Social welfare is committed to giving individuals,
groups and communities sufficient assistance to allow them to
help themselves. Clients are encouraged to be independent and
gain control of their lives as soon as they are able. They gain
belief in themselves or the efficacy to make the changes needed
to become self-sufficient.
Social care, social control, and rehabilitation

• Human services serve three distinct functions:

social care, social control, and rehabilitation
(Neugeboren, 1991).
• Social care is assisting clients in meeting their
social needs, with the focus on those who
cannot care for themselves. Populations who
might need social care. Eg. The elderly,
children, people with mental disabilities or
illness, victims of crime, disaster, crises etc.
 Social Control
• social control involves those that are able to care for themselves
but have either failed to do so or have done so in a manner that
violates society’s norms for appropriate behaviour.
• Social care is given to those who
• cannot provide for themselves (either temporarily or in the long
term).
• The purpose of such services is to restrict or monitor clients’
independence for a time because the clients have violated laws
of the community. E.g.? Children, youth, and adults in the
criminal justice system are examples of clients of social control.
 Rehabilitation
• Rehabilitation is the task of returning an individual to a prior
level of functioning. What creates the need for rehabilitation?
An individual who was once able to live independently
becomes unable to function socially, physically, or
psychologically. The inability to function can be caused by a
crisis, a reversal of economic or social circumstances, an
accident, or other circumstances. Rehabilitative services, which
are designed to enable the individual to function near or at a
prior level of independence, can have a short- or long-term
focus. Veterans, people with physical disabilities, and victims of
psychological trauma are among those who receive
rehabilitative human services. E.g which organisation?
 Contd
• At the practical level, separating these three
functions of social services is often difficult.
Many clients have multiple problems, so social
care, social control, and rehabilitation may be
occurring at the same time.
 2) THE INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE OF
HUMAN SERVICES
• The study of social service delivery, understanding the
professionals who deliver services, and familiarity with service
users requires the integration of knowledge from a wide
variety of academic disciplines. These disciplines include but
are not limited to sociology, psychology, and anthropology.
• Each discipline brings a unique perspective to the
understanding of the nature of the individual, families, and
groups of people. By integrating disciplines such as sociology,
psychology, and anthropology, social work professionals can
better understand the nature of their clients and their
environments. This allows them to understand and relate to
their clients more effectively.
• sociology assesses the individual and the broader culture, and
tries to account for and understand the differences within
human culture. It helps human service professionals understand
elements of life that affect living, such as family structure, family
roles, gender, race, and poverty.
• Psychology is the study of the mind and behaviour. The
discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience—from
the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child
development to care for the aged.
• Anthropology studies the cultural, physical, and social
development of humans and the variation in their customs and
beliefs.
• Integrating these various disciplines in the
human service system allows human service
professionals to better understand the nature
of their clients and their environments. This
allows them to understand and relate to their
clients more effectively.
3) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIENT AND
THE SOCIAL WORKER
• The delivery of human services involves both the client and the
helper. The process of helping is client-oriented as the helper
focuses on assisting clients to meet their needs. To do this, the
helper performs many roles and assumes a wide variety of
responsibilities.
• Individuals who receive help are active participants in many
different systems that influence their circumstances. Services to
the client must be delivered with an understanding of the
client’s culture and with the client’s participation. Questioning
and listening should help the human service professional
understand the client’s world through the client’s eyes. The
helper also assists the client in identifying personal strengths
and limitations and developing new skills and abilities to
enhance personal development.
 4) UTILISING MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES IN
SERVICE DELIVERY
• Three principles of management related to the
delivery of services characterize the profession
today: networking to develop a holistic human
service umbrella, forming teams and partnerships
to provide service, and using case management to
facilitate client growth. These management
strategies help professionals provide more
effective and efficient assistance to clients as well
as enhance their own work environment.
 NETWORKING
• Human services is not a single service delivery system but a complex
web of helping agencies and organizations whose primary goal is to
assist people in need. It encompasses a variety of services that
include but are not limited to child, youth, and family services;
corrections; mental health; public health; crisis intervention; and
education. Another bridging responsibility is to link human service
agencies.
• Many agencies and organizations share the common goal of
assisting people in need (often with overlap and competition for
resources). Networking is one way that service providers work
together to increase communication, cooperation, and collaboration
among helpers and agencies so as to promote effective service
delivery.
 TEAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS
• Teamwork is part of the history of human services. From early in its
history, social work stressed the importance of working with other
professionals to assist the client in receiving services. The concept of
working as a team has expanded, and ‘‘teaming’’ has become a
common approach to organizing the work of an agency or organization.
• Partnerships are also emerging as a way that organizations in the
human service delivery system can work together to serve their clients
more completely. These partnerships are formed when two or more
human service organizations agree to work together toward common
goals. In addition, partnerships form with corporations, businesses, and
government entities as those organizations outside the human service
delivery system see benefits in supporting the social service sector.
• The team and partnership approach yields more efficient and more
effective service.
 Case Management
• Social Work Case Management is a method of providing services
whereby a professional Social Worker collaboratively assesses the
needs of the client and the client’s family, when appropriate, and
arranges, coordinates, monitors, advocates for and evaluates, a
package of multiple services to meet the specific client’s complex
needs. It is a bio-psychosocial and holistic approach to service
delivery.
• It gives special importance to inter-organizational coordination, a
team approach, and helping professionals with a concern for the
whole person because services are not being assessed or delivered
in one comprehensive system. Previous approaches resulted in
highly complex, redundant, fragmented, and uncoordinated
services.
 4) ROLES AND ACTIVITIES OF HUMAN SERVICE PROFESSIONALs.

ROLES OF THE SOCIAL WORKER

• Roles. The social work professional provides

services in a variety of settings. To respond to
the many settings and the diversity of clients
these settings represent, the helper needs a
broad-based education and a willingness to
adapt to changing roles and circumstances.
 5) ACTIVITIES OF THE SOCIAL WORKER
• A social worker’s activities begins with academic training founded
on a systematic body of knowledge. This training, academically and
experientially based, focuses on the acquisition of knowledge and
skills pertinent to human service systems, professionals, and clients.
The training is also systematic. It begins with the study of
introductory concepts of human services, then explores types of
clients, problems, and methods of addressing those problems, and
culminates in supervised field experiences.
• The body of knowledge on which the training is based is
interdisciplinary, drawn from other helping fields. Human service
field practice is unique in its diversity of settings and populations;
however, the basic helping skills and methods of addressing client
needs are both unique to human services and borrowed from other
helping professions.
 Contd
• The strict observance of ethical standards also define
professional human service activities. Human service
professionals are committed to the ethical treatment of clients
and the development of ethical relationships with co-workers,
other professionals, and the system.
• Another important professional activity of human service
professionals is continuing education. A commitment to
continued learning and development while working in the field
is essential for such professionals. This continuing education
takes many forms (e.g. further studies, joining professional
organizations, in-service training, attending seminars and
conducting research).
 Human service delivery settings;
• In many instances, services continue to be
delivered in agencies or institutional settings;
but with a growing emphasis on making
services accessible and comprehensive,
service delivery in non-traditional settings has
increased. Rural services, industrial and
military settings, and schools are highlighted
in this section.
Ideological perspectives of human service organisations.
 Cont..

• The magnitude, scope, and purpose of human services are

shaped only in part by people’s needs. Other considerations
are the resources available for helping and the attitudes of
various groups toward human services. Unfortunately, there
is no consensus on who should receive what kind of help.
• There are diverse views that have major impacts on human
services organizations. These are the liberal, conservative
and developmental perspectives. Politicians and decision
makers often make their decisions on human service issues
in terms of whether they adhere to a liberal, developmental
or a conservative philosophy.
• Although the political forces underlying these
conflicts are generally labelled liberal and
conservative or developmental, people are
not consistent within these frameworks. A
particular individual may take a liberal position
about one kind of service but a conservative
position on another. Let’s look more closely at
these positions
 Conservative Ideology
Conservatives - This is a term derived from the verb to conserve, tend to resist
change. They emphasize tradition and believe rapid change usually results in
more negative than positive consequences.
- In economic matters, conservatives feel that the government should not interfere
with the workings of the marketplace. They encourage the government to
support (for example, through tax incentives) rather than regulate business and
industry in society. A free market economy is thought to be the best way to
ensure prosperity and fulfilment of individual needs. Conservatives embrace the
old adage, “That government governs best which governs least.” They believe
that most government activities constitute threats to individual liberty and to
the smooth functioning of the free market. Conservatives generally view
individuals as being autonomous—that is, as being self-governing. Regardless of
what a person’s situation is, or what problems he or she has, each person is
thought to be responsible for his or her own behaviour.
• People are thought to choose whatever they are doing, and
they therefore are viewed as being responsible for whatever
gains or losses result from their choices. Conservatives view
people as having free will, and thus as able to choose to
engage in behaviours such as hard work that help them get
ahead, or activities such as excessive leisure that contribute to
failing (or being poor). Poverty and other personal problems
that people have are seen as being the result of laziness,
irresponsibility, or lack of self-control. Conservatives believe
that social welfare programs force the hard-working,
productive citizens to pay for the consequences of the
irresponsible behaviour of recipients of social welfare services.
• Conservatives generally advocate the residual approach to
social welfare programs (Wilensky & Lebeaux, 1965). The
residual view holds that social welfare services should be
provided only when an individual’s needs are not properly met
through other societal institutions, primarily the family and the
market economy. Social services and financial aid should not be
provided until all other measures or efforts have failed and the
individual’s or family’s resources are fully used up. In addition,
this view asserts that funds and services should be provided on
a short-term basis (primarily during emergencies) and should
be withdrawn when the individual or the family again becomes
capable of being self-sufficient.
• It adopts the Laissez-faire economic concept that can
be traced from the 19th century focusing on societal
rather than individual responsibility. The original
French phrase means ‘‘leave alone,’’ and this concept
encouraged a social attitude of ‘‘live and let live.’’
The most desirable government, then, was the one
that governed least—negating society’s responsibility
to help its less fortunate citizens. Those adhering to
this philosophy opposed the provision of any human
services as a right of the individual.
 Cont..
• Funds and services are not seen as a right (something that one is
entitled to) but as a gift, and the receiver has certain obligations; for
example, in order to receive financial aid, recipients may be
required to perform certain low-grade work assignments. Under the
residual view, there is usually a stigma attached to receiving services
or funds. Conservatives believe that dependency is a result of
personal failure, and they also believe it is natural for inequality to
exist among humans. They assert that the family, religious
organizations, and gainful employment should be the primary
defences against dependency. Social welfare, they believe, should
be only a temporary function that is used sparingly. Prolonged social
welfare assistance, they believe, will lead recipients to become
permanently dependent.
• If government funds are provided for health and social welfare services,
conservatives advocate that such funding should go to private organizations,
which are thought to be more effective and efficient than public agencies in
providing services. Conservatives tend to believe that the federal government is
not a solution to social problems but is part of the problem. They assert that
federally funded social welfare programs tend to make recipients dependent on
the government, rather than assisting recipients to become self-sufficient and
productive.
• Conservatives revere the traditional nuclear family and try to devise policies to
preserve it. They see the family as a source of strength for individuals, and as the
primary unit of society. Accordingly, they oppose abortion, sex education in
schools, rights for homosexuals, public funding of day-care centers, birth control
counseling for minors, and other measures that might undermine parental
authority or support alternative family forms such as single parenthood.
 Liberal View
• In contrast, liberals believe change is generally good as it brings
progress; moderate change is best. They view society as needing
regulation to ensure fair competition between various interests.
In particular, the market economy is viewed as needing
regulation to ensure fairness. Government programs, including
social welfare programs, are viewed as necessary to help meet
basic human needs. Liberals advocate government action to
remedy social deficiencies and to improve human welfare
conditions. Liberals feel government regulation and intervention
as necessary to safeguard human rights, to control the excesses
of capitalism, and to provide equal chances for success. They
emphasize egalitarianism and the rights of minorities.
• Liberals generally adhere to an institutional view of social welfare.
This view holds that social welfare programs are “accepted as a
proper legitimate function of modern industrial society in helping
individuals achieve self fulfillment” (Wilensky & Lebeaux, 1965, p.
139). Under this view, there is no stigma attached to receiving funds
or services; recipients are viewed as entitled to such help.
Associated with this view is the belief that an individual’s difficulties
are due to causes largely beyond his or her control (for example, a
person may be unemployed because of a lack of employment
opportunities). With this view, when difficulties arise, causes are
sought in the environment (society) and efforts are focused on
improving the social institutions within which the individual
functions.
• Liberals assert that because society has become so fragmented and
complex, and because traditional institutions (such as the family) have
been unable to meet human needs, few individuals can now function
without the help of social services (including such services as work training,
job-location services, child care, health care, and counseling). Liberals
believe that the personal problems encountered by someone are generally
due to causes beyond that person’s control. Causes are generally sought in
that person’s environment. For example, a child with a learning disability is
thought to be at risk only if that child is not receiving appropriate
educational services to accommodate his or her disability. In such a
situation, liberals would seek to develop educational services to meet his
or her learning needs. Liberals view the family as an evolving institution,
and therefore they are willing to support programs that assist emerging
family forms—such as single-parent families and same-sex marriages.
 Developmental Perspective

• Liberals for years have criticized the residual approach to social

welfare as being incongruent with society’s obligation to provide
long-term assistance to those who have long-term health, welfare,
social, and recreational needs. Conservatives, on the other hand,
have been highly critical of the institutional approach as they claim
it creates a welfare state in which many recipients then decide to
become dependent on the government to meet their health,
welfare, social, and recreational needs—without seeking to work
and without contributing in other ways to the well-being of
society. It is clear that conservatives will attempt to stop the
creation of any major social program that moves the country in
the direction of being a welfare society.
• Midgley (1995) contends that the
developmental view (or perspective) offers an
alternative approach that appears to appeal to
liberals, conservatives, and to the general
public. Midgley (1995, p. 25) defines this
approach as a “process of planned social
change designed to promote the well-being of
the population as a whole in conjunction with
a dynamic process of economic development.”
• This perspective has appeal to liberals as it is a perspective that
supports the development and expansion of needed social
welfare programs. The perspective has appeal to conservatives
as it asserts that the development of certain social welfare
programs will have a positive impact on the economy. The
general public also would be apt to support this development
perspective. Many voters oppose welfarism, as they believe it
causes economic problems (for example, recipients choosing to
be on the government dole, rather than contributing to society
through working). Asserting and documenting that certain
proposed social welfare programs will directly benefit the
economy is attractive to voters.
• The developmental perspective or approach has its roots in the
promotion of the growth of social programs in developing
(third-world) countries. Advocates for social welfare programs
in developing countries have been successful in getting certain
programs enacted by asserting and documenting that such
programs will have a beneficial impact on the overall economy
of the country.
• The developmental approach was later used by the United
Nations in its efforts in developing countries to promote the
growth of social programs, as the United Nations asserted such
programs had the promise of improving the overall economies
of these countries.
• What are the characteristics of the developmental
approach? It advocates social interventions that
contribute positively to economic development. It thus
promotes harmony between economic and social
institutions. The approach regards economic progress as a
vital component of social progress, and it promotes the
active role of government in economic and social planning
(which is in direct opposition to the residual approach).
Finally, the developmental approach focuses on
integrating economic and social development for the
benefit of all members of society.
• The developmental approach can be used in advocating for the
expansion of a wide range of social welfare programs.
• It argues that any social program that assists a person in
becoming employable contributes to the economic well-being of
a society. It also argues that any social program that assists a
person in making significant contributions to his or her family, or
to his or her community, contributes to the economic wellbeing
of a society, as functional families and functional communities
are good for businesses. Members of functional families tend to
be better employees, and businesses desire to locate in
communities that are prospering and that have low rates of
crime and other social problems.
Types and characteristics of
social welfare organisations
This section will explore the different types of
organisations. These organizations include statutory
and non-statutory organisations/voluntary, profit,
non-profit and hybrid organisations.
 An organization?
• Richard Hall defines it as a collective with relative a relatively identifiable
boundary, a normative order, ranks of authority, communication system(s) and
membership-coordination systems.
• This collective nature exists on a relatively continuous basis in an environment
and engages in activities that are usually related to a set of goals.
i) Collection
ii) Boundary VS organizational domain
iii) Normative order
iv) Ranks of authority (intentional distribution of power/Justified inequality and
power/ remuneration and also speaks of hierarchy)
v) Communication systems (Top-down or Bottom up).
vi) Membership coordination systems.(formal or informal policies, programmes,
or any set of variables that shape behaviour).
 Statutory organisation
• A statutory organisation is set up by law or by the
government.
• It is usually given a specific task to do or special
responsibilities.
• People working in it are usually employed by the
government.
• Statutory public services are required by the law and
there are legislations in place that government set for
them to be in place to keep peace and order within
the country and or sometimes abroad.
 Non- statutory organizations

• The Non-statutory services are not required by the law, but are still
needed for public in practical situations and sometimes even
crucial help is provided by these non-statutory services.
• many of them are owned by private businesses and are run for
profit. But as long as they provide fair and needed service to public
it is acceptable. Non-uniformed statutory services can be: schools
and education, council services and other legal aid are required by
law to be in place. Usually they are self-funded organisations, but
sometimes they can receive money from government or donations.
• They can be further classified as voluntary Non-
statutory service and Non-statutory service that are
funded by government. Non-statutory public service
can be ran for profit and voluntary services main
objectives are to fill in gaps that statutory services
cannot or are not able to cover.
• Non-statutory services support statutory services,
some of them are voluntary and are not funded by
the government, so they have to cover their
expenses by donations from people.
 Cont…..
• A voluntary organisation can be set up by individuals
and use volunteers to work in it.
• Quite often they are involved in charity work or doing
some other good works, like providing counselling
services or giving help to people looking for advice.
• They can be involved in fundraising.
• They may be highlighting some issues to bring them
to the attention of more people.
 Cont..
• The similarities and differences between social
enterprises and other organisations including:
■ private businesses;
■ charities;
■ voluntary organisations; and
■ community groups.
 Cont…
• The key feature that distinguishes social
enterprise is the combination of
trading and social purpose. They differ from
other businesses in that they have
social aims and ownership, and differ from
other organisations in the social
economy in that they trade and are business
like.
 Cont….
• These similarities and differences between social enterprises
can be seen in their:
■ organisational arrangements;
■ management and governance;
■ business strategies;
■ approaches to employment;
■ legal form;
■ ownership;
■ relationships with customers and communities;
■ capital strategies; and
■ use of profits or surplus.
 Cont…
• Similarities with private businesses
Like the best private businesses, social enterprises respond to
the market in which they operate. They are:
■ entrepreneurial in identifying and taking opportunities;
■ user or customer focused, sensitive to the need of
customers;
■ have effective, slim and decisive management;
■ good at commercial risk taking;
■ committed to quality and service delivery; and
■ can obtain, fund and repay private capital (from a surplus
generated by trading).
 Cont…
• Similarity to organisations in the social economy
Their similarity to other organisations in the social
economy, including charities, voluntary
organisations and community groups, mirrors the key
difference between them and private
businesses. They:
■ have social aims enshrined in their governance
documentation;
 Cont….
may have membership or some other method of
accountability to their community or
community of interest;
■ will be constrained in their distribution of surpluses, often
using them to achieve their
social aim;
■ will have some form of social ownership; and
■ may have a governance body that includes people elected
from amongst the stakeholders,
or co-opted to bring skills, representation, inclusion or
professional knowledge valuable to
the organisation.
 Cont….
• Differences
Social enterprises differ from both private businesses and other
organisations in the social
economy, because:
■ they earn income from trading, and can pay higher wages or provide
better working conditions;
■ staff, customers and other stakeholders can be involved in the
management of the organisation and their negotiations can often
produce more responsive services, more flexible staffing arrangements or
reduce costs; and
■ their engagement with communities, or communities of interest means
they better understand local needs and can develop innovative client-
focused delivery mechanisms, and make best use of local resources.
 Cont….
However, it is not quite as simple as that as:
■ charities also trade, obtaining over 40% of their
income in this way, although when they
can trade is controlled by legislation; and
■ many private businesses have ethical trading policies
and corporate social responsibility is
increasingly on the agenda of both larger companies
and smaller enterprises.
How can we find the optimal balance between
economic/commercial and social objectives?

• One of the great questions in business and

government today is finding an optimal balance
between commercial and social objectives.
• Are commercial and social values
Dependent/independent?
• emerging ideal is a “hybrid organization” where
“managers do not face a choice between mission and
profit, because these aims are integrated in the same
strategy.” 
 Models of service delivery.

This section describes models that represent

different orientations in service delivery:
• Medical model
• Public health model
• Human service model.
- However, three models are going to be
focused on.
 Cont..
• The stated models are used to deliver services today, and depending on
the problem, an integration of all three models may be most effective. In
practice, some agencies may prefer one over the others, and one model
may be more effective than the other two in some situations. Workers
may be skilled in following one particular model, but they are likely to be
working closely with practitioners who follow the other models.
Therefore, you should know the characteristics of each model, its
historical development, and how it is used. To help translate this
information into human service practice, we examine a relevant social
problem from the perspective of each model.
• Each of the three models of service delivery has certain philosophical
assumptions that guide its practice. These assumptions reflect beliefs
about the causes of problems, their treatment, and the role of the
professional in the model.
 The Medical model.

• The medical model is based on an orientation

developed by the medical profession; it assumes that
mental disorders are diseases or illnesses that impair
an individual’s ability to function. The disease or
illness, in this case the mental disorder, has an organic
basis and responds to medical interventions such as
medication, laboratory studies, and physical therapies.
Often the individual, or patient, receives treatment
from a physician in a hospital or medical clinic.
 Cont..
• The medical model sees the person coming for help as an
individual whose problem is a disease or a sickness. The
individual is ‘‘sick’’ or ‘‘ill,’’ not healthy. Often called patients,
these individuals depend on the physician or service provider to
prescribe a treatment or cure for the ‘‘disease.’’ Historically, this
model can be summarized as a system that involves the
following elements: symptom–diagnosis–treatment–cure
(Reinhard, 1986).
• The medical model, with a history that includes shamans,
medicine men and women, and witch doctors, is perhaps the
oldest of all treatment models. In fact, other models used it as
they were developing new models.
• It suggests presenting problem as deeply routed in an
individual.
• Correctional services adopted the model; shifting from
punishment to treatment or rehabilitation.
• Psychiatry emerged as a discipline, where those
diagnosed as mentally ill were to be treated as patients by
physicians in hospital settings, just like other patients with
medical problems. This was based on the assumption that
pathological behavioural disorders had organic origins and
that their treatment belonged to medicine.
 The public health model.
This is a concept that has a multidisciplinary
nature which makes it hard to define.
Health has for the past decades defined as the
absence of disease and disability.
• Seligman(2004) the capacity to live fully, which
entails maintaining the physical, mental, and
social reserves for coping with life’s
circumstances in a way that brings satisfaction.
• It bridges the medical and human service models but is more
obviously linked with the medical model where diagnosis and
treatment of individuals through the use of medicine and
surgery are the core of clinical medicine.
• It resembles the medical model in its diagnosis and treatment
process, but the models differ in recipients of services and
methodologies of treatment. Whereas the medical model
emphasizes individuals, the public health model focuses on
groups in the population who may be identified by geography
(community, country, region, or state), types of problems
(abuse, poverty, specific illnesses), or specific characteristics
such as age (children, the elderly).
• This model views mental disorders as the result of
malfunctions or pressures created by the environment or
by society. The mental disorder is evaluated for its impact
not only on the individual but also on society at large. In
addition to treating the individual, this model emphasizes
preventing the problem through supporting activities such
as awareness raising, school programs, and pamphlets, all
aimed at educating the population about the problem.
• Improving public health means improving education,
nutrition, safe food and water supplies, immunization, and
maternal and child health.
 Characteristics of the PH model. According
to Woodside and McClam (2009)
Characteristics of the PH model include but are not limited to;
• like the medical model, is concerned with individuals who have
problems, but it extends the concept of health care beyond the
traditional medical model. In the belief that individuals’ problems
may be linked to other social problems, the public health model
serves larger populations rather than just individuals.
• Societal control is a prime concern of the public health model, as
it attempts to solve many of society’s social problems. It
approaches social conditions by collecting data from the public
and from examining individuals with problems. Applying a multi-
causal approach to studying the causes or origins of problems
and emphasizes prevention.
 The human service model.
• is concerned with the interaction between the individual and the
environment, stressing the need for balance between the two.
• Although the model appreciates the medical and the public
health perspectives, this model focuses on the interpersonal and
environmental conflicts that may result from the problem.
• the individual has problems that may have resulted from genetic
predispositions, biochemical imbalances, faulty learning, lack of
insight into behaviour that may be inappropriate, a physical or
mental disability, and/ or influences from the social environment.
The model suggest the client as experiencing interpersonal and
emotional difficulties that affect behaviour.
• Treatment in this model encompasses services to
both the individual and the environment through
work with the client, other people and the
institutions with which the client is involved. An
important consideration in the model is the focus
on client strengths rather than inadequacies.
• The primary focus of the human service model
being to provide services that help individuals
solve their problems.
• The model view problems as expected and necessary in
everyday life. The assumption being that human existence
is a complex process, involving interaction with other
individuals, groups, institutions, and the environment.
Thus, considering the problem of the individual within the
context of the environment.
• primary method of treatment or service is problem
solving, a process focused on the here and now that
maximizes the identification and use of client strengths.
• The client is encouraged to match personal strengths to
identified problems as a way of planning interventions.
 Characteristics of the HS model
Most authors agree that a model of human service delivery should include the
following characteristics or themes (Burger & Youkeles, 2004; Eriksen 1981;
Harris, Maloney, & Rother, 2004; Mehr & Kanwischer, 2004):
• Services should be accessible, comprehensive, and coordinated.
• The problem-solving approach emphasizes the here and now. Included in this
approach are the acts of helping the client solve the problem and teaching the
client problem-solving skills while building on client strengths.
• Taking into consideration the impact of social institutions, social systems and
social problems, the model works with the person and the environment.
• Treating the whole person is best accomplished when the worker recognizes
client needs in relation to others and to the environment.
• Human services is accountable to the consumer. Clients are active participants
in the human service model, making decisions, taking action, and accepting
responsibility for themselves.
THE END
Organizational structure and control systems
in social welfare organizations.
• The importance of appropriate organizational
structures for effective strategy implementation.
• Familiarizing with the types of organizational structure
and designs. Their implication to service delivery.
• To recognize why and when organizational restructure is
needed.
• Understand the role of technology and human
networks in achieving organizational goals.
• Emphasize the role of control and monitoring systems
suitable for organizational operations.
• The structure is never the whole story, it is just a way of dividing
responsibilities among executives. It is meaningless unless
supported by appropriate systems and a consistent culture.
• Organization structure can be defined as the basic framework of
formal relationships among responsibilities, tasks and people in
an organization. It was also defined as a systematic arrangement
of people working for the organization in order to achieve
certain goals.
• Mullins (2010) asserts that structure defines tasks and
responsibilities, work roles and relationships, and channels of
communication.
The objectives of structure may be summarised as to provide for:

• the economic and efficient performance of the organisation

and the level of resource utilisation.
• monitoring the activities of the organisation.
• accountability for areas of work undertaken by groups and
individual members of the organisation.
• co-ordination of different parts of the organisation and
different areas of work.
• flexibility in order to respond to future demands and
developments, and to adapt to changing environmental
influences; and
• the social satisfaction of members working in the organisation.
 Mullins asserts that
• The structure of an organisation affects not only
productivity and economic efficiency but also the morale
and job satisfaction of the workforce. Getting the structure
right is the first step in organisational change. Structure
should be designed, therefore, so as to encourage the
willing participation of members of the organisation and
effective organisational performance.
• Structure is also an essential feature of the learning
organisation and empowerment and must be responsive to
the changing environment.
• The human element..
• Building an organisation involves more than concern for
structure, methods of work and technical efficiency. The
hallmark of many successful organisations is the attention given
to the human element; to the development of a culture which
helps to create a feeling of belonging, commitment and
satisfaction.
• Structure must therefore be designed to maintain the balance
of the socio-technical system and the effectiveness of the
organisation as a whole. Attention must be given to the
interactions between both the structural and technological
requirements of the organisation; and social factors and the
needs and demands of the human part of the organisation.
 Levels of organization
• Organisations are layered in such a way that
the determination of policy and decision-
making, the execution of work, and the
exercise of authority and responsibility are
carried out by different people at varying levels
of seniority throughout the organisation
structure.
• 1) the technical level, (2)the managerial level
and (3) the community level.
 The technical level
• is concerned with specific operations and
discrete tasks, with the actual job or tasks to
be done, and with performance of the
technical function. Examples are: the physical
production of goods in a manufacturing firm;
administrative processes giving direct service
to the public in government departments; the
actual process of teaching in an educational
establishment.
The managerial level, or organisational level

is concerned with the co-ordination and integration of

work at the technical level.
• Decisions at the managerial level relate to the resources
necessary for performance of the technical function, and to
the beneficiaries of the products or services provided.
• Decisions will be concerned with: (i) mediating between
the organisation and its external environment, such as the
users of the organisation’s products or services, and the
procurement of resources; and (ii) the ‘administration’ of
the internal affairs of the organisation including the control
of the operations of the technical function.
 The community level or institutional level

• Is concerned with broad objectives and the work of

the organisation as a whole.
• Decisions at the community level will be concerned
with the selection of operations, and the
development of the organisation in relation to
external agencies and the wider social environment.
• Mediate between the managerial organisation and
coordination of work of the technical organisation,
and the wider community interests.
 Cont.
• Decisions taken at the institutional level
determine objectives for the managerial level,
and decisions at the managerial level set
objectives for the technical level. Therefore, if
the organisation as a whole is to perform
effectively there must be clear objectives; a
soundly designed structure; and good
communications, both upwards and downwards,
among these different levels of the organisation.
 The design of organization structure.
• there are many variables which influence the most
appropriate organisation structure and system of
management, including situational factors and the
contingency approach. Changing patterns of work
organisation, the demand for greater flexibility and
the multi-skilling challenge, and managerial
processes such as delegation and empowerment
also have a major interrelationship with structure
and influence decisions on structural design.
• it should be clear that there is no such thing as
the one right organisation. ‘There are only
organisations, each of which has distinct
strengths, distinct limitations and specific
applications.
• organisation is not an absolute. It is a tool for
making people productive in working together. As
such, a given organisation structure fits certain
tasks in certain conditions and at certain times.
Forms of Organizational structure
1. Line organization
2. Line and staff organization
3. Functional organization
4. Project organization
5. Matrix organization
6. Committee organization
• Clearly admitting that there is no one right
organisation, there is nevertheless an
underlying need to establish a framework of
order and system of command by which the
work to be undertaken is accomplished
successfully. This demands that attention be
given to certain basic principles and
considerations in the design of organisation
structure.
 Robbins and Coulter (2012)
• When managers create or change the
structure, they’re engaged in organizational
design, a process that involves decisions about
six key elements: work specialization,
departmentalization, chain of command, span
of control, centralization and decentralization,
and formalization
 Work specialisation.
• This is dividing work activities into separate job
tasks. Individual employees “specialize” in doing
part of an activity rather than the entire activity in
order to increase work output. It’s also known as
division of labour.
• Work specialization makes efficient use of the
diversity of skills that workers have. In most
organizations, some tasks require highly developed
skills; others can be performed by employees with
lower skill levels.
 Departmentalization
• After deciding what job tasks will be done by
whom, common work activities need to be
grouped back together so work gets done in a
coordinated and integrated way. How jobs are
grouped together is called
departmentalization.
 Chain of command
• This is the line of authority extending from upper
organizational levels to lower levels, which clarifies
who reports to whom. Managers need to consider
it when organizing work because it helps
employees with questions such as “Who do I
report to?” or “Who do I go to if I have a problem?
• To understand the chain of command, you have to
understand three other important concepts:
authority, responsibility, and unity of command.
• i) Authority - refers to the rights inherent in a managerial
position to tell people what to do and to expect them to do it.
For example, managers in the chain of command have authority
to do their job of coordinating and overseeing the work of
others.
• Authority could be delegated downward to lower-level
managers, giving them certain rights while also prescribing
certain limits within which to operate.
• Chester Barnard, proposed another perspective on authority.
This view, called the acceptance theory of authority, says that
authority comes from the willingness of subordinates to accept
it.
ii)Responsibility - When managers use their authority to
assign work to employees, those employees take on an
obligation to perform those assigned duties. This
obligation or expectation to perform is known as
responsibility.
• iii) Unity of command – this is one of Fayol’s 14
management principles which illustrates that a person
should report to only one manager. Without unity of
command, conflicting demands from multiple bosses may
create problems and eventually leading to the task not to
be achieved as expected.
 Span of control
• Span of control is all about answering, How many employees can a
manager effectively and efficiently manage?
• The traditional view was that managers could not—and should not—
directly supervise more than five or six subordinates. Determining the
span of control is important because to a large degree, it determines
the number of levels and managers in an organization—an important
consideration in how efficient an organization will be.
• With all things being equal the wider or larger the span, the more
efficient an organization is.
• wider spans are more efficient in terms of cost. However, at some
point, wider spans may reduce effectiveness if employee performance
worsens because managers no longer have the time to lead effectively.
 Centralization and Decentralization
• At what organizational level are decision made?
• Centralization is the degree to which decision
making takes place at upper levels of the
organization. If top managers make key
decisions with little input from below, then the
organization is more centralized.
• the more that lower-level employees provide
input or actually make decisions, the more
decentralization there is.
MORE CENTRALIZATION
• Environment is stable.
• Lower-level managers are not as
capable or experienced at making
decisions as upper-level managers.
• Lower-level managers do not want a
say in decisions.
• Decisions are relatively minor.
• Organization is facing a crisis or the risk
of company failure.
• Company is large.
• Effective implementation of company
strategies depends on managers
retaining say over what happens.
MORE DECENTRALIZATION
• Environment is complex, uncertain.
• Lower-level managers are capable and
experienced at making decisions.
• Lower-level managers want a voice in
decisions.
• Decisions are significant.
• Corporate culture is open to allowing
managers a say in what happens.
• Company is geographically dispersed.
• Effective implementation of company
strategies depends on managers having
involvement and flexibility to make
decisions.
• As organizations have become more flexible
and responsive to environmental trends,
there’s been a distinct shift toward
decentralized decision making. This shift
known as employee empowerment, giving
employees more authority (power) to make
decisions.
 Formalization
• Formalization refers to how standardized an
organization’s jobs are and the extent to which
employee behaviour is guided by rules and
procedures.
• In highly formalized organizations, there are explicit
job descriptions, numerous organizational rules,
and clearly defined procedures covering work
processes. Employees have little discretion over
what’s done, when it’s done, and how it’s done.
• Designing (or redesigning) an organizational
structure that works is important. Basic
organizational design revolves around two
organizational forms.
• Mechanistic and organic organizational
structure.
 Mechanistic /bureaucratic organization.

This a combination of all six elements;

• High specialization
• Rigid departmentalization
• Clear chain of command
• Narrow spans of control
• Centralization
• High formalization
• Adhering to the chain-of-command principle ensured the existence of
a formal hierarchy of authority, with each person controlled and
supervised by one superior.
• Keeping the span of control small at increasingly higher levels in the
organization created tall, impersonal structures.
• As the distance between the top and the bottom of the organization
expanded, top management would increasingly impose rules and
regulations. Because top managers couldn’t control lower-level
activities through direct observation and ensure the use of standard
practices, they substituted rules and regulations.
• early management writers’ belief in a high degree of work
specialization created jobs that were simple, routine, and
standardized. Further specialization through the use of
departmentalization increased impersonality and the need for
multiple layers of management to coordinate the specialized
departments.
 Organic organization
• Cross-functional teams
• Cross-hierarchical teams
• Free flow of information
• Wide spans of control
• Decentralization
• Low formalization
• is a highly adaptive form that is as loose and flexible as the
mechanistic organization is rigid and stable.
• Rather than having standardized jobs and regulations, the
organic organization’s loose structure allows it to change rapidly
as required.
• It has division of labour, but the jobs people do are not
standardized.
• Employees tend to be professionals who are technically
proficient and trained to handle diverse problems. They need
few formal rules and little direct supervision because their
training has instilled in them standards of professional conduct.
• The organic organization is low in centralization so that the
professional can respond quickly to problems and because top-
level managers cannot be expected to possess the expertise to
make necessary decisions.
What that appropriate structure is, depends on
four contingency variables:

• the organization’s strategy, size, technology,

and degree of environmental uncertainty.
 Strategy
• organization’s structure should facilitate goal achievement.
Because goals are an important part of the organization’s
strategies. The logic being that, there should be a logical link
between strategy and structure.
• Research has shown that certain structural designs work best
with different organizational strategies.
• For instance, the flexibility and free-flowing information of the
organic structure works well when an organization is pursuing
meaningful and unique innovations. The mechanistic
organization with its efficiency, stability, and tight controls
works best for companies wanting to tightly control costs.
 Size
• There’s considerable evidence that an
organization’s size affects its structure.31 Large
organizations—typically considered to be those
with more than 2,000 employees—tend to
have more specialization, departmentalization,
centralization, and rules and regulations than
do small organizations. However, once an
organization grows past a certain size, size has
less influence on structure.
 Technology
• organizations adapt their structures to their
technology depending on how routine their
technology is for transforming inputs into
outputs. In general, the more routine the
technology, the more mechanistic the
structure can be, and organizations with more
non-routine technology are more likely to
have organic structures.
 Environmental Uncertainty
• Some organizations face stable and simple environments
with little uncertainty; others face dynamic and complex
environments with a lot of uncertainty. Managers try to
minimize environmental uncertainty by adjusting the
organization’s structure. In stable and simple
environments, mechanistic designs can be more effective.
On the other hand, the greater the uncertainty, the more
an organization needs the flexibility of an organic design.
• evidence on the environment-structure relationship helps
explain why so many managers today are restructuring
their organizations to be lean, fast, and flexible.
 Control process steps
Step 1 Establish standards of performance, goals, or targets.
●

Step 2 ●
Measure actual performance

Step 3 Compare actual performance against chosen standards

●

Step 4 Evaluate result and initiate corrective action if needed.

●
Consequences of badly designed structure.

• Low motivation and morale may result from:

apparently inconsistent and arbitrary
decisions; insufficient delegation of decision-
making; lack of clarity in job definition and
assessment of performance; competing
pressures from different parts of the
organisation; and managers and supervisors
overloaded through inadequate support
systems.
• ■ Late and inappropriate decisions may result
from: lack of relevant, timely information to
the right people; poor co-ordination of
decision-makers in different units; overloading
of decision-makers due to insufficient
delegation; and inadequate procedures for
revaluation of past decisions.
• ■ Conflict and lack of co-ordination may
result from: conflicting goals and people
working at cross-purposes because of lack of
clarity on objectives and priorities; failure to
bring people together into teams or through
lack of liaison; and breakdown between
planning and actual operational work.
• Poor response to new opportunities and external change may
result from: failure to establish specialist jobs concerned with
forecasting environmental change; failure to give adequate
attention to innovation and planning of change as main
management activities; inadequate co-ordination between
identification of market changes and research into possible
technological solutions.
• ■ Rising costs may result from: a long hierarchy of authority with
a high proportion of senior positions; an excess of administrative
work at the expense of productive work; and the presence of
some, or all, of the other organisational problems. Shortcomings
in structure may also provide greater opportunities for the illicit.
 The client system
• The client of human services.
• Depending with the type of the organization, the recipient of
human services is referred to as a client, a consumer, or a
customer.
• The term client describes the engagement of a professional
in order to get advice and/or services.
• The term consumer is used to emphasize the business nature
of the delivery of services.
• The term customer connotes an individual who is actually
purchasing the services and the need to be accountable to
that individual.
• In human service organizations there is a triadic relationship involving the
service organization, specific service providers (or contact personnel) and
the users/clients.
• Some clients may have a brief contact/short-term relationship with the
service organizations (eg emergency medical services, referrals through
phones or people seeking information about other human service providers.
• Others may have a long-term or continuing relationship with the service
providers (persons with chronic illness eg schizophrenia, people living with
HIV and AIDs and in some instances those with cancer).
• Some may have intensive or personal relationship with the service provider
(children in need of care and have been placed in institutions are examples).
Some have an indirect relationship with a key service provider (casework
and children in foster homes).
• Understanding the client is critical to any study of human services because
the client is the reason there are helpers and a helping process.
• One way of viewing the client is to by ‘‘working with the whole person.’’ This
guiding principle in human services focuses on the many components that
define an individual and the areas of support a helper must consider when
providing assistance.
• The client is central because the needs of the client shape services being
provided, how client’s self determination ensures self reliance and how
client feedback lead to organizational effectiveness.
• The developmental and situational perspectives help in describing a client by
focusing on the magnitude of problems that people face. At individual level.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs also elaborate on the needs which humans
have and if not met can become a problem which human services should
address.
 The developmental perspectives
• suggest that human development is a continuous
process which has certain phases and stages that an
individual experience and should accomplish during
the life span. The development process begins at the
point of conception and ends at the time of death.
• During the time between these two points, the
individual experiences systemic changes which may
contribute to situations that individual may
encounter.
 ERIKSON’S DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

• Erikson’s stage model- ‘‘eight stages of man’’(Erikson,

1963).
1) Basic trust versus basic mistrust
2) Autonomy versus shame and doubt
3) Initiative versus guilt.
4) Industry versus inferiority
5) Identity versus role confusion
6) Intimacy versus isolation
7) Generativity versus stagnation
8) Ego integrity versus despair
• Using a developmental model to view problems may
be helpful to the human service professional because
it provides the helper with a basic understanding of
the process of growth and change that individuals
normally experience.
• Workers can use Erikson’s stages to help describe
problems in terms of current tasks that require the
client’s focus, as well as to determine whether the
previous developmental tasks have been adequately
completed.
• Individuals engage in certain tasks or activities
at different times during their life.
• Stages are experienced differently by each
person.
• The social context affects movement through
developmental stages.
• Traditional stages are changing as society
changes.
 SITUATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
• Problems resulting from accidents, violent crimes, natural
disasters, and major changes in life—such as a move, job change,
or divorce—are all defined as situational problems.
• these problems usually occur because the individual is in a
particular place at a particular time. Without the individual
contribution to the cause.
• they can lead to short-term or long-term difficulties, or both.
Most such problems require, at a minimum, immediate action.
• Differences in behaviour, customs, or traditions that are cultural
often cause situational problems for people. The behaviour or
custom in question may be considered normal in one culture but
unacceptable in another.
• Meeting human needs (Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs).
• Social change and its effects.
• Clients strength
The whole person illustrates that;
• Clients enter the human service delivery system as
individuals with multifaceted perspectives that include
psychological, biological, cultural, social, financial,
educational, vocational, and spiritual components.
• These components encompass life experiences such as
family, friends, health, school, work, legal status,
residence, safety and security, finances, play, well-
being, and accomplishments. These perspectives are
integrated within the individual to form the whole
person that the human service professional encounters.
• Problems for clients are rarely single issues,
and the human service professional should
approach each client with the expectation of
more than one problem. In fact, one problem
can cause, influence, or at the very least be
related to other difficulties.
• As a human service professional working with
clients, the critical point to remember is that the
client is an individual made up of psychological,
social, economic, educational, vocational, and
spiritual dimensions and possibly will have needs in
many of those areas.
• If single problems are solved with little attention to
the other difficulties the client is experiencing, then
that person may not be able to become self-
sufficient.
 Clients as individuals, groups and
population.
• Clients of human service (individuals, households,
family and small groups).
• Residents of a particular geographical
neighbourhood/community may also be
encompassed amongst the relevant client system.
• Austin (2002) highlight that there are share
characteristics of problems that can be identified
which consist of one or more distinctive user
clusters.
• Woodside and McClan examined 3 ways to refer to a client.
Individual, a client as a person (working one on one to define
problem(s), assess possible interventions and provide the service
required to meet the need.
• Client-groups as clients (couples, family, several individuals
having similar experiences or problems).
• Larger groups as clients (neighbourhood, cities, counties,
problem populations or geographical regions). (community,
national and societal problems).
• In some cases, clients are individuals; in others, the client may be
a small group such as a family, or even a larger population such as
the residents of a geographic area.
 How clients get help
• Ways in which clients enter the human service
delivery system include; self-referral/referral
by others, involuntary placements (referred by
school, courts, marriage counsellor, juvenile
justice system, In advent services (larger
populations targeted for service e.g
emergency help for disaster areas)
 Barriers to seeking services,
• How they view the problem (may see problem
as difficult to solve, embarrassed to admit,
perception about the professional, cultural
and religious factors).
• Cost of resources (payment of service,
transportation to reach services, psychological
costs)
• Self protection.
 The practice of human services
• The helping process and the environment of human service
system will be covered.
• Helping can take many forms, such as gathering information
from the client and other sources, looking for assistance,
deciding how to solve a problem, and talking about feelings.
• Guided by two questions: What is helpful? And How can the
needs of the client be met?
• In human services, assistance to the client occurs through
the helping process. As they engage in this process, human
service professionals must remember that clients are
responsible for themselves and make their own decisions.
• The helper’s ability to communicate an
understanding of the client’s feelings, clarify
what the problem is, and provide appropriate
assistance to resolve the problem contributes
to the effectiveness of the helping process.
 The nature of the helping process
• The helping relationship - The cornerstone of
helping, the medium through which help is offered,
is the helping relationship.
• the client brings needs, problems, and expectations
about what will happen, as well as personal and
environmental strengths. Whilst the helper comes
with knowledge, training, and skills to assist with the
problems of the client. (compatibility between the
two is important for an effective helping
relationship).
• The uniqueness of the helping relationship (Perlman 1983).
• They are goal oriented.
• helping relationship is time bound (relationship ends when
the purpose has been accomplished).
• Authority (helper’s authority consists of the knowledge and
skills that enable him or her to work with the client toward
resolving the problem).
• Client centred relationship (focus is always on the client’s
problems and concerns within the context of client strengths
and the client’s cultural context).
 Stages of the helping process
• These are components of the problem-solving
process such as identifying the problem,
setting goals to resolve the problem, and
determining and applying strategies designed
to help the client reach those goals.
1.Preparation (conducive environment for
building a relationship, confidential
environment, recording information
• The client arrives (making the client comfortable,
build trust)
• Exploring the problem (The human service concepts
of the whole person and the multidimensionality of
problems will also guide this phase of the helping
process).
• Intervention strategies (the helper and the client set
goals and determine how those goals will be reached
to resolve the problem. Provide service or refer).
• Termination (most positive conclusion is when
the services needed are provided and both
participants are satisfied that the objectives
have been reached. Unfortunately, not all
terminations are so positive; services may be
interrupted by either the helper or the client
before the objectives have been reached).
 The helping skills.
• Communication (verbal and non-verbal,
responsive listening or active listening).
Purposeful responses (paraphrasing and
questioning
 Working with groups
• Roles define the formal structure of the group and influence how
individuals act in the group. Different group members play different
roles. Examples of roles include leadership, which may be a designated
person or a shared role among members;
• the maintenance role, which sees to the well-being of the group by
encouraging and compromising;
• the facilitative/building role, which helps everyone feel part of the
group by initiating, seeking information and opinions, coordinating,
and evaluating; and blocking, a role that is aggressive, dominating, and
anti-group. A final characteristic of a group is cohesiveness among
members. Members perceive that they belong to a group, they are
interdependent in some way, and they work together to keep the
group going as well as focus on common goals.
• Broker ,advocator ,case manager, educator,
facilitator, organizer and manager.
 Ethical considerations that underpin social
work practice in humanitarian organizations.
• Ethical responsibilities to the client (rapport;
informed consent; respect, acceptance and
dignity; confidentiality and limits/boundaries
to confidentiality; protect integrity, safety and
security of clients records; professional
relationship; no harm and exploitation; self
determination, recognition and cementing of
client’s strengths).
• Ethical responsibilities to the community and
society (abiding to the law, advocacy for
clients and community needs, social action,
public representation, social justice, non-
discriminatory provision of services, culture
sensitive/culture competitive, reflective
practice
• Ethical responsibilities to colleagues
(Consultation, conflict resolutions amogst others).
• Ethical responsibilities to the profession
(consultative decision making; integrity,
genuineness, honesty and objectivity; research
and educational advancements).
• Ethical responsibilities to self (accountability, self
awareness, empathy and committed to lifelong
learning).
• Ethical dilemmas.