Paper - 2

Nature and Development

of
Social Work
 Concept of Social Work
• Branch of study which deals with human
problems in the society
• A profession which help people to help
themselves
• Social Work is Shramadan
• Helping profession, problem solving
professing, an enabling profession, practical
profession
 Misconceptions about Social Work
•Social workers are unable to separate western professional
components and religious components of social work.
•Terminology has not developed as social workers are pre-
occupied with solving problem of day to day nature.
•Precision and accuracy is lacking as most of the findings
are drawn from social sciences.
•Social workers deals with problems which even a layman
has some fixed ideas.
•A wide range of persons with different background come
under the label of social work (e.g. cricketers, film stars,
religious, etc.).
 Nature of Social Work
• Face to face interaction of the worker and the client is
important (natural calamities – donate money/clothes is
social service not social work)
• Social work do not believe in knowledge for its own sake.
Its knowledge is borrowed from sociology, psychology,
anthropology, political science, economics, psychiatry,
environmental science, medicine, law, management, etc.
• All disciplines have contributed much to the
understanding of human nature. Social workers make use
of this knowledge to solve problems of the clients.
• What theory postulates has to be put into practice in
social work.
 Nature of Social Work
• Social work is rooted in humanitarianism (shared by
RBA).
• Social work is based on certain values which when
organized constitute the “Philosophy of Social Work”.
• Social work is based on faith in the essential worth
and dignity of the individual. Man is an object of
respect not because he is rich or powerful but
because he is a human being. Human nature endows
the individual with worth and dignity which every
other human being has to respect.
 Nature of Social Work
• Social Work is against any kind of
discrimination based on caste, colour, race,
sex or religion.
• Social Work is against “Social Darwanism” and
the principle of the “ Survival of the fittest”.
This means that social workers does not
believe that only the strong will survive and
the weakest will perish.
 Social Darwanism
• Darwin gave the theory of the “survival of the
the fittest “ which said that some members of a
species survived and others became extinct
because the former had some innate qualities
which enabled them to win over the weaker
ones. Drawing a analogy for human society,
social Darwinism believes that the people who
have the necessary qualities will triumph over
others and the losers deserve to be eliminated
not physically but socially.
 Scope of Social Work
• Social case work
• Social group work
• Community organisation
• Social work research
• Social welfare administration
• Social action
 Social Case Work
• Mental health service
• Terminally ill patients
• Criminology
• Children home
• Aged
• Differently abled
• Labour welfare
• Victims of disaster, etc
 Social Group Work

• De-addiction centre
• Youth welfare

• Schools
• Hospitals
• Correction institutes – women, children, aged,
mentally or physically challenged.
 Community

• Vocational skills to the unemployed

• Disaster Management Trainings

• Micro Enterprise Development

• Village Development

• Education Projects

• SHGs
 Social Action
• GOAL: To shift resources & power relationships; basic
institutional change like injustice, inequality, discrimination -get
social justice

• STRATEGY: Sharpen issues & mobilise "victims" to take action

against the "enemy"

• ROLE: activist; advocate; agitator; broker; negotiator.

•
• EXAMPLES: Narmada Bachao Andolan
• Right to Information
Social Welfare Administration
S ocial Welfare
- Charity Based
- giver – receiver relationship
•Hospitals
•Dispensaries
•Orphanages
•Old Age Homes
•Free Ambulance
Service
•Schools
•Baalwadis
•Free Education/
books/ uniforms
•Free Medical Camps
•Mobile Clinics
•Free Eye Camps
 Social Work Research
• Broad Areas of Research in Social Work:
• Welfare (child, women, aged, etc.)
• Substance Abuse,
• Poverty Alleviation,
• Mental Retardation,
• Juvenile Delinquency,
• Crime and Correction, etc
 Empowerment

Status Quo

Social Social / Social

Welfare Social / Direct Reform

Free

Services
Community Action
Policies and

Laws for

e.g. Free
Development Organise
equal wages

Women ’s for equal

women to work
Homes;
Capacity Building e.g. Make demand for
health
equal wages
Social
check up SHGs & run literacy classes. Also

teach them papad making for NREGA

camps Change
work
 Goals of Social Work
• To reduce suffering by solving people’s
problems.
• Enhance social functioning
• Link client system with the needed resources
• Work for social justice through legal aid
• Promote social justice through the
development of social policy.
 Generic Principles of Social Work
• Principle of Acceptance
• Principle of Individualization
• Principle of Communication
• Principle of Self-Determination
• Principle of Confidentiality
• Principle of Non-judgmental Attitude
• Principle of Controlled Emotional Involvement