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 demonstrate a deep
3 points
understanding of and engagement with the question.
Content has two supporting sentences that demonstrate a deep
2 points
understanding of and engagement with the question.
Understanding
Content has one supporting sentence only that demonstrates a deep
1 points
understanding of and engagement with the question.
No Content has no idea at all that demonstrates a deep understanding of and
points 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