INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WORK

Definition of social work

Speaking in a nut shell, social work tries to assist individuals, families, social groups and
communities in sorting out their personal and social problems and permanently solving those
problems through a systematic process. Social work is the professional activity of helping
individuals, groups, or communities to enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning
and to create societal conditions favorable to their goals.

Global Definition of the Social Work Profession

“Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social
change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people.
Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are
central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and
indigenous knowledges, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and
enhance wellbeing.” IFSW & IASSW, 2014).

Social work is an art; it requires great skills to understand people and to help them to help
themselves. It is a science because of its problem-solving method and its attempt to be objective
in ascertaining facts and in developing principles and operational concepts. It is a profession
because it encompasses the attributes of a profession.

The core concepts used in the global social work definition can be unpacked in detail and
discussed in relation to-the social work profession’s core mandates, principles, knowledge, and
practice.

1. CORE MANDATES

The social work profession’s core mandates include promoting social change, social
development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people.

The social change mandate is based on the premise that social work intervention takes place
when the current situation, be this at the level of the person, family, small group, community or
society, is deemed to be in need of change and development. The profession is equally
committed to the maintenance of social stability, insofar as such stability is not used to
marginalize, exclude or oppress any particular group of persons. The concept of social
development prioritizes socio-structural and economic development, and does not subscribe to
conventional wisdom that economic growth is a prerequisite for social development. Regarding
the promotion of social cohesion, in solidarity with those who are disadvantaged, the profession
strives to alleviate poverty, liberate the vulnerable and oppressed, and promote social inclusion
and social cohesion.

Social work is a practice profession and an academic discipline that recognizes that
interconnected historical, socio-economic, cultural, spatial, political and personal factors serve as
opportunities and/or barriers to human wellbeing and development. Structural barriers contribute
to the perpetuation of inequalities, discrimination, exploitation and oppression. The development
of critical consciousness through reflecting on structural sources of oppression and/or privilege,
on the basis of criteria such as race, class, language, religion, gender, disability, culture, and
developing action strategies towards addressing structural and personal barriers are central to
emancipatory practice where the goals are the empowerment and liberation of people.

2. PRINCIPLES

The overarching principles of social work are respect for the inherent worth and dignity of
human beings, doing no harm, respect for diversity and upholding human rights and social
justice. Advocating and upholding human rights and social justice is the motivation and
justification for social work. The social work profession recognizes that human rights need to
coexist alongside collective responsibility. The idea of collective responsibility highlights the
reality that individual human rights can only be realized on a day-to-day basis if people take
responsibility for each other and the environment, and the importance of creating reciprocal
relationships within communities. Therefore a major focus of social work is to advocate for the
rights of people at all levels, and to facilitate outcomes where people take responsibility for each
other’s wellbeing, realize and respect the inter-dependence among people and between people
and the environment.

3. KNOWLEDGE

Social work is both interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary, and draws on a wide array of
scientific theories and research. Social work draws on its own constantly developing theoretical
foundation and research, as well as theories from other human sciences, including but not limited
to anthropology, economics, psychiatry, psychology, public health, and sociology. The
uniqueness of social work research and theories is that they are applied and emancipatory. This
proposed definition also acknowledges that social work is informed not only by specific practice
environments and Western theories, but also by indigenous knowledges.

4. PRACTICE

Social work’s legitimacy and mandate lie in its intervention at the points where people interact
with their environment. Consistent with the social development paradigm, social workers utilize
a range of skills, techniques, strategies, principles and activities at various system levels, directed
at system maintenance and/or system change efforts. Social work practice spans a range of
activities including various forms of therapy and counseling, group work, and community work;
policy formulation and analysis; and advocacy and political interventions. From an emancipatory
perspective, that this definition supports social work strategies are aimed at increasing people’s
hope, self-esteem and creative potential to confront and challenge oppressive power dynamics
and structural sources of injustices, thus incorporating into a coherent whole the micro-macro,
personal-political dimension of intervention.

Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients. "Clients"
is used inclusively to refer to individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
Social workers are sensitive to cultural and ethnic diversity and strive to end discrimination,
oppression, poverty, and other forms of social injustice. These activities may be in the form of
direct practice, community organizing, supervision, consultation administration, advocacy, social
and political action, policy development and implementation, education, and research and
evaluation. Social workers seek to enhance the capacity of people to address their own needs.
Social workers also seek to promote the responsiveness of organizations, communities, and other
social institutions to individuals' needs and social problems.

Social Work and Other Professions

sociology and Social Work
How are sociology and social work related to each other? Admittedly, they share much in
common but are also different in many ways. Sociology has been defined by early American
sociologists as follows: by L. F. Ward as the "science of society," and by F. H. Gid-dings as "the
scientific study of society." Sociologists are experts in the study of society, its organization, and
the phenomena arising out of the group relations of human beings. As such, professionals in this
area contribute much to our awareness of human interaction, including the establishment of
norms, values, social organization, patterns of behavior, and social institutions.

Sociology and social work are both interested in people, their interactions, and understanding
these interactions. The sociologist is particularly concerned about the how, when, and why
people behave as they do in association with others. He or she aims to pinpoint the social
problems, conduct research, and do everything possible to understand interaction in human
associations. The sociologist is particularly interested in the why of human interaction.

The social worker is interested in understanding people and how they behave in association with
others; but he or she is particularly concerned about helping these same people to solve the
problems they have and to improve their social functioning. Whereas the sociologist generally
spends most of his or her time in study and in ferreting out the facts, the social worker tries to
understand the client or the community, to make an appropriate diagnosis, and to proceed with
treatment, helping to solve the problems and change the situations to bring about better
adjustment.

Psychiatry and Social Work

Psychiatry is a specialized field of medical practice that focuses on mental and emotional
dysfunction. While psychiatrists typically treat clients experiencing some form of
psychopathology, many help with other problems of social dysfunction and interpersonal
relationships. For example, a psychiatrist may counsel couples experiencing marital discord,
assist adolescents with problems in adaptation, use play therapy with children whose social
development has been retarded, counsel individuals and couples who experience sexual
dysfunctions, and so on. Unlike other professionals who assist with psychological and emotional
problems as well as those of social dysfunction, psychiatrists can provide medications where
physiological symptoms indicate the need for them. Because psychiatrists are physicians (with a
medical degree), they have at their disposal a wide array of medical interventions as well as their
expertise in treating problems of a mental and emotional nature. Psychiatrists typically are well
educated within their specialty and constitute a significant and important resource for treating
problems of the mentally ill and emotionally disturbed.

The roles of the social worker and psychiatrist are different but are of coordinate status. The
psychiatrist and the social worker are frequently both members of the same professional team
and each has unique contributions to make.

One psychiatrist states that the major difference between psychiatry and social work is that the
psychiatrist deals with the treatment of illness and the medical model, whereas the social worker
focuses on problems and strengths in human relationships. The psychiatrist places stress on
intrapersonal dynamics, often delving into and handling unconscious motivation and related
factors, whereas the social worker utilizes environmental and community resources, usually
operating within the conscious level of behavior.

Psychiatry and social work have many things in common. Both professions involve work with
people who possess personal and social problems. Both help people to improve their
relationships with others, and both have considerable interest in, and sensitivity and ability to
understand and direct feelings and emotions.

Several differences stand out between social work and psychiatry. The social worker tends to
utilize the total community resources, sometimes tapping many material resources, economic and
otherwise, in improving social relationships. The psychiatrist deals with patients on a medical
basis, prescribes medication and hospitalization, if needed, and tends to focus on the
unconscious, intrapsychic factors, working particularly with individual personality
reorganization. With the advent of new drugs, drug therapy has become common to the
psychiatrist in the treatment of the emotionally ill. The social worker often works with the
marriage and/or family as a whole, rather than just the individual person. Ordinarily, serious
mental disturbances are handled by the psychiatrist; yet social workers use psychiatric
understandings in diagnosis and treatment, and sometimes work directly with seriously disturbed
individuals and families.

Psychology and Social Work

Unlike psychiatrists, professional psychologists are not physicians. Those who engage in practice
designed to assist with psychological and emotional problems generally are referred to as clinical
or counseling psychologists. Like psychiatrists, psychologists are educated in universities and
professional schools that emphasize a wide variety of theoretical and methodological approaches
to practice. Again, like psychiatrists, many have developed skills in psychotherapy and
psychoanalysis. Psychologists treat clients with deep-rooted emotional conflict, faulty
personality development, interpersonal problems represented in marriage and family conflict,
substance abuse, and various psychological and behavioral disorders.

The psychologist and social worker are often members of the same professional team,
particularly in treatment clinics and related settings. Nevertheless, many people raise questions
about the overlapping and the differences between the two. Psychology is the science of the
mind; it seeks to study, explain, and change behavior of people. The psychologist is particularly
interested in understanding the individual and his or her behavior. Psychology and social work
operate on some common grounds. Both are interested in the behavior of people, in their
interactional patterns in particular, although the psychologist focuses mainly on individual
behavior and the social worker on social functioning. They both seek the thinking and feeling
processes of people.

With regard to differences, psychologists study biological factors as well as social factors related
to individual behavior. The psychologist is particularly interested in the individual attributes of
people, and aims to understand their characteristics and behavior. On the other hand, some
psychologists, particularly clinical psychologists, go beyond the study phase and work directly
with people in the helping process. These activities overlap some with social work, and yet the
focus seems to be different when considered as a totality. The psychologist usually works with
individuals on a rather intensive basis and sometimes becomes a psychotherapist. Conversely,
the social worker is particularly interested in the social functioning and relationships of clients
and in utilizing community resources to meet clients' personal and social problems.

Distinguishing/Unique characteristics of social work

1. Focus on any problem. First, social workers may focus on any problems or clusters of
problems that are complex and difficult. Social workers do not pick and choose which
problems and issues they would like to address. They see a problem, even a difficult
problem, and try to help people solve it. Social workers don't refuse to work with clients or
refer them elsewhere because those clients have unappealing characteristics. Not every
 problem may be solved, but some can be—or at least alleviated. Social work practitioners are
equipped with a repertoire of skills to help them identify and examine problems. They then
make choices about where their efforts can be best directed.
2. Social work focus is on the wholeness and totality of the person—encompassing the
person, environmental factors, and behavior. Social work stresses the total person in the
total environment.
3. The unique contribution of social work practice is the duality of the profession's person
and environment mandate: social workers must help society work better for people and
help people function better within society. Helping individuals fit better into their
environments, is typically referred to as micro practice, and changing the environment so
that it works better for individuals is called macro practice. In other words, social workers
make a commitment through professional training to help people and to improve society,
and to give special attention to the interactions between people and between people and
their surroundings.
4. Social work recognizes that social problems and human behavior inhere to a considerable
degree in the social institutions of humanity. To understand these problems and behavior, it is
necessary to understand the institutions of humans. Social problems may be reduced by
working with individual personalities or by changing social institutions. For example, a
particular boy may be helped to turn from delinquent behavior through individual therapy; on
the other hand, social work recognizes that perhaps thousands of delinquent acts may be
prevented through sensible changes in political or economic institutions.
5. Focus on social and economic justice. Social workers recognize how a culture's educational,
economic, and political structures may oppress, marginalize, and alienate some people while
at the same time creating or enhancing privilege and power for others. Social workers' keen
understanding of societal forms and mechanisms of oppression has resulted in a strong
commitment to human rights, social and economic justice, and the elimination of poverty.
Although other professions may ascribe to similar ideals and values, there is no other
profession that is as engaged and dedicated to ending injustice, discrimination, and poverty
as social work.
6. Traditional social work emphasizes three basic processes: casework, group work, and
community organization. Casework involves a close, face-to-face relationship—mainly on an
 individual-to-individual basis—in working with people and their problems. Group work
utilizes the group as the tool to bring about desired changes in social functioning with
troubled persons. Community organization is the intergroup approach toward facing and
solving social pathologies. It aims to increase understanding of community needs and helps
to provide for them. Social workers often play an advocate role to strengthen and improve
community resources and bring desired social changes.
7. The basic aim of social work is to help clients to help themselves or to help a community to
help itself. Contrary to what many people believe, the social worker does not listen to a client
and then prescribe a "social-psychological pill"—even though many clients ask for this. The
social worker endeavors to help a person to improve his or her understanding of oneself and
relationships with others and to tap his or her own and community resources in solving
personal problems. The social worker operates under the premise that most people have the
ego strength to solve their own problems when they really bring them out into the open and
understand what they are. Whereas several professions are primarily concerned with
pathological problems, social work endeavors to stress and utilize strengths—both individual
and community—to effect desired changes.
8. Social workers do not track people into specific ways of thinking or acting. Rather, they
practice in a partnership with clients, making and implementing plans together. Most other
professions emphasize the authority and expertise of the professional, on the one hand, and
the subordinate status of the client as recipient of services, on the other.
9. Social workers operate from a strengths-based perspective. This is another defining social
work characteristic that involves focusing on clients' strengths as a way to help them solve
problems and overcome life challenges. This doesn't mean that social workers turn a blind
eye to potential weaknesses. Instead, social workers help clients discover and build on their
strengths to help them become more proactive and responsible for their own lives. They
know that people are often more resilient than they realize. Social workers offer insight and
support to help clients realize their inherent strengths.
10. Utilization of community resources in helping people to solve problems is very important.
Social workers have a comprehensive knowledge of community resources and are able to tap
them to meet the needs of their clients. They make significant contributions to the larger
 community, utilizing their skills in planning and organizing, helping governmental and
private organizations and agencies to be more effective.
11. The other dimension that makes social work unique is its emphasis on and adherence to a
core of its own values.

Goals of Social Work Practice

Looking at the definitions and explanations of social work, we can identify five major goals of
social work which include:

Goal 1: Enhance the Problem-Solving, Coping, and Developmental Capacities of People

Using the person-in-environment concept, the focus of social work practice at this level is on the
"person." With this focus, a social worker serves primarily as a facilitator. In this role, the worker
may take on activities of a counselor, teacher, caregiver (that is, providing supportive services to
those who cannot fully solve their problems and meet their own needs), and changer of specific
behavior.

Goal 2: Link People with Systems That Provide Them with Resources, Services, and
Opportunities

Using the person-in-environment concept, the focus of social work practice at this level is on the
relationships between people and the systems they interact with. With this focus, a social worker
serves primarily as a broker.

Goal 3: Promote the Effectiveness and Humane Operation of Systems That Provide People
with Resources and Services

Using the person-in-environment concept, the focus of social work practice at this level is on the
systems people interact with. One role a worker may fill at this level is that of an advocate.
Additional roles at this level are:

Program developer: The worker needs to promote or design programs or technologies to meet
social needs.

Supervisor: The worker seeks to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the delivery of
services through supervising other staff.
Coordinator: The worker seeks to improve a delivery system through increasing communications
and coordination among human service resources.

Consultant: The worker seeks to provide guidance to agencies and organizations by suggesting
ways to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of services.

Goal 4: Develop and Improve Social Policy

As in Goal 3, the focus of social work practice at this level is on the systems people interact with.
The distinction between Goal 3 and Goal 4 is that Goal 3 focuses on the available resources for
serving people, whereas Goal 4 focuses on the statutes and broader social policies that underlie
such resources. Social workers at this level are planners and policy developers. In these roles,
workers develop and seek adoption of new statutes or policies and propose elimination of those
that are ineffective or inappropriate. In these planning and policy development processes, social
workers may take an advocate role and, in some instances, an activist role.

Goal 5: Promote Human and Community Well-Being

The social work profession is committed to enhancing the well-being of all human beings and to
promoting community well-being. It is particularly committed to alleviating poverty, oppression,
and other forms of social injustice. Social work has always advocated for developing programs
to alleviate poverty, and many practitioners focus on providing services to the poor. Poverty is
global, as every society has members who are poor. In some societies, as many as 95% of the
population lives in poverty. Alleviating poverty is obviously complex and difficult. Social work
professionals work with a variety of systems to make progress in alleviating poverty, including
educational systems, health care systems, political systems, business and employment systems,
religious systems, and human services systems.