Chapter 1 Introduction To Social Work

 

CHAPTER 1 Social Welfare, Social Services, and Social Work A.  SOCIAL WELFARE I. 

Definition

(Gertrude Wilson) Wilson)   Organized concern of all peoples for all people (Gertrude   The organized system of social services and institutions, design to aid individuals and groups to attain satisfying standards of life and health (Walter (Walter Friedlander) Friedlander)   Includes those laws, programs, benefits and services which assure or strengthen provisions for meeting social needs recognized as basic to well-being of the population, and the better functioning of the social order (Elizabeth (Elizabeth Wickenden) Wickenden)   All the organized social arrangement which have as their direct and primary objective the well-being of people in a social context(Pre-Conference context(Pre-Conference Working Committee for the 15th International Conference on Social Welfare) Welfare)   Encompasses the well-being of all the members of human society, including their physical, mental, emotional, social, economic and spiritual well-being. II. 

Society responds to unmet needs or problems through the ff. ways

efforts  –  –  systematic  systematic and voluntary efforts undertaken u ndertaken by   Individual and group efforts  individuals and/or groups in response to unmet needs   Major societal institutions which have their designated roles and responsibilities for meeting human need –  need –   the the family, the church, the government, cooperatives, and labor unions  unions  Agency  –  –  major provision for helping people; integral part of a community’s   Social Agency  institutionalized network of services; professional social workers are usually employed by a social agency  agency  III.  Two views or conceptions of social welfare formulation  –  –  conceives  conceives of the social welfare as temporary offered during   Residual formulation  emergency situations and withdrawn when the regular social system is working properly   Institutional formulation –  formulation –  sees  sees social welfare as a proper, legitimate function of modern society  society  Our own Philippine Constitution (1987) reflects the institutional view In the Philippines today, many institutions and agencies combine the two views because of the nature of the people's needs and problems. IV. 

Social welfare programs usually fall under the categories:

security  –  –   set set of compulsory measures instituted to protect the individual and his   Social security  family against the consequences of an unavoidable interruption

 

services –  service  service functions which have major bearing upon personal   Personal social services –  problems, individual situations of stress, interpersonal helping or helping people in need, and the provision of direct collaboration with workers from govt and voluntary agencies   agencies Assistance –   material/concrete material/concrete aids/supports provided usually by govt   Public Assistance –  agencies to people who have no income or means of support for themselves and their families  families  B.  SOCIAL SERVICES I.  Definition   Refers to programs, services and other activities provided under various auspices, to concretely answer the needs and problems of the society. II.  Why is there a need n eed for social services?   There are people who have needs and problems beyond their own capacity for solution Social welfare (and therefore, social services) has been accepted as a legitimate function of modern industrial society in helping people fulfill themselves Many of the problems people face todayare traceable to the rapid social change that has been taking place (adverse effects of urbanization and industrialization; rural underdevelopment) Richard M. Titmus sees social problems as structural or basically located in the economy.He considers social services as partial compensation for the “socially generated disservices” and “socially--caused diswelfare”  “socially diswelfare”  III.  Among the many legitimate and vitally important goals of social welfare are the ff.   Humanitarian and Social Justice Goals justice    rooted in the democratic ideal of social justice  m an has the potential to realize himself except factors   based on the belief that man (physical, social, economic, psychological, etc) sometimes hinder or prevent him   him   This concept submits that it is right and just for man to help man, hence, social services   services mos t   Involves identification of the most inflicted, the most dependent, the most neglected and those least to help themselves and making them priority   Social Control Goal   Based on the recognition that needy, deprived, or disadvantaged groups may strike out, individually and or/collectively against what they consider to be an offending society  society    Economic Development Goal   Social services which directly contribute to increased productivity   Social services which prevent or relieve the burden of dependence on adult works of such dependents

 

  Social services which prevent or counteract the disruptive effects of urbanization and industrializatio indus trialization n

C.  SOCIAL WORK I.  Definition   Seeks to enhance the social functioning of individuals, singly and in groups, by activities focused upon their social relationships which constitute the interaction between man and his environment(The environment(The United States Council on Social Work Education)) Education On June 27, 2001 International Association of Schools of Social Work and the International Federation of Social Workers jointly announced a new international definition of social work believed to be applicable in every region and country of the world –  world –   “The social work promotes social change problem-solving problem-solving in human relationships and the empowerment and the liberation of people to enhance well-being. well -being. Utilizing theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the point where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work”  work”  In general social functioning problems are caused by any of the ff.

  Personal inadequacies   Situational inadequacies   Both personal and situational inadequacies All social worker efforts therefore focused on either helping a person adjust to or cope with his environment or modifying or changing his environment/situation or both Social work is not a hit-or-miss or trial and-error method but a professional service which makes use of scientific knowledge and skills Social Work, introduces in the 1930’s as a systematic method of helping people in the field of public welfare in the Philippines, came to be officially recognized as a profession with the passage of a law by Congress in 1965 elevating el evating social work to a profession