Social work meaning and concept

1. History and Ideologies of Social
Work Profession
Social Work: Meaning and
Concepts
Unit-I

2. Meaning of Social Work
Social work is a practice-based profession that
promotes social change, development,
cohesion/unity and the empowerment of people
and communities.
It involves the understanding of human
development, behavior and the social, economic
and cultural institutions and interactions.
Started by the individuals, groups, religious,
caste, communities etc. to attend salvation by
the act of helping the needy.

3. Misconception.
Provides permanent solution.
Aims at making a person self-dependent and
self- reliant.
Follows scientific process.
Voice for the voiceless.

4. Definition
W. Friedlander (1955) “Social work is a professional
service, based on scientific knowledge and skill in human
relations, which assist individuals, alone or in groups, to
obtain social and personal satisfaction and independence.” –
G. Konopka (1958) “Social work is an entity representing
three clearly distinguished but inter- related parts: a network
of social services, carefully developed methods and process
and social policy expressed thought social institutions and
individuals. All three are based on a view of human being,
their interrelationships, and the ethical demands made on
them.” –
Indian Conference of Social Work (1957) “Social work
is a welfare activity based on humanitarian philosophy,
scientific knowledge and technical skill for helping individuals
or community, to live a rich and full life.” -

5. Goals of Social Work
The main goals of Social Work
First, the creation those conditions which help
to make a more satisfying way of life possible,
and
Second, the development within the individual
and the community as well as capacities which
help to live the life more adequately and
creativity

6. Objectives of Social Work:
Solve psycho-social problems
Fulfill humanitarian needs
Solve problems associated with coping mechanism
Create self-sufficiency
Strengthen and create harmonious social relations
Develop democratic values
Provide opportunities for development and social
progress
Change the environment in favor of individual’s growth
and development
Bring about changes in the social system for social
development
Provide socio-legal aid

7. Scope of Social Work
The primary scope of social work is to solve the psycho-
social problems that hold back the development of
individuals and communities
Public assistance
Social insurance
Family services
Child welfare services
Community welfare centres
Welfare service for the physically and mentally challenged
Women’s welfare services
Employment and Employability services

8. Functions of Social Work:
According to Proff. P.D. Mishra social work operates to
assist individuals in adjusting to the institutional frame work
of the society and attempts to modify the institutional frame
work itself in appropriate areas.
He classified the functions of social work into the following
4 major categories
1.Curative Function
The services provided under curative functions are–medical and
health services, services relating to psychiatry, child guidance,
child welfare services, services for the handicapped or disable
in the form of protection and rehabilitation.
These kinds of services aim to cure the physical, social,
material, psychological sickness of individuals in the society.

9. 2. Correctional Function
The correctional function of social work has three broad
areas, such as:
Individual reform service which includes prison reform,
probation, parole and other related services.
Services for improving social relationship which
includes family welfare services, school social work,
industrial social work etc.
Services for social reform that includes employment
services, prevention of commercial sex work, beggary
prohibition services and removal of untouchability etc.

10. 3. Preventive Function:
It includes life insurance services, public assistance,
social legislation, adult education and prevention of
diseases etc.
It deals with the services relating to the prevention of
problems like insecurity, unlawfulness, ignorance,
sickness etc.
It is directed towards the elimination of those factors in
the social environment or those deficiencies in the
development of personality that prevents the individual
from achieving a minimum desirable standard of socio-
economic life.

11. 4. Developmental Function:
It includes the tasks of socio-economic development
activities such as: education, recreational services,
urban and rural development programmes and
programmes of integration etc. which are primarily
concerned with the development of individuals,
families, groups and communities.

12. Methods of Social Work
Primary
Methods
Case
Work
Group
Work Community
Organization
Secondary
Methods
Social
Research Social Welfare
Administration
Social
Action

13. Process of Social Work

14. Concepts of Social Work:
Social Service,
Helping the helpless’ is social service.
It is service rendered to any person on the basis of desire to
serve which is inspired by the feeling of helping others.
In the Indian context social services are those services, which
are provided on an extensive scale to the needy population;
they serve to meet the basic needs of the people and include
such services as health, education, housing etc.
The characteristic features of social services are as under:
 Social services are visualized and organized by society/state.
 These services directly benefit all sections of society.
 These services have a very wide scope including everything that
has a direct bearing on the quality of life of people.
 These services aim at promoting human and social development,
protecting human rights of people and creating a sense of duty
among them towards society.

15. Social Welfare
 Derived from 'welfaren', the term 'welfare' means "the state or
condition with regard to good, fortune, health, happiness,
prosperity, etc".
 By welfare we refer to the entire package of services, social and
economic, that deal with income support, welfare provisions and
social security, on the one hand, and view the whole range of social
services, on the other."
 Social welfare is the people's well-being promoted by society
through a wide variety of ways and means.
 According to Friedlander (1963), " 'Social Welfare' is the organized
system of social services and institutions, designed to aid
individuals and groups to attain satisfying standards of life and
health, and personal and social relationships which permit them to
develop their full capacities and to promote their well-being in
harmony with the needs of their families and the community."

16. Social Reform
In every society cultural degeneration sets in of
some point of time, particularly when its followers
forget the basic purpose behind varied kinds of
customs and traditions.
When social evils start manifesting themselves on a
very large scale and become fairly widespread, some
enlightened people start giving a serious thought to
them and devising measures to get rid of them; it is
at this juncture that social reform begins.
The term 'reform', according to Webster's
Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary (1996) means
"the improvement”

17. Social reform thus, broadly speaking, refers to eradication of
immoral, unhealthy, corrupt and wrong practices which
thwart/prevent human and social development, According to
M.S. Gore (1987),
Major characteristics of social reform are:
 Existence of some social evil impeding proper human growth and
social development.
 Collective and focused efforts deliberately made by people to
mitigate and date social evil.
 Overall satisfaction with the generally prevailing situations in
society and existence of belief that the overall system is not to be
overthrown.
 Employment of non-violent methods and means to bring about
desired changes in the area in which evil practices exist and use of
such measures like persuasion, Conscientization, change of heart,
etc. as may lead to eradication of existing evils.

18. Study of social reform is important for professional social
workers because they are concerned with improving the social
functioning of people and introducing desired changes in
social structure and system;
The objectives cannot be attained till varied kinds of social
evils and unhealthy and undesirable usages and practices
continue to exist in society.
Social workers generally, because of their basic faith in non-
revolutionary approach to be adopted for introducing desired
changes in society, want to bring about almost social changes,
to begin with, by doing away with varied kinds of social evils
like dowry, Sati, Purdah, child labour, bonded labour, etc.
through social reforms.

19. Social Development,
Social development attempts to explain qualitative
changes in the structure and framework of society, that help
the society to better realize aims and objectives.
Development can be defined in a manner applicable to all
societies at all historical periods as an upward ascending
movement featuring greater levels of energy, efficiency,
quality, productivity, complexity, comprehension, creativity,
mastery, enjoyment and accomplishment.
Development is a process of social change, not merely a set of
policies and programs instituted for some specific results.
During the last five centuries this process has picked up in
speed and intensity, and during the last five decades has
witnessed a marked surge in acceleration

20. Social Security,
 Security i.e., freedom from danger or risk is one of the accepted
needs of people.
 Social security benefits may be in the form of cash or kind or both
 Initially, this security was being provided through the institution of
family and occupational guilds, and more so by the joint family
system and caste in India;
 But in course of time these basic social institutions started
disintegrating.
 A pioneer Sir William Beveridge, came forward with the idea of
'social security' as means of freedom against five great giants: want,
disease, ignorance, idleness and squalor. Since then social security
has become very widely used in social science literature.
 The International Labour Organization (1942) defines social
security "as the security that society furnishes through appropriate
organization, against certain risks to which its members are exposed

21. Social Policy
• Social policy is a plan or action of government or
institutional agencies which aim to improve or
reform society.
• It refers to governmental and legislative efforts to
implement changes to benefit society or a particular
segment of society and, in this sense, is a social
intervention.
• It concerned with the ways societies across the world
meet human needs for security, education, work, health
and wellbeing.
• Social policy addresses how states and societies respond
to global challenges of social, demographic and
economic change, and of poverty, migration and
globalization

22. Social Justice
Social justice refers to a fair and equitable division
of resources, opportunities, and privileges in society.
Originally a religious concept, it has come to be
conceptualized more loosely as the just organization
of social institutions that deliver access to economic
benefits.
It is sometimes referred to as "distributive justice.“
In the current movements for social justice, the
emphasis has been on the breaking of barriers
for social mobility, the creation of safety nets,
and economic justice