SOCIAL CASE WORK

1. BY AMIT KUMAR MOB NO.: +919435028022/9708811272 EMAIL-amitranjanfn09@outlook.com
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DCTCL, CUJ RANCHI
SOCIAL CASE WORK
BY
AMIT KUMAR
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF CONTEMPORARY AND TRIBAL CUSTOMARY LAW
CENTRAL UNIVIERSITY OF JHARKHAND
Lecture 4
Process of Social Case Work
The application of social casework begins with the intake and screening of the client and his/her
problems, followed by an understanding of his/her background along with the history of the
problem s/he is going through. Thereafter, effort is made to establish the cause-and-effect
relationship between the various variables surrounding the client on the basis of which the most
appropriate one is chosen with a view to resolve the client’s issues and problems.
Social casework process basically proceeds through the following five steps or phases:
1. Study (Social Investigation or Psychosocial Study)
Social study is a systematic study of the client and his/her circumstances in relation to his/her
problem. Information is collected and organised with regard to the following:
I. Problems (the initially stated problem and associated problems if any)
1. Study (Social Investigation or
Psychosocial Study);
2. Assessment and Social diagnosis
3. Intervention and Social Treatment
4. Termination
5. Evaluation and Follow-up

2. BY AMIT KUMAR MOB NO.: +919435028022/9708811272 EMAIL-amitranjanfn09@outlook.com
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DCTCL, CUJ RANCHI
II. Age, sex, marital status, etc.
III. Educational qualifications
IV. Nature of employment, income
V. Health conditions
VI. Personality features
VII. Home and neighbourhood
VIII. Family constellation
IX. Family history (significant events, attitudes, relationships, etc.)
Not all these areas are important in every case. Nor is it possible to get all the data in one or
two interviews. Material on items like personality features, attitudes, relationships, etc. can be
garnered only in course of time, as the social worker becomes more familiar with the client and
his/her family. With reference to cases of children, their school history, covering their attitude
to school, academic performance, behaviour and relationships in school are to be included.
When the family is a joint family, information about the members of the joint family may be
required.
2. Assessment and Social diagnosis
Assessment means to 'know through' or recognizing or understanding thoroughly; it attempts
to answer the question 'what is the matter". As Hamilton says 'it is a realistic, thoughtful, frank
and "scientific" attempt to understand the client's present need. Assessment begins with a
further elaboration of the problem by the client giving the worker a better perspective and
understanding of the problem. Social Diagnosis is an attempt to arrive at an exact definition
as possible of the social situation and personality of a client. It is a search for the causes of the
problem which brings the client to the worker for help.
Diagnosis is;
i. An explanation formulated in the light of known facts
ii. An explanation made in the knowledge of other possible explanations
iii. Subject to change or revision whenever subsequent material warrants a different
explanation.
Therefore, diagnosis is concerned with understanding both the psychological or personality
factors which bear a causal relation to the client's difficulty and the social or environmental
factors which tend to sustain it.
There are majorly three categories of diagnosis

3. BY AMIT KUMAR MOB NO.: +919435028022/9708811272 EMAIL-amitranjanfn09@outlook.com
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DCTCL, CUJ RANCHI
Dynamic Diagnosis Clinical Diagnosis Etiological Diagnosis
It gives an understanding of the
current problem of the client and
the forces currently operating
within the client, and within his
social environment.
The nature of such diagnosis is
subject to change because it is the
beginning phase of social case
work practice.
In clinical diagnosis, the case
worker attempts to classify the client
by the nature of his
sickness/problem.
He identifies certain forms of client's
personality, maladaptation and
malfunction in his behavior.
Etiological diagnosis is concerned
with the explanation of the
beginnings and life history of the
client's problem, basically that
problem that lies in the client's
personality make up or functioning.
3. Intervention and Social Treatment
Technical definitions of ―intervene as given in Webster ‘s Dictionary contain ―to come in or
flanked by through way of modification and ―to come flanked by in action. Intervention
knowledge would contain that knowledge which helps caseworkers bring in relation to the
change in those situations with which they are concerned.
According to Hamilton, treatment is the sum total of all activities and services directed towards
helping an individual with a problem. Focus is on relieving the immediate problem, and, if
feasible, modifies any basic difficulty which precipitated it.
Intervention can be of three kinds:
i. Direct intervention
Through direct methods of intervention is meant a series of interviews accepted out with a
purpose of helping the client make constructive decisions, uphold an emotional balance and
reinforce attitudes favourable to growth and change. They are described direct as they involve
face-to-face interaction. These contain counselling, supportive techniques like acceptance,
assurance, and facilitation of expression of feelings, accrediting and building of self-
confidence, and being with the client.
ii. Environmental modification, and
According to Hamilton environmental modification refers to all attempts to correct or improve
the situation in order to reduce strain and pressure. The emphasis here is on modifying the
situation. This method is often referred to as an indirect method of intervention as the focus is
on the change of physical environment, or an alteration of any of the social systems, which
may be essential for the client for better functioning. For instance, the client may be
encouraged to join a recreational or other group, so that he/she may be able to function

4. BY AMIT KUMAR MOB NO.: +919435028022/9708811272 EMAIL-amitranjanfn09@outlook.com
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DCTCL, CUJ RANCHI
better, or arranging programmes to reduce strain for the slow learners for whom competitive
situations are to be avoided.
iii. Administration of a practical service
Administration of a practical service as Hamilton says is one of the oldest and best recognized
of the casework methods of intervention. In this method the worker helps the client to choose
and to use a social resource or service provided through the agency. Several times the client
knows what he/she wants, but does not know where or how to get it. The client is served in
one’s own agency or sent to another agency where he/she is best served. Providing material
help, legal aid, medical care and arranging for camps are examples of practical services. The
worker needs to have a thorough knowledge of community possessions, use them selectively
and economically.
4. Termination
Termination as used in social work means the ending of a procedure that began when the
agency agreed to enter into the interventive procedure. The processes of study, assessment and
intervention do not continue forever. The worker and the client together understand and plan
out termination. Termination in other words is the signal that the worker uses to confirm
that the worker has confidence in the client’s ability to learn to cope with situations and
to grow. The role of the worker is of an enabler and also as a resource for the client in the
present situation.
5. Evaluation and Follow-up
Evaluation is the activity of ascertaining whether casework service has achieved the desired
result in a case. It is the social worker's reviewing of all the other components of the casework
process to make an appraisal of the result. Evaluation seeks to find answers to some questions:
Has the client's problem been solved? Has the client been helped in accordance with the
philosophical assumptions and principles of casework? What tools and techniques were used
and why? If the client's problem is still unsolved, has there been any forward movement in the
case situation? If casework help has not produced any result, what are the reasons? Evaluation
is also an ongoing activity, although as a component of the casework process, it finds full scope
and expression only after a period of activity. As the social worker continues to offer the service
or services, evaluative discernment occurs to him/her at specific points of time regarding the
strength, weakness or gaps in his/her social assessment and regarding the success or failure of
his/her ways of helpfulness.