THE DISCIPLINE

OF
SOCIAL WORK
 When you are blessed or are in a privileged position in society,
the greatest contribution you can ever make is to pay it forward.
Paying forward is an act of doing good to someone else a way of
giving back to the kindness that others or the world has bestowed
upon you. Looking after your own welfare also entails looking
after someone else’s, which is a basic moral and social obligation
of one human being to another.
Social work is a noble and fulfilling way of making you
relevant and helpful to another members of society, especially to
those who need help the most.
Social Work: When to make a Difference

Social work does not need to be institutional, nor be a grand

gesture of charity.
An individual who is engaged in social care sees himself in
various settings involving personal interactions and services that
includes “caring, supporting, assisting, tending, and enabling
offered to people to promote and further their well-being, but
which do not fit under the umbrella of ‘health care’”.
It also involves social care means “caring, supporting, assisting,
tending and enabling people to promote and further their well-
being”
Social Work

The International Association of Schools of Social Work and

International Federation of Social Workers defined social work as a
promotion of “ social change , problem solving in human relationships,
and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being”.

Social welfare is an institution or academic discipline that

encompasses social work and that they are primarily related at the level
of practice.

There are what we call social welfare institutions that are

established “to prevent, alleviate, or contribute to the solution of
recognized social problems in order to directly improve the well-being
of individuals, groups, families, organizations, and communities”
Major Historical and Contextual Functions of Social Work and
Social Welfare

Relief of
psychological Providing for basic
distress and survival needs
material need

Social control Social reform

1. Relief of psychological distress and material need. Through social
welfare, people are able to cope better and function effectively in
their social environment.

2. Providing for basic survival needs. These include “adequate

nutrition, clothing, shelter, and medical care.” It also involves the
creation of “opportunities to enhance psychological well-being
and social productivity”.
3. Social control. It refers to “encouraging adherence to social norms
and minimizing, eliminating, or normalizing deviant behavior.”
• Informal social control- those internalized beliefs and norms and
influence in face-to-face exchanges such as ridicule, praise, and
ostracism.
• Formal social control- includes laws and regulations and actions
by governmental representatives such as police and social
workers.

4. Social reform. Emphasizing the real causes of social problems like

lack of food, housing, employment, and educational and
recreational opportunities. These inequities need to be properly
addressed so as to create a just and more conducive environment
for all citizens.
 Social services are also provided so that the members of the
society can function effectively within a society. Therefore, social
services contribute to the attainment of stability.
George and Wilding affirmed this by citing the ways on how
social services contribute to political stability:
1. By exhibiting apparent efforts to alleviate problems that might
result in serious discontent and that could be used to criticize
the current economic and political structure
2. By defining social problems are caused by individual, family, or
group factors rather than by structural and economic factors
3. By promoting values and behaviors that support political
stability
4. By supporting authority and related hierarchical systems
5. By replacing class conflicts with group conflict
Historical Context in the Philippines

Social work as a profession rooted from informal caring and

charitable acts provided by families and communities, which then
addressed human and social means. In the case of social work in the
Philippines, an understanding of the colonial and political history of
the country is necessary to put the development of the practice in
context. “The ‘colonial rule’ brought to the Philippines a form of
social welfare which was functional, residualized, and individualist”
and much of which took the form of community based social work.
 Social Work during the Colonial Period
Social work in the Philippines is a combination of church work
and charity. Colonial influences “helped construct the Philippine
approach to social work, though these influences now operate
alongside community-focused initiatives aimed at promoting social
and economic development”
By the time the Americans came, charitable activities gradually
extended to public coordination and provision of welfare services.
Social work as profession became more pronounced through the
influence of gate workers coming from the United States (U.S.) and
through the Filipino social workers who were trained in the U.S.
 After Independence
A year after the establishment of the Third Republic, a Social
Welfare Commission under the Office of the President was found in
1947. This signified “formal recognition of social welfare as a
responsibility by the state”.
Price provided a list of significant milestones in the development
of social work in the Philippines during this time. These includes the
following:
• the establishment of social work schools initially in around and
around Manila;
• the formation of the Philippine Association of Social Workers in
1947 by overseas-trained workers;
• the funding by the United Nations Children’s Emergency
Funding (UNICEF) for training children and family social
workers to boost professionalization; and
• the enactment of Republic Act 4373 in 1965,which regulated the
practice of social work and the operation of social work
agencies.
Government welfare agencies that existed until 1976 were
reorganized and clumped together to constitute the then Department
of Social Welfare and Development. The period after the EDSA
People Power marked the shift from welfare and relief to a
development approach. In 1987 the reorganized Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) offered five areas of
concentration: family and community; children and youth; women;
disabled and elderly people; and emergency assistance/disaster
relief.
 Contemporary Social Work in the Philippines
According to Price, many of the social workers in the Philippines
characterized their practice as responding to poverty, that this very
often underlies the issues which they seek to address. Although
social workers may specialize in a particular aspect or area of the
profession, it is a reality in the Philippines that most of the social
workers perform multiple tasks.
Social work in the Philippines is generalist in its approach,
which means social work education trains a social worker to
perform various functions. They are made to understand and
perform the different facets of the profession to provide a more
holistic solution to problems related to social work.
Relationship with Other Disciplines

Social work as a discipline borrows most of its perspectives from

sociological theories. These theories help “locate social work as a
socially constructed activity, in which certain people become
defined as ‘clients’ or ‘service users’ or ‘costumers’, thereby
meriting the attention of practitioners assuming the role of ‘social
workers’”
Allied Disciplines in Social Work
• Sociology - the study of human social behavior, especially the
study of the origins, organizations, institutions, and development
of human society.
• Psychology - the study of mental processes and behavior.
• Psychiatry - the study of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
of mental illness.
• Political science – the study of the processes, principles, and
structures of government and of political institutions.
• Economics – the study of the production, distribution, and
consumption of commodities.
• Cultural anthropology – the study of human culture based on
archeological, ethnographic, linguistic, social, and psychological
data and methods of analysis.

Social work or social welfare is usually regarded as an applied

science than a pure science because “it has formed its knowledge
base primarily from the theories and research of other disciplines
and has focused on applying such knowledge through social
problems”.
Goals of the Discipline

The primary goal of social welfare is “to fulfill the social,

financial, health, and recreational requirements of all individuals in
a society”.
4 Major goals of social welfare according to United States National
Association of Social Workers:
1. Enhance the problem-solving, coping, and developmental
capacities of people. The focus of the goal is on the individual
where the social worker “serves primarily as an enabler – a
counselor, teacher, caregiver, and behavior changer.”
2. Link people with systems that provide them with resources,
services, and opportunities. The focus of this goal is on the
relationship between individuals and the systems they interact
with. The social worker “serves primarily as a broker.”
3. Promote the effectiveness and humane operation of systems that
provide people with resources and services. This goal focuses on
the systems which individuals interact with, specifically on the
available resources for serving the people. The social worker is
an advocate and may take the following specific roles:
a. Program developer, where the social worker needs to promote or
design programs or technologies to meet social needs;
b. Supervisor, where the social worker seeks to increase the
effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery through
supervising other staff;
c. Coordinator, where the social worker seeks to improve a
delivery system by increasing communications and coordinating
with human service resources; and
d. Consultant, where the social worker seeks to provide guidance
to agencies and organizations by suggesting was on how to
increase the effectiveness and efficiency of services.
4. Develop and improve social policy. This goal centers on the
systems people interact with, specifically on the laws/statutes
and social policies that underlie such resources. “Social workers
are planners and policy developers, whereby they develop and
seek adoption of new statutes of policies and propose
elimination of ineffective or inappropriate statutes and policies.”
The Core Values

Social welfare overlaps with other institutions such as family,

education, religion, and politics, and that much of the services it
offers may be defined as “those systems of services and allied
occupations and professions that concentrate on improving or
maintaining the physical and mental health and general well-being
of individuals, groups, or communities in a society.”
4 Categories of Social Services

Personal services (casework, counseling, recreation,

rehabilitation, religion, therapy)

Protection services (consumer protection,

corrections, courts, fire prevention/firefighting,
housing code enforcement, law enforcement public
health services

Information/advising services (consulting, consumer

information, education, financial counseling,
hotlines, and library services)

Maintenance services (childcare, institutional

services, public welfare programs, etc.)
Most Important Values and Ethical Principles of Social Workers
Value Ethical Principle

Service Social workers primary goal is to help people in need

and to address social problems.
Social Justice Social workers challenge social injustice.

Dignity and Worth of Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth
the Person of the person.

Importance of Human Social workers recognize the central importance of

Relationships human relationships.

Integrity Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner.

Competence Social workers practice within their areas of

competence and develop and enhance their professional
expertise.
The Philippine Association of Social Workers, Inc. explicitly provided
in its Social Workers’ Code of Ethics the following principles and
values:
• inherent dignity and worth of all persons
• natural and social rights, capacities, and responsibilities
• value of unity in diversity, individual differences, and pluralism in
society
• free society
• growth and development of the individual, the family system, and
the community
• social justice and political, economic, and social well-being of all
people
• social workers as agents and advocates of change
• promotion of professionalism, responsibility, and accountability
• professional practice deeply rooted in cultural values
QUIZ!
(1 – 2)
What is social work?

(3 – 5)
Give at least 3 allied discipline in social work.

(6 – 10)
Enumerate and briefly explain one (1) of the four (4) goals of
discipline.