12

Discipline and
Ideas in the
Applied Social
Sciences
Quarter 1 – Module 6
The Clients, Services and
Methods in Social Work
1
Page
 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to
help you to describe the characteristics and needs of the clientele and
audiences in social work as well as the settings, processes, methods and
tools involved in the aforementioned applied social science. The scope of this
module permits it to be used in many different learning situations. The
language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The
lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course. But the
order in which you read them can be changed to correspond with the
textbook you are now using.

The module is about the lesson stated below:

 Lesson 1 – The Clients, Services, and Methods in Social Work

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Describe the clientele of social work HUMSS_DIASS12-Ig-25;
2. Distinguish the needs of individuals, groups, organizations, and
communities HUMSS_DIASS12Ig-25;
3. Illustrate the different processes and methods involved in undertaking
social work HUMSS_DIASS12Ig-27

What I Know

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the

chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.

1. A client of social work, who are experiencing distress and

physical or mental issues. They can also be victims of rape,
 maltreatment, bullying, sexual harassment, failed marriages
and victims of disasters such as fire, typhoons and
earthquakes.
a. communities c. individual
b. group or organization d. society
2. May refer to families experiencing calamities and different
circumstances like senior citizens who need help in making
the most out of their retirement.
a. communities c. individual
b. group or organization d. society
3. This refers to the clientele of social work includes informal
settlers and indigenous people.
a. communities c. individual
b. group or organization d. society
4. Setting in social work where they hire social workers like
ABS-CBN, GMA and San Miguel Corporation.
a. government c. private sector
b. civil society d. community
5. Pantawid Pamilya Program, adoption and Foster Care
Program, Supplemental Program and Gender and
Development Program are examples of this setting where
social workers work.
a. school c. civil society
b. government d. private sector
6. This setting in social work encompasses organization and
groups including non-governmental organizations, charity
groups, faith-based and religious group, labor unions and
community organizations.
a. private sector c. schools
b. civil society d. community
7. Which of the following is an example of civil society where
social workers can be found?
a. PCSO c. DSWD
b. Caritas Manila d. Philippine Red Cross
8. Gawad Kalinga, Ayala Foundations and GMA Foundations
are example of what setting in social work?
a. government c. private sector
b. community d. civil society
9. Social workers can be employed as teachers, university
professors, researchers or administrators and guidance
counsellors in this setting.
 a. government c. schools
b. private sector d. community
10. How does social workers practice their work in the
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office?
a. evaluate financial assistance requests for medical
assistance.
b. provide relief and involved in a rescue operations in times
of crisis.
c. they help accommodate indigent patients and make sure
that they will be served.
d. they help in the implementation of the department’s
numerous projects.
11. This activity in social work include the following
services such as financial and material assistance, giving
advice, securing shelter and improving the conditions of the
clients.
a. social group work c. case work
b. social research d. social action
12. This endeavor in social work taken by social workers to
gain support for their advocacies from mass media, policy
makers, and government officials.
a. case work c. community welfare
organization
b. social action d. social group work
13. Livelihood programs like vegetable planting, peanut
butter production, and basket weaving are examples of
____________________.
a. social group work c. social research
b. community welfare organization d. case work

14. Social workers undertakes this activity and use their

findings to better understand their clients and improve their
services.
a. social action c. social research
b. case work d. social group work
15. In this activity, social workers focused particularly on
group experience and help clients develop more socially
acceptable and desirable behavior.
a. social group work c. social action
b. case work d. community welfare
organization.

What’s In

LET’S RECAP!

1. What is social work? Goals and scope?

2. What are the roles of social workers? Areas of
specialization of a social worker?
3. What is the importance of a code of Ethics in a
profession, specifically in social work?

What’s New

Directions: Please answer the question below:

Who do you think are the clientele and audiences of social

work?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
__________________________
Lesson
CLIENTS, SERVICES, AND
1 METHODS IN SOCIAL WORK

What is It

THE CLIENTS OF SOCIAL WORKERS

Social workers deal with individuals, groups or

organization, and communities. They all face different
conditions, and a social worker must help them adapt to
these circumstances.

Individual Clients are usually those who are handicapped

in their financial, personal, or social relationships. They are
all experiencing distress and physical or mental health
issues. They can be victims of rape, maltreatment, bullying,
sexual harassment, failed marriages, and disasters such as
fire, typhoons, and earthquakes. Clients can also include
academically-delinquent students, abused children, and
street children, the elderly, and indigent patients who need
medical assistance.

Groups or organizations may refer to families experiencing

calamities and difficult circumstances, e.g., homelessness
due to fires or typhoons. They can also include groups or
organizations of migrant workers, impoverished families,
persons left in the care of foster homes, prisoners in
correctional institutions, employees who find it difficult to
adjust to their work, or people who have been laid off from
their jobs. Groups may also refer to senior citizens who need
help in making the most out of their retirement and labor
union members who find it difficult to interact and work
with their management.
Communities. These include informal settlers who migrated
from other areas and facing unemployment and other
problems in the city, as well as communities devastated by
natural calamities like typhoons and earthquakes.
Community clients can also include indigenous people like
aetas in Tarlac or those displaced by mining operations in
some parts of the country.

SETTINGS IN SOCIAL WORK

The broad scope of social work enables its
practitioners to thrive in a wide variety of settings. Social
workers are found in the government, the private sector,
civil society, schools, and in communities.

Government. We find social workers in the different

branches of government. Both at the national and local
levels. For instance, they work at the Department of Social
Welfare and Development (DSWD), the executive department
primarily responsible for upholding the social welfare of
Filipinos. Social workers help in the implementation of the
department’s numerous projects e.g., the Pantawid Pamilya
Program, Adoption and Foster Care Program, and gender and
development programs. Social workers also take part in the
International Social Welfare Services for Filipino Nationals
program of the DSWD, which helps migrant Filipinos going
through crises.

Social workers also work in government hospitals such

as the Philippine General Hospital, where they help
accommodate indigent patients and make sure that they
will be served. At the Philippine Red Cross, they are involved
in relief and rescue operations in times of crises. They also
work at the National Penitentiary and the Bureau of
Corrections to provide counselling services to prisoners,
train them in livelihood programs, and prepare them to
become useful members of society once they are released. At
the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, social workers
evaluate financial assistance requests for medical purposes.
Private sector. In private organizations, social workers
often serve as human resource development officers who
facilitate health and wellness programs and help employees
maintain their work-life balance. They also coach company
work teams on productivity, conflict solution, and adapting
to changes in the workplace.

Social workers assist businesses in building

relationships with local communities, promoting corporate
social responsibility. Local communities expect the more
successful private corporations to share or give back to the
communities where they are located.

Social workers are also hired by private hospitals,

medical centers, and rehabilitation centers to help patients
obtain medical assistance and provide continual support
with their particular medical issues.

Motorola, 3M, and Google are examples of

international private companies that hire social workers. In
the Philippines, ABS-CBN, GMA, and San Miguel
Corporation have also recruited social workers.

Civil society. Civil society encompasses organizations

and groups including non-Governmental organizations
(NGOs), charity groups, faith-based and religious groups,
labor unions, and community organizations.
Social workers are employed by civil society
organizations to help deliver social welfare services to
marginalized communities. They participate in relief and
rescue operations during times of crisis and facilitate
psychological debriefing sessions for victims of disasters, so
they can go back to their normal lives. Examples of these
non-governmental organizations are the Ayala Foundation,
Caritas Manila, Gawad Kalinga, ABS-CBN Foundation, GMA
Foundation, Health Action Information Network, and
Philippine Business for Social Progress.

Schools. Both public and private schools employ social

workers who work as teachers or university professors,
researchers, or administrators. Others are employed as
guidance counsellors who help address mental health
concerns, behavioral problems, and academic delinquency
issues. They conduct dialogues with parents, teachers, and
administrators and individual or group counselling therapy.
Social workers also help students get a head start in career
planning.

Community. Social workers usually serve marginalized

communities such as informal settlers and indigenous
people. They work as community organizers and
development specialists in these communities.

Community social workers are also employed by

nonprofit organizations and grassroots organizations to
raise funds, apply for grants, and draw support for
infrastructure and other development projects for
communities recovering from disasters.

SERVICES, PROCESSES, AND METHODS IN SOCIAL

WORK

Social workers engage in various endeavors including

case work, social group work, community welfare
organization, social research, and social action. In pursuing
these endeavors, they perform different activities and
employ various methods to serve their clients.

Case work
In case work, social workers primarily deal with
individuals who struggle in adjusting to life situations and
are in need of outside support (stroup, 1960).These include
victims of bullying, homeless people, and run-aways. A
social worker helps them achieve full recovery toward
becoming productive members of society. Case work
services usually include the following:

Financial and material assistance. Financial or

material assistance to clients are not meant to be dole-outs
but are given to provide immediate help. These are given to
victims of disaster such as typhoons, fires, and
earthquakes. Social workers provide support until they have
regained their confidence to start anew.

Giving advice. Social case workers advice clients to

have courage in dealing with their difficulties and making
decisions independently. However, they do not impose on
their clients.

Securing shelter and care for clients. Securing

shelter and care for clients includes helping in the
construction of temporary homes such as tents and bunk
houses for the victims of typhoons. Social case workers see
to it that clients are cared for in their temporary homes.
Case work also involves housing children in foster homes
after escaping from abusive families.

Improving the conditions of clients. Case work

involves making sure that clients are able to adjust to their
new environment. For instance, children in foster homes are
given lessons in art and music, and are enrolled in
livelihood programs.

Securing information for professionals from other

fields. Social case workers in hospitals, clinics,
rehabilitation centers, and correctional institutions gather
data for doctors or administrators to enable them to
understand the socioeconomic background of their patients.

Social Group work

Like case work, social group work is concerned with

the development of better human relations (stroup1960);
however, it is a particularly focused on group experience.
Social group work helps clients develop more socially
acceptable and desirable behavior. Grace Coyle defines
group work as a voluntary activity involving shared
experiences among the members of a group, and aimed at
bringing about the growth of its members (Coyle, 1939, in
Witmer, 1942). Group work also aims to foster greater
camaraderie among individuals and members of a
community.
 Example of group activities are the teaching of English,
simple mathematics, arts and crafts. Music, drama, poetry,
social dancing, home management, public affairs,
woodcraft, and gardening. Group work activities may also
include the development of reading, writing, and computer
skills.

Community welfare Organization

Community welfare organization focuses on the
establishment of relationship between two or more groups to
improve the community. This social work service is an
aspect of community organization, which involves public and
private agencies in developing the community and
empowering its people.

Community welfare organization involves a number of

activities. Planning involves studying the demographic
profile of the community, surveying its resources, and
assessing its needs. Coordination with public and private
agencies ensures the successful implementation of the
planned intervention programs. It involves exploring joint
financing welfare activities and waging an effective public
relations campaign to help sustain the interest and support
of donors for the implemented programs.

Livelihood programs such as vegetable planting,

peanut butter production, and basket weaving are example
of community welfare projects.

Social research
Social workers undertake research when they perform
case work, group work, and community welfare
organization. They use their findings to better understand
their clients and improve their services. Social research is
done using both qualitative and quantitative methods as
well as tools and methods from other social sciences such
as psychology, sociology, and anthropology.
Social action
This is the concrete action taken by social workers to
gain support for their advocacies from mass media, policy
makers, and government officials. A concrete example of
social action is lobbying for the passage of a proposed bill to
become law. Gawad Kalinga is one group known for social
action. Working with mass media organizations, Gawad
kalinga has encourage a number of donors to support its
advocacies.

What’s More

Activity 1
Directions: Test your knowledge as you answer the
following:
A. Describe the types of clientele of social work and
briefly describe their characteristics and their specific
needs. Use the table below.

Clientele Characteristics Needs

B. Supply what are being asked in the following items.

Write your answers in the space provided.
 A. Give three (3) government settings where social
workers practice.
1.
2.
3.

B. Give two (2) settings in the private sector where

social work is needed.
1.
2.

C. Give two (2) settings in civil society where social

work is needed.
1.
2.

D. Give three (3) schools settings where social workers

practice.
1.
2.
3.

E. Give two (2) community settings where social

workers practice.
1.
2.

Activity 2

Directions: Describe the various types of services,

processes, and methods below:

PROCESSES, SERVICES, ACTIVITIES SOCIAL

AND METHODS WORKER PERFORM
1. CASE WORK
 2. SOCIAL GROUP WORK

3. COMMUNITY WELFARE
ORGANIZATION

4. SOCIAL RESEARCH

5. SOCIAL ACTION

What I Have Learned

Directions: Please reflect on the question below.

1. Who are the clientele and audiences of social work?
2. What are specific needs of the clientele of social work?
3. Describe the processes and methods involved in social
work?

What I Can Do

Directions: Please answer the question below.

1. If you were a social worker, what setting would you

choose? Why would you choose it? Describe the
processes, methods, and tools you expect to utilize in
your chosen setting.
 Additional Activities

1. Have you met a professional social worker? Are you aware of what
he/she does as a practitioner? Visit a barangay hall nearest you
and inquire about their social work services and what their social
workers do on a regular basis.

References
Book sources:

Abadingo, Lourdes E. 2018. Discipline and Ideas in the Applied Social

Sciences. C and E Publishing Inc.

Sampa, Elias M. 2017. Discipline and Ideas in the Applied Social Sciences.
Rex Bookstore