BSW C1 FOUNDATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORK

Unit I An Introduction to Social Work

Chapter No.1 : Social Work : Concept, Meaning, Definitions, Objectives,
Goals and Functions, Introduction to the methods of Social Work.
Chapter No. 2 : Social Work : Nature and Philosophy: Democratic,

Chapter No. 3 : Historical development of Social Work in UK, USA, India and
Karnataka
Chapter No.4: Emergence of Social Work Education in India and Karnataka
Unit II Principles, Values and Ethics of Social Work
Chapter No. 5 : Principles of Social Work
Chapter No. 6 : Guiding Principles of Social Work and their applications in
diverse socio-cultural settings
Chapter No. 7:Assumptions,Values and Code of Ethics (NASW) of Social
Work
Chapter No. 8: Professional v/s Voluntary Approaches to Social Work
Unit III Social Work Profession in India
Chapter No.9: Profession: Meaning, Definitions and Attributes
Chapter No.10: Professionalization of Social Work in Indian Scenario
Chapter No.11: Social Work Profession : Issues and Challenges
Chapter No.12: Perspectives of Social Work Profession in Indian context
Unit IV Approaches, Ideologies and Fields of Social Work
Chapter No.13: Social Work and its Relation to Human Rights and Social
Justice
Chapter No.14: Ideology of Action Groups and Social Movements
Chapter No.15: Contemporary ideologies of Social Work and Social Change
Chapter No. 16 : Fields of Social Work Community Development,
Correctional Settings, Medical and Psychiatric Social Work, Family, Women and
Child centered Social Work, Industrial Social Work, Social Work with
Marginalized Sections of the Society

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 UNIT I
AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WORK
Social Work : Concept, Meaning
Social work is a problem-solving profession that is committed to improve the
quality of human life by imparting various intervention techniques and strategies
which are scientifically proved and artistically applied. Social work is a
profession primarily concerned with the remedy to psycho-social problems and
deficiencies which exists in the relationship between the individual and his social
environment. This phenomenon always existed in the society in one form or the
other, but achieved its scientific basis in the last decades of 19th century.
People in distress, destitution and deprivation have been helped in the past
by individuals joint families, caste communities, religious institutions motivated

salvation, humanism, philanthropy, humanitarian feeling, democratic ideology,

including the indigents, the handicapped, the unemployed, emotionally

challenged and above all, those in need. The charitable work taken up by
individuals and some voluntary organizations came to be termed as social work
in the due course of time. The most frequently seen misconception about social
work is that people mistake charity, alms giving and voluntary activities as social
work, but this in reality is not social work, as it does not provide any permanent

problems by himself. Social work aims at making a person self-dependent and

self-reliant. It attempts to explore the casual factors behind the problem and tries
to solve them scientifically.
The social life of the modern world is characterized by numerous problems.
The consumeristic and profit-oriented approaches of the present society bring
about drastic consequences in social life. Problems like isolation, poverty,
unemployment, migration, family disintegration, sexual violence, atrocities

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against women, suicide, substance abuse, communalism, terrorism, child
abuse etc. are on the increase. Solution to these problems on a scientific basis
is essential to ensure peaceful social life.
Many people give alms to solve problems like poverty and unemployment.
We have been practising these types of charity for centuries to help the poor and
vulnerable, still the problems exist. These activities provide only temporary
solutions to their problems. The complexity and magnitude of such problems in
modern times demand systematic approaches. Professional social work makes
people independent rather than dependent. When it was observed that the
problems require scientific approaches for the proper and effective management,
a new system of scientific intervention came into existence, i.e., social work.
Basically, social work is a helping activity which adopts scientific and
systematic approaches to address the issues of individuals, groups and
communities and it empowers the society. It is the only profession which
studies social problems, its origin, interrelation etc. and provides systematic
solution to such problems. Hence, the present-day social life demands a
scientific and professional approach to solve social problems.
Social work, as a profession and scientific discipline, is of recent origin.
Common men are not aware of the significance of social work. A Social Worker
is a trained person who receives remuneration for his services like any other
professions. Social work is a helping activity which aims at enabling
individuals, families, groups and communities to become self-reliant. Social
work is based on certain principles and philosophy that help to practise it with
scientific knowledge and skills. It requires education and training for any
person to practise it.
Therefore, it is visualized that social work is scientific process for helping to
the needy suffering from material deficiencies, physical disabilities, mental
disorders, emotional disturbances and so on by using knowledge in human
relationship and methods and skills in dealing with them. Speaking in a nut shell,

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social work intended to assist individuals, families, social groups and
communities in sorting out their personal and social problems and permanently
solving those problems through a systematic process.
Social work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve
the quality of life and well-being of an individual, group or community.
Intervention at individual, group and community level is undertaken in
social work.
Relationship is the key tool of social work.
It promotes study, diagnosis, research and resource mobilization.

We can introduce social work through the Chinese proverb "Give a man a
fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed

for a job is of greater benefit than a one-off hand out.

Social work in its various forms addresses the multiple, complex
transactions between people and their environments.
Its mission is to enable all people to develop their full potential, enrich their
lives, and prevent dysfunction.
Professional social work is focused on problem solving and development.
Social workers are agents of change in society and in the lives of
individuals, families and communities they serve. Social work is an
interrelated system of theory and practice.
Definition of Social Work
According to Walter.A.Friedlander (1955),
service based on scientific knowledge and skill in human relation, which assists
the individuals alone or in groups, to obtain social and personal satisfaction and
This definition of Friedlander is considered as one of the most
comprehensive definitions of social work. According him, social work is a

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profession like other professions, through which a trained social worker with
scientific knowledge and outlook in handling human relations, helps individuals
and groups to have social and personal satisfaction.
Stroup (1960)
on individual, group and community needs by the application of a scientific
his definition Stroup gave a
different look to social work saying it an art. He said that it is an art of bringing
the people into the position where they themselves will be able to solve their
problems.
According to Indian Conference of Social work (1957),
welfare activity based on humanitarian philosophy, scientific knowledge and
technical skills for helping the individual, group or community to live a rich and

According to International Federation of Social Workers - IFSW (2014),

-based profession and an academic discipline that
promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment
and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective
responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned
by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous
knowledges, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges
and enhance wellbeing. The above definition may be amplified at national and/or

According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), social work

Objectives of Social Work

Objectives in general are the statements or formulations of what we are trying to
do. In social work an objective implies to the statement expressing what social

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work is trying to do or what we as professionals are trying to do in social work
for accomplishing the task of social work.
Objectives prescribed by the social work scientists
Witmer prescribed two objectives of social work such as
To give assistance to individuals while removing difficulties which they
face in utilizing basic services of the society and
To facilitate effective utilization of community resources for their welfare.
Friedlander gave three objectives of social work i.e.
To change in painful situation of individuals,
To develop the constructive forces both within and around the individual
and
To enhance the democratic and humanistic behaviour of the individual.
Gordon Brown has given four objectives of social work such as:
to provide physical or material support
to help in social adjustment,
to help in solving the psychological problems and
to make adequate opportunities for the individuals in problems for raising
their standard of living which can prevent problems from intruding.
Generic objectives of social work:
These are generally and universally accepted objectives of social work which
basically try:
To solve psycho-social problems
To fulfill humanitarian needs like love, affection, care, etc.
To solve adjustmental problems
To create self-sufficiency
To make and strengthen harmonious social relations
To make provision of corrective and recreational services
To develop democratic values among the people

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 To provide opportunities for development and social progress
To conscientize/educate the community

development
To bring change in the defective social system for social development and
To provide socio-legal aid to the needy who cannot afford to meet them.
If we critically synthesize all the objectives given above, we can compress them
just into two statements such as:
1. Enabling the individual and his impaired being so as to make him fit to live a
self-sufficient and satisfied life and
2. Modifying his social environment in his for so that it becomes conducive for
him to live happy and adequate life.
Goals of social work
The ultimate goal of social work is to enhance the well-being and level of
functioning for all people and to create positive social change by improving social
conditions and creating more humane practices and policies for vulnerable
populations.
The goal of social work is to reduce suffering by solving people's problems.
People have psychosocial problems with regard to their physical and
mental health. Apart from this, adjustment problems-in children and adults
can be dealt with separately.
Social work enhances social functioning of individuals, groups and
families by providing recreational services to the public, and by a judicious
use of leisure time, can prevent delinquency and crime in the society.
Social work helps the individual in bringing about a change in the
environment in favour of his growth and development.

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 Social work provides democratic ideas and encourage the development of
good interpersonal relations, resulting in proper adjustments with the
family and neighbourhood.
It works for social justice through legal aid.
It also promotes social justice through the development of social policy.
Social work improves the operation of social service delivery network as
well.
Functions of Social Work
Function of social work refers to the natural activity of social work or the
statements of how social work operates. According to Prof. 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.
2.Correctional Function
The correctional function of social work has three broad areas, such as:
a) Individual reform service which includes prison reform, probation, parole
and other related services.
b) Services for improving social relationship which includes family welfare
services, school social work, industrial social work etc.
c) Services for social reform that includes employment services, prevention of
commercial sex work, beggary prohibition services and removal of untouchability
etc.

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3.Preventive Function:
It includes life insurance services, public assistance, social legislation, adult
education and prevention of diseases etc. This type of function basically 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.
4.Developmental Function
Developmental function 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.
The basic functions of social work can be divided in 3 broad interdependent and
interrelated categories, viz;
1. Restoration of social functioning
2. Provision of resources and
3. Prevention of social dysfunction.
1. The restoration of impaired social functioning is the oldest and most commonly
known function of social work profession. This function is subdivided into
curative and rehabilitative aspects. The curative aspects are to eliminate
environmental factors that have caused break down of social functioning of
individuals, groups or communities and the role of the rehabilitative aspects is to
recognize and rebuild interaction patterns in the society. As mentioned earlier,
social work tries to intervene at the point where the individual interacts with his
environment. The environmental factors hindering the functioning of a person
may be social, economic, political or cultural. This function emphasizes at
problem solving through modification in the psycho-social environment of
individual and groups and through bringing about changes in the attitude of

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recipients of the services. Therefore, if a person becomes dysfunctional due to
any of the above-mentioned environmental factors, the first task at hand will be

damage caused by the dysfunction and strategies are devised to rehabilitate the
person socially and bring him back to the normal mainstream.
2. Provision of Resources is further subdivided into developmental and
educational. The developmental aspects are designed to extend effectiveness of
existing social, human and material resources or to bring about full utilization
personal capacity for more social interaction. The educational functions are
designed to make the public aware about specific conditions and needs for new
and changing resources and approaches.
3. The prevention of social dysfunction involves early detection, control and
elimination of conditions and situations that could obstruct effective social
functioning. The main two divisions are preventions of problems in the area of
human interaction (individuals and groups) and secondly, prevention of social ills.
Although it is a very important function of social work, it is neglected in most
situations. Social work has generally concentrated on the curative and
rehabilitative function and has worked on the problem-solving model. However,
keeping in the mind the rapidly changing social scenario, it has become
imperative to adopt the preventive approach to social work. The profession should
ensure that problems are neither created nor eliminated at the very beginning. For
this function the social workers play a crucial role of conscientization, capacity
building and organizing people so that they themselves can prevent social
dysfunctions.
In the present-day context, social work has to emphasize on the aspects of change.
It is increasingly being realized that the main cause of dysfunction lies not with
the people but with the systems within which they operate. Either the people do
not get and environment or resources required for proper social functioning or
they do not have access to the resources to fulfill their needs. Therefore, there is

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a need to challenge and change the system so that people get a favourable
environment to function. In a nutshell, it can be said that the function of social
work should shift from a status quo service oriented approach to change oriented
development approach.
Introduction to the methods of Social Work.
Generally, method implies to systematic way of doing something. In social work,
method is understood as the systematic and planned way of helping the people.
The main concern of social work is to solve psycho-social problems of
individuals, groups and communities through the conscious application of
knowledge in methods, tools, techniques and skills of social work. In this task,
the social worker has to be equipped with all the necessary methods of social work
that ease his work to help the people in solving their own problems.
Social work as a professional practice mainly uses the following methods while
accomplishing its objectives:
1) Social case work
2) Social group work
3) Community Organization
4) Social work research
5) Social welfare administration
6) Social action
The first three of the methods given above are known as the primary or direct
methods. These are direct and primary in the sense that they are directly applied
in the field situation among the people to solve their problems. These methods are
involved to solve the problems at the grass-
intervention. The last three are known as secondary or indirect methods,
because they are involved indirectly by some specialized agencies or a set of
organized people. Unlike the primary methods, these methods generally operate
at the secondary levels but not with the people directly. These are those methods

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which are intended to support the primary methods. Here, the social worker
m.
1. Social case work:
It is primary method of social work. It deals with individual problems through
one-to-one relationship which is guided by professional knowledge of the social
case worker. Under method the social case worker attempts to repair the impaired
relationship of the client with his social environment and through a guided
interaction he/she enables the client to adapt with his/her social environment.
Through this method the case worker discovers different aspects of the clients
problem, prepares an appropriate treatment plan and finally with professional
knowledge in social relationship tries to bring about necessary changes in the
attitude and behaviour of the client in favour of his own growth and development.
This is the oldest method of social work practice. Its origin is traced to work
titution in the
society with a firm belief that a balanced family will produce balanced individuals

that helps an individual solve his/her psycho-social problems. It assists

individuals to adjust to their environment in a more satisfying way. One of its first

develop personality through adjustments consciously effected, individual by

individual, between
An individual is involved in the problem as s/he is unable to deal with it on
his/her own, because of reasons beyond his/her control. His/her anxiety
sometimes temporarily makes him/her incapable of solving it. In any case, his/her
social functioning is disturbed. The case worker gets information regarding the

professional relationship tries to bring about a change in the perception and

attitudes of the client.

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 Social case work encompasses a whole array of activities. Social casework
enables an individual to obtain a higher level of social functioning through an
interpersonal transaction or face-to-face or person-to-person encounter. The
caseworker helps the client to act in order to achieve some personal/social goals
by utilizing the available resources in terms of strength of personality of the client,
his social system or material provisions available in the community and/or
agency. Cas
(as tools) to inject strengths in the person to enable him to move more satisfyingly
in the social situation he finds difficult to deal with.
The principles of social work guide case work practice and its objective is
to develop resources to enhance social functioning, to remedy and prevent
problems in social functioning. In social case work the worker-client relationship
is characterized by mutual acceptance- Rapport. It has four basic components:
person, problem, place and process (study, diagnosis, treatment, evaluation,
termination and follow-up). According to Perlman (1952), every social case work
model utilizes techniques and theories from psychosocial treatment, functional
casework, problem-solving, crisis oriented short term casework, task centered
casework, and behavior modification. Social case work is basically a one-on-one
interaction with clients. Activities in social case work practice include but are not
limited to the following:
Counseling a runaway youth
Helping an unemployed person secure training or employment
Counseling someone who is suicidal
Placing a homeless and vulnerable child to adoptive or foster home
Counselling a teenage pregnant girl
Counselling someone with an alcohol or drug problem
Finding nursing home for a stroke victim who no longer needs
hospitalization

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 Protective services to a person facing family violence/abuse
2. Social group work
Social group work is another primary method of social work. It is a process in
which the individuals in a social group are helped by a professionally qualified
worker, who guides their interaction through planned programme activities so that
they may be able to relate themselves with others and find growth opportunities
in accordance with their needs and capacities towards the noble end of individual
group and community development. In this method the group worker uses the
group as a potential tool for the positive change and personality development of
individuals. In group work individuals in the group are most important and all
programme activities revolve around their needs for development. Through the
group work process, they are helped to improve their relationship and personality
traits which may help them to develop themselves and their community as whole.

experience and social life. They allow people to develop more complex and
larger-scale activities; are significant sites of socialization and education; and
provide settings where relationships can form and grow, and where people can
find help and support. Groups can be highly rewarding to their members and to
society as a
that people are enriched by interpersonal experiences structured around
collectively defined goals, satisfying peer relationships, and shared decision-
.
A group can be natural or it can be formed by people. Natural groups are
those groups that developed in an unexplained way or in the natural cause of
event. Examples include, a family, a tribe, a class. Formed groups are those that
were consciously created in order to deal with specific circumstances that are of
interest and of concern to several or many people. Social work with groups
represents a broad domain of direct social work practice.

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 Social workers work with a variety of groups in all settings in which social
work is practiced. Social group work method was introduced during the first
quarter of this century. It emerged at a time when there was a renewed dichotomy
within the profession between social workers who primarily regarded the cause
of social problems as those within people and others who located these causes
primarily within the social situations in which people with problems were living.
During the first twenty years of this century, while the agencies developing social
casework services continued to devote the larger proportion of their time to
working with people on an individual-by-individual basis, there was an increasing
. The
premise is that no man is an island and no human being lives in isolation as man
is in constant interaction with various groups in his environment. Social work
with groups represents a broad domain of direct social work practice.
Types of groups
Basically, social workers work with three types of groups: the social action and
the support/remedial/therapeutic/treatment group, and reciprocal group.
Social action group:
These groups are primarily used by social workers to bring about social change
in the society. A social action group may be established for the purpose of
accomplishing specific tasks, carrying out goals of an organization, changing a
law or policy or developing a new programme.
Support/Remedial/therapeutic/ treatment group:
These are usually formed in order to solve emotional or behavioral problems. In
remedial groups the members have common problems, and the role of the social
worker in such a group is to bring about treatment using professional skills and
techniques. A lot of social work practice with groups fall within this domain.
Various types of support group exist. Some groups provide support for very
specific types of loss, illness, or life adjustment. And this could include the
following: bereavement/grief counseling, medical support, weight loss, mental

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health/illness support, family support, life transitions, addiction support groups,
etc.
Reciprocal groups:
There are groups where members come together for mutual exchange of ideas and
information. Usually, members may not have problems per se but may share a
common interest. And so, by coming together they exchange support with one
another, and also share information about the issue that is of interest to them.
Example of reciprocal groups may include mothers that have children with sickles
anaemia, women whose husbands have a terminal disease, parents with adopted
children. These are facilitated by lay persons, and usually have a set meeting time
(generally weekly or monthly), and an open format. The open format allows
members to feel some degree of anonymity, and to participate as they are
comfortable. For some people, simply attending meetings and listening to the
experiences of others can be helpful.
According to Louise and Stephen (2011), different forms of problems that
can be handled using group work include:
Problems relating to addiction
Addiction is a big problem in our society today. People can be addicted to various
substances such as alcohol and drugs. people can also be addicted to sex,
gambling, food, etc. Social workers believe that some of these problems cannot
be handled on a one-on-one basis. You need to bring people that have similar
problems together to share experiences and by so doing you can find solutions to
the problems.
Problem relating to loss or bereavement
Social workers work with people that have experienced one form of loss or the
other. For instance, those who have lost a child, spouse, siblings, etc., in this case
consoling each other and adjusting to coping strategies will be much easier as
they find themselves in similar situations. Other problems that warrant group
treatment could be: problems relating to unemployment, problems relating to

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reading and understanding, problems relating to HIV/AIDS, problems relating to
disability .
In group work individuals are important and they are helped to improve
their social relationships, with flexible programmes, giving importance to the
personality development of the individual in group functioning and relationships.
The group is the medium and through it and in it, individuals are helped to make
necessary changes and adjustments. The purpose of group work is to help
improve the well-being of the members and relieve personal suffering. This
is because groups have the power to enhance problem-solving capacity, prevent
the development of serious social problems, and restore and maintain the social
functioning of members.
Group work can be used in all settings of social work as it is directed
towards bringing about desired changes at the individual, group and community
levels. The social worker assists the members of a group develop capacities and
potentialities. The leadership qualities and personality of the group members are
developed by organizing programmes.
The growth and development of the group members are promoted in social
group work. Social group work often goes with a combination of casework
because the social worker intervenes with clients in some cases one on one. It can
be used in many agencies and programmes. It could be used in public schools for
adolescents who are in correctional institutions/drug offenders, unmarried
teenage pregnant girls, mental health stings, rehabilitation centers, home for the
elderly, community members and in fact any setting where individuals come
together with similar problems requiring the assistance of a social worker.
The following are advantages of group work:
self-
awareness, reality assessment and acquisition of constructive societal
values to aid in realizing chosen life goals

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