LEADSTAR CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

MA PROGRAM: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

COURSE NAME: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WORK

STUDENT NAME: ANGASA NIGATU

ID NO: MMO/E/62/23

CENTER: MOYALE

Name of Instructor: Mr. Benti. T (Assistance Professor)

April, 04/2024

Moyale, Oromia
 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL WORK 2024

1. List down and explain details of the parallel practice philosophies of Social
Work, their similarities and difference

1. Direct Practice social work: is founded on fundamental belief in the dignity of all
individuals and the assumption that they can improve their lives with the support of
qualified helping professional. Direct practice working with individual and families is
attribute to May Richmond and the charity Organizational society. Direct practice
includes work with individuals, couples, families, and groups. Direct social work
practitioners perform many roles besides delivering face-to-face service; they work in
collaboration with other professionals, organizations, and institutions, and they act as
advocates with landlords, agency administrators, policy-making boards, and
legislatures, among others.

2. Social Reform, Community and policy practice: Social reform is reshaping and
reforming culturally accepted laws and norms in light of new cultural paradigms.
Supplementary this social reform is attribute to Jane Addams and settlement house,
movement one of which was called Hull house in Chicago that:

 Her focus was on helping poor immigrants by living in their communities and
proving a wide array of service, including advocacy social reform.

 Working with grassroots level on social services ( like health, education, )

 Has a spirit of social Entrepreneurship

 She was a progressive social reform and activist.

2. State and discuss the art and science of helping others and it stage of
problem-solving

Social work is defined internationally as: “a practice-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

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respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social
sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to
address life challenges and enhance wellbeing.”

1 Assessment: Assessment is a professional activity in social work. Person centered, accurate

and proportionate assessment helps to ensure that any support offered will truly fit people‟s lives
and circumstances. The assessment process should recognize that people are experts about their
own lives and the outcomes they wish to achieve. Information held by others, including in other
agencies and disciplines, may also be crucial.

Good assessment must include:

A. adequately assessing people‟s strengths, needs, risks and circumstances

B. listening to people‟s own accounts of their situation

C. assisting people to identify what would help them build on their strengths, abilities and
achievements

D. assisting people to identify the outcomes they wish to achieve

E. working with others to gather information and informed opinion relevant to the assessment

F. analyzing the nature, level, urgency and implications of any risks identified

G. assessing the balance of people‟s rights and responsibilities in relation to risks

2. Planning: within social work is about finding creative ways to achieve outcomes – not
matching people to traditional services and not creating dependency on services. Solutions may
be found within people themselves, their personal networks, the wider community and by
exploring what tailor made support might look like. Planning for positive outcomes must
include:

a. supporting people to understand the planning process and their rights and responsibilities in it

b. working with people to agree the outcomes in the plan and how they will be measured

c. exploring with people a range of possible solutions and their feasibility

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d. building on strengths and encouraging aspiration, choice and decision making

3. Intervening to achieve change: Social workers require knowledge of a range of evidence-

based interventions. Different interventions will be needed for different situations and the choice
explained, when necessary. Your chosen intervention should include:

a. a clear rationale

b. a focus on prevention and enabling people to maintain independence, health and well-being

c. positive and informed risk management

d. a plan for reflecting on and monitoring progress

4. Resources: You must confirm with people the planned outcomes which require resources.
You must carry out any actions required of you to secure resources – and keep people informed
of progress or any problems. You must be open and honest about resource constraints. If there is
a dispute, you should inform people of their rights and relevant processes. You must be mindful
of your responsibility to make effective use of limited resources.

5. Review and evaluation: You must work with others to review and evaluate the outcomes of
practice for people, as appropriate. This should include reviewing the assessment and progress
on outcomes with the person, as well as the effectiveness of resources.

6. Records and reports: People have a right to expect that information about them is recorded
and reported accurately and used appropriately. You must ensure that legal and agreed policies
and procedures for completing records and reports are adhered to by you.

3. Mention the social work methods and Areas, or the method of social work
to the point

A method is well understood to be an orderly way of procedure and therefore it is always carried
out towards achievement of a specific aim. Social work methods is such method that social
workers use to help people of all ages and from various sections of society to enhance their
social functioning and to cope more effectively with their problems. Social workers don‟t pick
and choose what problems and issues they would like to address. They see a problem even a very

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difficult problem, and try to help people solve it. They must prepare themselves to help people
with individualized personal problems on the one hand and very broad problems that affect
whole organizations and communities on the other.

1. Social Case Work

Social case work is one of the methods of social work which is being practiced by social workers
across the globe. It is one of the primary methods that enable the social functioning of
individuals.

It is a method which is based on one to one relationship. A method is well understood to be an

orderly way of procedure and therefore it is always carried out towards achievement of a specific
aim. „Social case work consists of those processes which develop personality through
adjustments consciously effected, individual by individual, between men and their social
environment‟ with their problems.

2. Social Group Work

According to Reid (1997) the purpose of group work is to help improve the well being of the
members and relieve personal suffering. This is accomplished 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 is used in all settings of
social work. The group work method is well accepted by social workers as a foundation method
that helps towards improvement of social functioning of individuals. It is a method that uses
groups as a medium of action. A method is well understood to be an orderly way of procedure
and therefore it is always carried out towards achievement of a specific aim. Group work is one
such method that social workers use to help people of all ages and all sections of society to
enhance their social functioning and to cope more effectively with their problems.

4. Social Action

It‟s an organized group process solving general social problems & furthering social welfare
objectives by legislative, social, health or economic progress. The term social action refers to
organized & legally permitted activities designed to mobiles public opinion, legislation & public
administration in favor of objectives believed to be socially desirable.

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5. Social Research

Every profession must systematically carry out high quality research about its practices if its
performance in the service of clientele is to remain effective and up to date. Research offers
numerous tools to professional social workers to describe, define, measure and evaluate their
work. (a) A description of the situation our clients come from and a description of the complex
phenomenon that impact upon the lives of our clients are important. It may be a description of
the strengths and potentialities of our clients. (b) With use of research we learn to define the
concepts we use in social work in an accurate and consistent way. (c) We follow this with
measurement of the phenomenon.

5. Social Welfare Administration

Social welfare administration has twin concepts of social welfare and administration embedded
in it. Thus it requires an understanding of welfare and its origins as well as administration as a
tool for achieving welfare. Administration as a part of governance is as old as society itself.
People in a society have inherently tried to take care of destitute and underprivileged individuals
either because of benevolence or because of religious and customary obligations. As governance
systems evolved, with the changing political and social systems, there was an effort to
institutionalize welfare.

6. Community Organization

Community organization is the process of planning & developing social services in order to meet
the health & welfare needs of a community or larger unit. Mildred Barry says,” Community
organization in social work is the process of creating & maintaining a progressively more
effective adjustment between community resources & community welfare needs.

4. Explain Areas /Field/ setting / application of social work, research such as

social work theory, social work practicum, and social work professions

Social Work Theory: Refers to Various systems created to help understanding and explain
human behavior. They were develop over time, incorporating knowledge from professional
within a variety of disciplines including psychological and sociology.

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Social work practicum: is form of community service that occurs under the direct supervision
of a social worker in social service agency. Agencies are specifically choosen to provide students
the opportunity to engage in direct social work practice experiences with individuals, families,
groups, organizations, and communities.

Social work profession: is profession in which trained professionals are devoted to helping
vulnerable people and communities work through challenges they face in every day life.

5. Explain the roles of social work.

Social work simply put, is a term which usually understood to refer the occupational activities of
the social work professional. The Role/function of work refers to the natural activity of Social
work or the statement of how social work operates to assist individuals in adjusting to the
institutional frame work of the society. The Development of social work plays an important role
in the current context of Viet name:

a) Is able to alleviate poverty.

b) Address social problem effectively

c) Promote greater social justice and equality.

d) Responding to other complicated problems assistance for vulnerable people.

e) Strengthen the capacity of existing untrained social work “Para-professionals” within

community and institutional setting, in order for them to provide more professional
and effective social work service.

f) Improve professional social work services and social

g) Increase multi-directional partnership between international, national, regional, and

local efforts.

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