Social and welfare work implies helping people tackle the problems they face in their daily lives. These problems could relate to mental or physical handicaps old age problems, mental disharmony conflicts with law, unemployment, destitution etc.
As new problems are generated in the complex urban lifestyles the need for social and welfare workers has increased. These workers attempt to alleviate and prevent social problems or suffering caused by illness, poverty, maladjustment, crisis in family or at work, antisocial behaviour, constricted lifestyle etc. In India this is an emerging profession, multinational influences, complexities of every day life, neo nuclear families have generated complex day to day problems. The growing incidence of handicaps both physical and mental and psychological stress, delinquency all call for persons who can work on the front line to alleviate and relieve tensions and sufferings.
The study of social work is a broad one. It encompasses subjects such as sociology, psychology, human growth and development , marriage and family, economics, education, biology, criminology etc. Social work then is a practical application of this knowledge to such problems as mentioned earlier.
There’s much more to social work than charity. It’s another exciting field which is showing signs of steady growth. Hundreds of voluntary organisations have mushroomed in the past few years and are offering a vast job market. The whole concept of social service has undergone a sea change. It is no longer a matter of charity or compassion. The growing awareness that it is a professional discipline is drawing young people to it. There are specialist social work professionals who deal with cases pertaining to AIDS, Leprosy awareness, drug abuse, care for the elderly, disability, skill development etc. More than 200 societies are registered every day , a large percentage being NGOs.
Nature of Work
Social work goes on at three major levels. These are the individual level, also known as case work, group work and community or organization work. Social workers are generally engaged in activities undertaken by agencies in any of these areas.
Working with individual client on a case involves face to face contact with the individual or family, joint meetings in the office, home visits, work in a hospital or work with children at home, school or special institutions. Group work goals are generally rehabilitative in nature or at times aim at recreation. Generally group work involves working with special groups e.g the old, handicapped, people from similar socio economic groups, workers, delinquents etc.
Community work involves analysing problems of the whole community and finding possible solutions. It may involve community education or soliciting cooperation from the whole community. Generally a social worker has to work at almost all the 3 levels. The agency or organization with which the social worker is working generally determines the nature of work.
School social work
Social workers who work with schools work with students, teachers and parents. The major role a social worker plays is to bridge the gap between the school and the home with an effort to get the best for the child. Education, counselling and advocacy are important aspects of school, social work. They educate school students for the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse, sex related problems and diseases etc. and provide family life education.
Social workers counsel students facing problems of disabilities, addiction, emotional deprivation and abuse. They manage truancy and maladjustment among children. School social workers organize community programmes for students to develop in them the qualities of helpfulness and care. Sometimes social workers make referrals to other agencies particularly to help children and parents facing critical problems.
Medical social work
Medical social workers are found in cancer hospitals and in departments where critically ill are admitted. While in the West most hospitals employ social workers, in India this concept has to catch on yet. Coming to terms with a permanent disability or restricted mobility is difficult. A social worker is trained to work with seriously ill and with bereaved families. Counselling and practical assistance is given to the patients and their family.
Psychiatric social work
There are two main work settings for psychiatric social work: child guidance clinics and psychiatric units or hospitals. In child guidance clinics a team consisting of social workers, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists work with disturbed children and adolescents.
Most of the referrals come from medical practitioners and generally include those with behavioral problems, phobia, maladjusted teenagers, withdrawal cases and children with learning problems causing them to lag behind in school work or to play truant. The social worker makes an assessment of the social factors contributing to the problem by getting involved with the whole family to offer family therapy and other kinds of intervention. In some cases they liaise with teachers, and educational psychologists.
In a psychiatric hospital, social workers meet various different client groups. Patients could be old people suffering from senile dementia or depression or those suffering from psychological problems. They help the psychiatrist assess a new re feral, work out what the problem is and what has led up to it, while doing the case sheet writing. They also continue to work as facilitators in the treatment process.
Community social work
Community social workers specialise in working with groups who have a common problem, e.g., those facing problems of bad housing, unemployment, lack of local facilities, or minority group issues within the community. Community social workers initiate or support remedial action and use their knowledge, professional contacts and the resources they can summon to help a group, tackle problems. Social workers work towards influencing social policy at times and towards resources for the underprivileged. They can work in urban and rural areas and even with international or national organizations.
Child care/family services
Child care services include day care centres and child care homes. Social workers handle situations related to children from infancy to adulthood. With families they are equipped to handle problems related to different cultures and services for children with congenital disabilities.
Gerontological social work
This branch deals with care of old people. Old peoples homes requires gerontological social workers. In the area of AIDS also care of old people is becoming a growing problem.
Criminology and correctional social work
Prisons, reformatories, remand homes, crime and delinquent prevention programmes exist in every country. Crime and delinquency needs to be prevented. Social workers are trained to work in these areas largely to create a positive social climate for prevention of antisocial behaviours.
Labour welfare and industrial relations
Social workers, today, form an integral part of the labour welfare section of personnel departments in industries and commercial organizations. In private as well as public sector enterprises employee’s welfare is a major concern for maintaining a healthy industrial climate. Social workers work with personnel managers to achieve this goal.
Research
Social workers carry on social research. Social workers in India are researching for tribal welfare, for investigating human suffering after Bhopal gas tragedy or following the Latur earthquake etc.
Social Entrepreneurship
Social Entrepreneurship is a comparatively new concept in India. Harvard, Stanford, John F Kennedy School of Government introduced formal programmes in Social Entrepreneurship. In London ,School of Social Entrepreneurs offers an 8 week course in fund raising, marketing and accounting. In US 6 alumni of Stanford Graduate School floated a non profit organisation ‘ Start Up”
In India, the newly-established National Foundation for Innovation in Ahmedabad (under the Department of Science & Technology) is being projected as a breeding ground for the ‘unsung heroes’. The foundation rewards grass root innovators; trains them in principles of marketing; looks for commercial/ non-commercial outlets for these small projects and generally helps them move-up the value-chain.
The Ashoka Programme - Drayton, developed the ‘venture capital’ approach to social problems. He established ‘Ashoka; Innovators for the Public’, a non-profit foundation based in Arlington, VA. The foundation has backed more than 1,000 Ashoka Fellows in 34 countries, running its longest programme in India with 170 Fellows over the last two decades.
The foundation, which has support from Rockefeller Brothers Fund, MacArthur Foundation Fund MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, besides influential private donors, typically gives a three-year living stipend to the Fellow depending on his/ her needs and the local salary standards. There is no bar on age, sex, educational qualification, cultural or linguistic attributes. The stipend though small, allows Ashoka fellows to pull out of their studies/ jobs and devote themselves full-time to their projects.
The foundation also runs a support network for young people called ‘Youth Venture’ for school or community-level projects. This group puts them in touch with senior Fellows who mentor them and share their business techniques and expertise with the younger lot.
Global programmes - ‘Centre for Social Entrepreneurs’ in Sao Paulo is a joint venture between Ashoka and Mckinsey. The centre enables Mckinseyites to work pro bono with Ashoka Fellows and give them behind-the-scenes strategic advice on how to make a project viable. The Environmental Innoviations Initiative (EII) and the Innovative Learning Initiative (ILI) helps define emerging globally applicable principles in these two fields. Ashoka’s changemakers.net is the web’s only portal and e-zine on social entrepreneurship.
