NATURE
Social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments where empowerment and liberation from human rights violation, injustice and indifference are given priority. According to Supervision in Social Casework (1936), social work is an informative process in which an individual equipped with knowledge and skills takes the accountability for helping less equipped individuals. These people aims to be catalysts for change with and on behalf of the others with whom they work with (Healy, 2014). They put an emphasis on involving themselves and the clients who are acquiring their services to the learning experience of problem-solving, and coping capabilities (Irvine, Molyneux & Gillman, 2015).
Social workers deal with a wide range of clients. They usually interact and communicate with the clients, the clients’ families, the communities, the private sectors, the institutions and organizations, the government and the society itself. With this, their purpose serves as a big umbrella in protecting these people from the harm of either extreme sunlight or risky rainfall. However, the established nature of practice changes over time. These contexts are constantly changing because of the existence of social, economic and political alterations and modifications (Healy, 2014). There are a lot of innovations present in the society that a mobile phone, for example, becomes a necessity for other people in terms of communications. The changing status of the economy of a country affects the social workers on how to deal with the supply and demand of the needs of the people. Furthermore, the government, as well as the regulatory bodies that lie within, provides new policies and legislation.
Even though one of the main responsibilities of social workers is to deal with the struggles of their clients, they should still preserve and respect the autonomy of the person. They are not simply engrossed to the decision-making but they take into consideration the cultural and social aspects within of both parties (Johns, 2016). With this, social work serves as an instrument to identify the moral status of every individual while understanding how they make sense in every case as well.
FUNCTIONS/ ROLES
Helping people find solution to their problems is the most common role of a social worker in the society based on daily observation of an ordinary person. Often, people can see these professionals in slum areas, talking mostly to the unprivileged and the marginalized citizens. However, this certain role is only a part of the huge responsibility that they play in one’s life. First, they can be considered as teachers also, not in an academic way but in a more realistic approach. They are in-charge in information processing on how can someone improve his or her life. Taking into account some programs already present today, social workers impart knowledge on the different livelihood programs such as bag making made out of recycled materials, baking lessons and dishwashing and fabric conditioner making that purok mothers can adapt.
Second, social workers are facilitators in developing an organization or an institution through their plans and their actions. They are like hollow blocks that give a strong foundation in building a better venue for empowerment. In reality, this role is mostly manifested at homes of charity. St. Maria De Mattias Center Incorporated, for example, the social workers are the one in-charge in promoting positive changes for both the clients and the staffs. They should not settle for less in terms of the welfare of these children because it is their duty to uphold the growth and improvement of each one of them. Similar to the second role, social workers are the ones who mediate in creating relationships within the place covered. They can be the one responsible for establishing the connections especially between themselves and the clients, the clients and the family members and etc.
Fourth, social workers also conduct research within their capacities. This is to ensure that the services they provide is up-to-date. Research is important to take into consideration the changes that happen in the world. In this way, social workers can fully meet the needs and wants of their clients. Fifth, having a background for the significance of mental health, social workers are counselors too. They guide a person in dealing with life events that sometimes create stress for them. For example, an abused child may seek help and support from a social worker. With this, he or she should assist the client in surviving this crisis.
Sixth, social worker can be identified as an activist in inspiring other people to take social action. They are promoters of social justice and of the importance of every right an individual should have. Furthermore, they communicate with other sectors, private and public, to join in changing at least the community.
AREA OF SPECIALIZATION
Indeed, the oversimplification about social workers as "charity people" is way overrated.They are not just confined in the act of giving donations or doing charity. In fact, there are several areas of specialization where a social worker can be an expert which are as follows:
A. Family and Child Welfare
Social workers in this specialization are related to family issues such as divorce, abuse, financial problem and the likes. Likewise, this specialization also encompasses works involved in improving the safety and welfare of children such as working on issues like adoption, foster, child abuse.They may work in child protective agencies assigned in monitoring the well-being, safety, and health of children. Similarly, family and child welfare social workers work with families in communities to draw on protective factors as a means to build capacity in the social environment.
B. School Social Work
Primarily, school social workers provide assessments, intervention, and counseling to students throughout their educational life as they progress through primary, elementary, high school and even college. School social workers attend to the needs of the students such as academic problem, emotional distress, physical disabilities, coping mechanism disturbances, school adjustment, career or courses choices and behavioral management. All in all, school social workers are present in order to help students perform best in school and reach their highest potential in terms of academic.
C. Health Social Work
In this area of specialization, social workers might be assigned in clinics, hospitals, and other health-care facilities. However, their job is not directly related to the health of their clients. Rather they help their clients deal with the impacts of their illness. They also counsel those family members of patients who have died and help them deal with the loss of their loved one. They can also help physicians in the healthcare facilities by giving the necessary information of their patients. Similarly, in the cases wherein the patients are discharged already, social workers' task is to assist the patients to get back to their daily life again.
D. Mental Health
1. Social workers specializing in mental health are related to those social workers who are specializing in health. However, more specifically, social workers in the mental health area of specialization provide assistance to people suffering from mental illness. They help people suffering from mental illness deal with the impact of their conditions in order to still function normally with their daily endeavors.
E. Corrections Social Work
In this area of specialization, social workers are concerned with crimes and as well as the welfare of the criminals. They are involved in the rehabilitation processes of the criminals in lieu of the development of the well-being of the criminals. Likewise, they also provide help to the criminals who are under parole or probation by giving them counseling.
SETTING
Just as social workers can specialize in various fields of work, they can also be involved in different settings namely government, private sector, community, school, and civil society setting. Social workers in government setting help various government agencies to conceptualize and conduct socially-responsible programs. Social workers in government setting are also involved in lobbying wherein they aim to promote specific laws or policies that will be beneficial to the citizens. Similarly, social workers in government agencies are also greatly needed as they play a vital role in helping government employers and employees cope up with their job.
Aside from that, social workers can also be in private sector. Social workers in this setting provide companies with assistance in order to create socially-responsible missions. They also create evaluation to analyze how to encourage more customers to avail the companies products or services. Likewise, they also help in resolving workplace issues in order to improve the productivity of employees.They are also involved in the group performance of the private sector by assisting in their team building to help improve their group dynamics.
Furthermore, social workers can also be found in civil society. Primarily, social workers in this setting are advocacies of human rights and promote social justice. They have a vital contribution to a humane and democratic society. Usually, they support people who are not able to fully exercise their rights.
Moreover, social workers can also be situated in schools. School social workers are present to provide assistance with students from different levels regarding issues with their overall school performance. Lastly, social workers can be situated in the most common setting which is in communities. Community social workers assure that communities function properly. Social workers in this setting can transact with organizations to raise fund or conduct programs which aims to improve living conditions in the concerned areas. Overall, as the aforementioned settings where social workers can be situated, indeed it can be concluded that social workers have a wide range of choices where they would want to be situated in.
COMPETENCIES
Certainly, social work is perceived by many as an easy task to do. However, if we are to look closely, social work is not a piece of cake and just like other professions, there is a specific set of competencies that are needed in order to efficiently fulfill the objectives of social work. First of all, social workers must practice with professionalism. As social workers, they are representatives of their career bringing its mission and value. Therefore, they must always be true to their duties in helping other people.
In accordance with professionalism, social workers must address their activities in an ethical manner. One aspect of being ethical in social work is acceptance of diversity among their clients which can be showcased through making sure that they do not disrespect or discriminate any race, group or culture. Furthermore, social workers must also have good communication skills. Good communication skills play a vital role in having a good interaction between the social worker and the client. It will also serve as the foundational skill of social workers in order for them to successfully build a professional relationship with their client Similarly, good communication is the key to the success of the whole social work since it is through good communication that both parties can execute the specific actions and plans of the intervention.
Moreover, social workers must also be critical thinkers. Social workers are equipped with procedures, approaches, and theories they can utilize. In accordance with this, social workers apply critical thinking in determining the appropriate procedure or theory they must utilize to meet the specific needs of their clients. Lastly, social workers must have efficient empowering skills. Usually, the clients of social workers are in their most devastated phase in life. Therefore, social workers must truly have efficient empowering skills in order to successfully help their clients reach their highest potential and function properly again. Social workers must focus on their client's strengths and help in improving these capabilities in order to fully empower them. Overall, there are many more competencies present in social work and the aforementioned qualities are just some of it. Nevertheless, it is rightful to say that social work is definitely not just an average work which only requires good moral character as a qualification.
PROCESS
Truly, social work process does not simply starts and ends by just helping the people who are in need. It comprises several steps that are carefully performed by social workers in order to meet the needs of their clients. However, the steps that will be presented in the following paragraphs are not strictly followed in a linear route. There is still fluidity in the process wherein the social process is often in a cycle rather than a clear linear flow.
The first step is the assessment. The assessment phase serves as the backbone of the social work process. It is an initial activity done by the social worker to know the current situation of their client. In this phase, they use psychosocial assessment to summarize all the relevant information about the client into concise statements that would allow a better understanding of the client’s situation. Psychosocial assessments utilize by social workers differ in a way that it do not to use psychiatric labels that might create a biased perception of the client. Likewise, social workers truly avoid giving labels to their clients' current situation since they may fail to accurately describe the special qualities of their client. In addition, the strengths of the client are also recognized in these phase as a stepping stone to promoting the client’s well-being. Similarly, the social worker must find balance in gathering information about the client. Lacking information would definitely not help in the development of the social work practice. However, too much information might also be problematic because the social worker might touch issues that are irrelevant to the current case of the client and might lead up to forming prejudice judgment regarding the client. (Coulshed&Orme, 1998). Overall, assessment stage is certainly considered as the backbone of social work practice as it serves as the strong foundation for the whole social work practice to work.
After the assessment, an intervention or program design is to be followed. This process involves developing a plan associated with the information gathered in the assessment process in order to resolve the transcended issues. This process is not a one-way act. In this phase both the social worker and the client should have a clear agreement on the goals they are aiming to achieve at the end of the whole intervention. If necessary, a contract is made in order to have clear, concise and coordinated objectives. Furthermore, there are several methods of intervention that a social worker can utilize. Methods of intervention to be utilized are underpinned by a range of skills on the part of the worker. Utilizing a specific method of intervention will provide an appropriate, structured and supervised plan and action in response to the client's needs. Some of the various methods of intervention are the following: behavioral work, case management, brief-solution-focused work and constructional social work (Charles and Butler 2004). In addition, these methods will be further applied in the next phase of the social work practice.
Next to intervention is the implementation. This phase is when the conceptualized plan is put into action. The methods that are theorized will be done in this process. The action that will be performed in this stage is aligned in the previous method utilized in the intervention phase. Similarly, the method that was chosen is rarely a fruit of straightforward activity but is instead a variety of factors, including the assessment of the situation, the worker’s approach, skills and abilities, the client's strengths and capabilities are put into context (Thompson, 2002). Overall, the actions being done in this process will be beneficial for the whole process in order to achieve the objectives of the social worker and the client.
Monitoring phase is also part of the whole social work process. As implementation is being done proper documentation is also being conducted in order to supervise the progress happening in both the social worker and the client. Also, it is a tool to know whether the goals are being achieved or any harm is being developed by either party.
Lastly, an evaluation is to be made as a closing activity for the whole social work process. In this stage, a comprehensive examination is to be done in order to know whether the goals are met. It may be in the form of a questionnaire or a one on one interview. The hope in this evaluation is that the goals are met and that the social worker was able to help the client.
EXAMPLES
Everyone can be like social workers. The act of helping others is actually present naturally within every individual in this world at least. However, the examples provided below are the ones aided by professional social workers who exerted their times in learning academically this certain field. Let's take a look at the experiences of some of the Humanities and Social Sciences students of St. Scholastica's Academy Marikina.
St. Camillus Medhaven
St. Camillus Medhaven is
a nursing home that provides resident-oriented, long-term full-time care,
rehabilitative therapies and adult daycare services to elderly people. It is a
private institution founded and mostly supported by the congregation of
Camillian brothers and priests. This center gives the basic needs of the Lolos
and Lolas that includes their necessary medications. It also nourishes the
physical and psychological aspects of these elderly people but it opens the
door for spiritual nourishment that can be manifested during daily mass and other
activities practiced in Catholicism.
Although
we were not able to interact with the social workers in St. Camillus Medhaven,
we still bow down to the caregivers, nurses and other staffs who provide
services for these elders. Even in a short span of time, we can see their
dedication in helping these Lolos and Lolas to be healthy and to be happy. We
saw that they are not just offering their hands for these people to be
something that can be hold on to while walking but they are offering their
hearts, fully committed on their work. Because we believe if they are not
genuinely committed in this kind of work, smiles would not be visible in their
faces. Furthermore, their relationship with the elders is truly admirable because
based on what we saw, it is not just a patient-caregiver relationship. It may
be considered as a child-parent or a grandchild-grandparent relationship that
these old people are longing for. They are able to fulfill this emptiness by building
a new family without truly recognizing it within this community.
"Wala ako nameet na social worker pero yung sa caregivers kasi ang passionate nila like bilib ako sakanila kasi di naman nila kapamilyabyun saka di siya financially rewarding pero they try their best to help the elders. Like basta mapasaya nila at matulungan ganon parang nakakagaan sa loob afterwards hrhe. Taz yung sa experience fun and memorable sya hehe kasi dito namulat mata ko sa mga ginagawa talaga ng social workers kubg gano kahirap yung trabaho ganon pero despite everuthing kinakaya nila. Tas sa mga matatanda naman masaya kasama tipo na kahit mahirap masaya ka afterwards kasi napasaya mo sila. Nakakalungkot lang paguwi kasi ayun andun maiiwan uli sila like ang sad kasi dapat yung fam bila nagaalaga sila like ang sad isipin na non sila nag aalaga sa mga anak nila ganon tas ngayon wala ng time apo at anak nila para sila naman yung alagaan."- Lara Chacon of 12- St. Ehrentrudis
"Our visit to the nursing home made me realize that there are still some sectors of our society that needs to be recognized and helped by the government. The nursing home is in need of financial assistance to be able to provide the needs of the elders. Tbh I was really touched by how the social workers take care of the elders, their patience and efforts in making sure that the needs of the elders are given are commendable despite the fact that their salary wasn’t enough and their institution is not financially equipped. Their compassion and passion towards their job were beyond what I have expected."- Jian Tato of 12- St. Ehrentrudis
St. Maria De Mattias Center Incorporated
St. Maria De Mattias Center Incorporated is not truly an orphanage as what others may think as it is because of the services it gives for the unprivileged ones. However, the potential clients are subject for referrals only. It means that there must be an assessment first whether these people really need the help of the center.
This center prioritizes also the values that may be instilled on their clients. They give importance to the spirituality of these people in order for them to become citizens with morality, dignity, and integrity. They also organize programs to meet the needs of their clients. For example, malnourished children and those who cannot afford to eat three times a day are provided with nutritious food that may alleviate their conditions. They also provide an opportunity for the children to have an access to formal education that everyone has the right to have. Moreover, they do not only cover the welfare of the young ones but they also plan for activities such as livelihood programs for the parents in order to achieve a better quality of life. But at the end of the day, these children are not staying in this center but they have to go home to be with their family.
According to Anna Barretto of 12-St. Frideswida, Sir Jonathan is truly inspirational because of his passion as a social worker. Based on her story, this great man knows his limitations. For example, an abused child seeks for his help. He knows that it is beyond his capabilities but he will not just neglect this problem and so he will look for alternatives to solve this challenge that this child is facing. She also added that Sir Jonathan highlighted the symbolism of the seeds that they planted that day. In this center, he stated that whatever a person planted there on the ground of that center and whatever the center planted within that person, he hopes that little seed will grow into bigger, better and stronger. In reality, he hopes that these children will function well in the society. They will be more productive and will be more responsible on the things that the world is offering to them.
"It was really fun for me to experience something like that because it was really out of the ordinary. I was used to trips wherein educational facts were taught and it stops there. More like the values instilled are forced and something we really couldn't feel. But this whole St. Maria de Mattias experience was different. Yes, we have discussed Social Science in a way but what really touched my heart most was the passion of the social worker, Sir Jonathan. Imagine, he already graduated college with a degree concerning marines and he has already been living a life that's very comfortable compared to the average Filipino family. I can still remember when he said that he was earning more than enough and it was really helping his family out, but the one thing that lacks was happiness. In the latter part of his career, he found himself yearning for happiness and contentment. He found these two when he joined an organization in his church because he was helping out and all that. However, he knew right in that moment that it would all be over because he would age soon and he wouldn't be able to meet the requirements of the organization. So, he took a big leap in his life and took up Social Work; back to phase 1: college life again. It's so inspiring that he had the patience and even the courage to go back to college. Like what he shared to us, he entered inside the classroom and all students were standing up to greet him, only for them to know that he was one of them: a student. However, my admiration for him doesn't only stop there. He even took up a Masters Degree in Social Work and that's beyond dedication and passion. We all know the salary a social worker gets and let's say it's not as something as big as his past career. However, he still pursued what his passion is and pushed aside the thought of money and richness. It is true indeed that he wouldn't be rich in money, but at least he would be rich in happiness."- Aira Masangkay of 12- St. Frideswida
Marikina Youth Home
Marikina
Youth Home is the venue for minors who have criminal cases either intentional
or not. These cases include robbery and drug possession and usage. This center
provides lodging for CICL (Children in contact with the law-term that refers to
the minors staying there) while their cases are on process. They also give free
legal management service because majority came from depressed areas of Marikina
City. Furthermore, these young people have rotations for the assignment of work
such as kitchen and bathroom cleaning. Also, there are times that they are
given opportunities to relieve their stresses in life by allowing them to play
sports in Marikina Sports Complex. They have values formation too as well as
for the parents and they have bible study at least once a week.
According to Anna
Fregillana of 12- St. Clodesindis, the social worker that she met there has
somehow touched her life although she is new in the center as well. Allow me to
quote her: “she even told us na hindi promising yung salary pero
alam mo yun sinabi niya sa amin na "kailangan kayo lalo ng Pilipinas"
as in aww ganon kalaki yung concern niya sa ibang tao and ang galing kasi di
niya pinafeel sa amin na criminal yung mga bata dun, instead pinafeel niya sa
amin na may problema din yung mga batang yan kaya di sila mostly at fault na
there is always room for imporvement sa kanila, na they will be productive members
of society sooner or later AS IN AWWWW the passion to make these kids better
after ng stay nila sa youth center!!!! grabe lang”
"Overall, the visit to the youth home was eye-opening. It showed me the reality of juveniles that have criminal cases. It was, for me, very saddening, that the country has such a number of juveniles that has cases that are usually drug-related. We were informed by the CICL and Ms. Shelly that the CICL in the youth home are from depressed parts of the city, where people are pushed to do unlawful things in order to survive. I don’t know for sure, but the justice system of the country is also something ridiculous. The fact that children who are not even aware of what is happening in their own house are being put there because the house that they live in are drug dens."- Ainah Cruz of 12- St. Clodesindis
Bibliography:
Charles, M. & Butler, S. (2004), ‘Social Workers’ Management of Organisational Change’,
in Lymbery, M. and Butler, S., Social Work Ideals and Practice Realities. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Coulshed, V. & Orme, J. (1998), Social Work Practice: An Introduction, 3rd edn. London:
Macmillan
Irvine, J., Molyneux, J., & Gillman, M. (2015). ‘Providing a link with the real world’: Learning from the student experience of service user and carer involvement in social work education. Social Work Education, 34(2), 138-150.
Healy, K. (2014). Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kadushin, A., & Harkness, D. (2014). Supervision in social work. Columbia University Press.
Johns, J. E. (2016). Social Work as a Moral Enterprise (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kent,).
Thompson, N. (2002), People Skills, 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
