MODULE:11 GOALS AND SCOPE OF SOCIAL, WORK

1. MODULE:11
GOALS
AND SCOPE
OF
SOCIAL,
WORK

2. Social·working is a helping
profession. Some individuals have a
personal or family problems.
Sometimes they cannot solve these
by themselves. So, they need outside
lhelp..Such help comes from train
people.
The individual seeking help is known
as a
client and the trained person helping
him is known as a social worker.

3. Morales and Sheafor (1983) identified four
areas of consideration:
1.In each helping situation, the social worker is concerned with enabling or
facilitating change. Interventions to improve the quality of life may
appropriately occur as part of the social work practice.
2 .The social worker is in the business of helping people or social
institutions, such as family, change to enhance social functioning. It is not
to focus on the whole person but on social relationships.
3.Applying the sociaI systems theory ,social work can be viewer as a
profession that helps people interact more efféctively with their social
environment. The focus is placed on the “interface or the meeting place or
the transaction of person and the environment'” (William Gordon, as cited
by Morales and Sheafor, 1983).
4.In helping to achieve their goals of improved social functioning, the social
worker must have handles in fortifying and securing the necessary
resources to attain the goals of the clients.
DEFINIITION OF
SOCIAI WORK

4. The main goal of social work is to improve a society's overall
well-being. especially far the most vulnerable populations.
Morales and Sheafar ( 1083) specified three (3) distinguishing goals
of social work namely: caring. curing, and changing. These goals are
outlined and described below:
1.The Goal on caring
Caring refers to the heart of SociaI work and it focuses on
the well-being or the welfare and comfort of the individual
and community.
2.The Goal on Curing
Curing refers to the aspect of treating people with
problems in social functioning
3.The Goal on Changing
Changing refers to the active participation of the social
workers in social reforms
GOALS OF
SOClAL
WORK

5. The concern of social work is to help people
who are in need so that they develop the
capacity to deal with their problems by
themselves. It is both science and an art.
Social work is science in the sense that the
knowiedge taken from different disciplines
form the Doy onowedge otasoca woker and
snene uses s theoreca aseo elpn capacity to
do it is known as skill. Hence. professional
social work with selected knowiedge and the
set of social work values, has to be
transformed into a professional service
SCOPE OF
SOCIAL
WORK

6. 1.Social work as Primary Discipline
a. Adoption and services to unmarried parents
-Difficult decision to keep the baby or plaace it tor
adoption
-Applies both individual and group counseling to
assist women in making decisions.
b.Foster Caring
-Removing children from homes and placing them
to foster homes temporarily.
-Works with the parents, child and court to
administer court decisions to remove a child due to
detrimental situations
c. Residential Care
-Group care home or a residential treatment center.
-These are for children exhibiting anti-social
behaviors that require intensive treatment

7. d.Support in own home
-Support service to keep children in their own homes
-Counselling family consultations, clients with appropriate
institutions such as day care centers and home maker
service
e.Protective Services
-Protecting the child from abuse, maltreatment,
exploitation by parents
-Seeks to protect the child without infringing the rights of
parents
f.Family Services
-Family counseling involves family case work, family group
work and family therapy
-Family life education strengthens family relationships
through educational activities to prevent family breakdown

8. -Family planning involves planning the number,
spacing and timing of child births to fit with their
needs
-Make decisions about the patterns of reproduction
towards enhancing quality of life
g. Income maintenance
-Public assistance, financial aid to the poor.
-It includes cash grants, food stamps, general
assistance such as hospital and medical care, and
supplemental security income.
-Social Insurance, social provisions that funded by
employers and employees through contnbutions to
a specific program.
-Other forms, cash in kind benefits, emergency
support funds, and other resources that can be used
by the poor for food and shelte

9. Social
Work a s
a n Equal
Partner
a. Support for people in their own homes program
-Helping older people remain in their homes and linking
them with community
programs such as health care, meals and home care
services.
b.Support for people in the long term care facilities
-Refers to nursing homes or other group living facilities
c. Community Services
-Community Organization activities, gathering and
analysis of data, matching delivery of services to the
population distribution, securing funds, coordination
with existing agencies and educating the general public
about the services
-Community planning, involvement of social workers
with the physical, economic and health planners in the
long-range planning of communitiess

10. S o c i a l W o r k
a s a
S e c o n d a r y
Discipline
a. Correctionai Facities provide counseling and link them to the
outside world, provide support upon release b. Industry, support to
both managers and employees. Serves as basis for employment.
c. Medical and Health care, attend to the social and psychological
factors contributing to the medical condition of the patient.
d. Schools, facilitate the provision of direct educational and social
services and provide direct social case work and group work
selected students
-Act as pupil advocate focusing on the urgent needs of teh
selected student
-Consult with school administrators' major problems toward a
planned service approach
-Consult with teachers about techniques for creating a free and
motivating climate for children by interpreting social and
cultural influences
-Use of peers to help a troubled child
-Organize parent and community groups to channel concerns
-Develop and maintain liaison between the school and social work
-Provide leadership in coordination of student services in guidance,
clinic staff, psychologists and attendants