Transcript Nature of Social Work

The Nature of Social Work
Introduction
The Module
• All information needed for the social work programme
is in the HANDBOOK and on Moodle!
• Take responsibility for familiarising yourself with this
and for your own learning
• Reminder, of timetable, seminars, reading ITC and
practice learning block.
• Assessment for this module consists of an assignment,
attendance at class and ITC classes.
• Check due dates and information in the handbook and
on moodle.
• Nominate your class rep so we have a two way
communication system going.
They are not on ration
But you have to work for it!
The Nature of Social Work
Introduction
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Today we look at the meaning of social work!
What is social work?
Why do you want to be a SOCIAL WORKER
Reflective thinkingWhy it’s important in aiding in becoming a
competent professional!
What is Social Work?
• Social Work does not take place in a Vacuum!
• Competence requires integration of
knowledge, Skills and values
• Requires ability to transfer these aspects into
practice
• Requires reflective and analytical thinking to
ensure action and not reaction
• It’s not a mechanical procedure- there is no
manual –but it about ability to assimilate the
knowledge, skills and ethics.
Competent Practice Integrates the
following
The Main Concepts
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To help us understand let’s examine the following
What is social work- definition ?
What do social workers do- examples?
Reflect on what has motivated you to become a
social worker?
• Is it a skilled task, common sense or practical
experience?
• Explain the difference between talking to a
friend and talking to a social worker?
What is Social Work?
Social Work integrates
the following
Social
Change
By reinforce those aspects
of society that promote
social welfare
Social Care
By seeking to change
negative aspects in society
.e.g. Poverty & Discrimination
A Definition Of Social Work
• “The Social Work Profession promotes social
change and problem solving in human
relationships and the empowerment and
liberation of people to enhance well-being.
• Utilising theories of human behaviour and social
systems, social work intervenes at the points
where people interact with their environments.
• Principles of human rights and social justice are
fundamental to social work.” From the International
Definition of Social Work -Adopted by the IFSW General Meeting in Montréal, Canada, July 2000
Definition of Social Work-cont
• 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
change.
• As such, social workers are change agents in society and in
the lives of the individuals, families and communities they
serve.
• Social work is an interrelated system of values, theory and
practice.
Adopted by the IFSW General Meeting in Montréal, Canada, July 2000
The international Federation of Social
Work
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systematic body of evidence-based knowledge
derived from research and practice evaluation.
• It recognizes the complexity of interactions
between human beings and their environment,
and that people are affected by them .
• It draws on theories of human development ,
social theory and social systems to analyse
complex situations and to facilitate individual,
organizational, social and cultural changes”.
Does that sound Complicated?
• Where are you at with all of the things on that
list? Empowerment and liberation!
• Do you have the skills of change agent and enhancing
well being!
• Do you know what it would mean to promote
social justice, theories of human behaviour and social systems,
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• Do you know what knowledge , what skills and
how to addresses the multiple, complex transactions
between people and their environments.
What Social Workers Do?
• Social work is a profession committed to the pursuit of
social justice
• It’s about the pursuit of social welfare and social
change.
• It’s about improving the quality of life of individual's
• It’s about development an individual’s full potential
BUT ALSO
• It’s also about developing groups and communities.
• Thus, Social Workers draw on social sciences to aid
their knowledge base to solve social problems.
So it’s not just about fixing
sorting or doing things to people!
It about relationships with People!
• Forming relationships with people, adviser, advocate,
counselor, mediator, social controller and protector of
the vulnerable .
• It has it’s roots in the struggle of society dealing with
poverty and the problems that result.
• Assisting individuals to live successfully in society by
working with them to find solutions to problems.
• Working with those who want services, and those who
don’t.
• Social workers assess needs and the risks
• Plan individual packages of care , support, and
responsibilities with individual's.
It’s a Professional and Academic discipline
• It uses research to develop practice and improve the
life of individuals, groups and society.
• Research from social policy, sociology, psychology
and from within the profession
• It uses theories from these disciplines as well as
economics, education, medicine and politics .
• It involves relationship building and the promotion of
anti-oppressive and anti- racist dialogue.
• Social workers are organised into local, national,
continental and international professional bodies
Changing Lives- States
Report of the 21st Century Social Work Review (Scottish Executive 2006)
Changing Lives Maintain
• There are three main functions that define what social workers
do.
• They intervene between the state and the citizen - assessing
and determining eligibility services and assessing risks which
determine the need for statutory intervention
• They maximise the capacity of people using services
• Contribute to policies and practice that support social and
personal well-being –enabling the development of services
• Social Workers need to have empathy, respect , warmth &
genuineness!
• Need to establish a therapeutic relationship
• A person centred approach, taking account of the client's
perspective
• Plan, manage the care and safeguard vulnerable individual's who
need protection or are in danger or are at risk of causing significant
harm to themselves or others.
BASW :Code of Ethics for Social Work
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Key principles - Respect for human dignity and cultural diversity
Value every individual their beliefs, goals, preferences and needs
Respect for human rights and self determination
Partnership and empowerment with users of services and with carers
Ensuring protection for vulnerable people
Social justice
Promoting fair access to resources
Equal treatment without prejudice or discrimination
Reducing disadvantage and exclusion
Challenging the abuse of power
Service
Helping with personal and social needs
Enabling people to develop their potential
Contributing to creating a fairer society
Integrity and Competence
Honesty, reliability and confidentiality
Maintaining and developing competence to provide a quality service
Ref –BASW- British Association of Social Workers
Things that motivate individual's to
become a Social Worker!
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To help/ empower people
To make a difference to people
To advocate for justice for people
A desire to work with people in challenging
and changing circumstances
• A desire to work to provide good services
• A desire to change current services
• A desire to change society
Skilled Task or Common Sense!
• Theorist would argue that there are 3 different
approaches to welfare and these involve skills
• Social Welfare- individual activity geared towards
meeting the social welfare needs on an individual
basis.
• Social Change- A system that promotes co-operation in
society so oppressed and disadvantaged can gain
power over their own lives.
• Social Stability- An approach geared towards
promoting and facilitating personal growth to enable
people to deal with their suffering and disadvantage.
Social Work & Social welfare
• This model works with individuals on their
personal situation on meeting their needs
• Recipients are often stigmatised and
disadvantaged and meeting short term and long
term needs in the goal
• Social Workers seek to readdress the inequalities
with the individual by meeting needs
• Work is geared to addressing the balance of
inequality through individual work rather than
grouping people together.
• But it is concerned with the welfare of group’s
and communities as this effects individuals.
Social Work and Social Stability.
• Role of the social worker is to contribute to the
social stability of a society.
• To ensure the social order is not threatened.
• To protect the status quo of those who are
privileged and in positions of power.
• It’s about helping people adjust to their social
circumstances.
• The belief is that society as a whole has the same
basic goals, interests and there is common
political and legal values.
• The social worker occupies a position of power
and is seen as the expert in the person’s problem.
Social Work and Social Change
• Society is made up of social divisions and conflicts
of interests e.g. Race, Class, Gender.
• Members of oppressed minorities whose
problems come from the structure of society
rather than their own personal failings.
• The task is to support oppressed groups and
individuals within them in order to challenging
the effects of discrimination and disadvantage.
• Working towards social change rather than
helping people to adjust to disadvantage they
find themselves in.
Difference between talking
to a Social Worker & a Friend !
• Social Work addresses complex, multiple transactions
between people and their environments.
• This involves a “Professional Relationship”, a “power
relationship” and “professional boundaries”.
• It focuses on problem solving and change and has a
statutory element to it.
• As we must work within the law thus the elements of Care
or Control are always to be balanced.
• Social Workers are Change Agents as they change the lives
of individuals, families and Communities.
• Thus we work within an interrelated system of Values,
Theory, Knowledge and Practice and this requires learned
skills
Models and Development of the
Practitioner
• Remember social work practice is rooted in the law and
policy.
• While it can challenge or work against these factors it
cannot go beyond them altogether.
• Social workers are paid employees.
• Actions are constrained by policies, values and aims of
the organisation.
• So all three models need to be understood and worked
with (welfare ,change and stability) .
• There is a degree of common sense ,but it is about
integrating and applying knowledge, skill and values.
• This is not something that happens over night and will
take 4 years to acquire.
Questions
• What sort of knowledge and Theory is
required to do the job?
• How does this relate to the other modules you
will study?
• What do you understand by the terms Adult
learning and reflective thinking?
• In what way are they part of the skills you will
need?
OVERVIEW OF THE KNOWLEDGE
REQUIRED
Value base of
social work
Anti oppressive
knowledge
Health, Education
Law, social policy
Knowledge
SOCIAL
Government
drives, Politics ,
Policy
WORK
Homelessness,
Housing,
Violence,
Criminal justice
Drug use
Use of self ,
communication
skills and ability to
form relationships
Organisational
knowledge,
procedures, funding,
resources, constraints
Disability,
Older people
Mental health,
Children
Community care
Residential care
Social work
theory,
methods and
research
Reflective
analytical
abilities
The Links to other Modules
Social
Welfare and
social policy
Politic and
Government reform
SOCIAL
Economics and
Economic reform
WORK
Homelessness,
Housing,
Sociological Ideological
perspectives ,
Marxism,
conservatism,
liberalism
Violence,
Criminal justice
Drug use
Sociological, Society
, Rules , moral codes
Disability,
Older people
Mental health,
Children
Psychology
Human development,
life span development
Community care
Residential care
Research and
social science
knowledge
Law and
legislation
Adult Learning and Reflective thinking
• Kolb’s Learning Cycle -based on experiences
gained through life and work are crucial to
learning.
• The approach influences the practice learning
experiences you will have on the course
• Learning as a cyclical process and is not fixed but
forms and reforms through life
• By reflecting on our learning we gain further
understanding and this aids our development of
emotional intelligence and analysis
• Given reflection is Reflective is Cyclical this
prompts the process to start again.
Kolb(1984) and Gibbs (1988)
• Highlighted reflective learning was about
experiential learning as this encourages deeper
learning that would be retained.
• Gibbs highlighted learning by doing into 4 stages
• Learners need to be fully involved in the
experience.
• They must make time and space to reflect on it.
• The need opportunity to form and re-form their
ideas and integrate them into taught theories.
• Through problem solving and dialogue a change
occurs in the learner and learning takes place
Learning Style- What's yours!
• To assist you with your learning some theorist
would claim it helps if you connect learning to
a process and a learning style.
• Each of learn in different ways
• Some people like to watch
• Some like to be active
• Some like to think
• Some motivated by experiences and feelings
Learning Theory
• Suggests a four phase Cycle of learning that
are connected to the four modes of learning
styles.
• Activists
Feel
• Reflectors
Observe
• Theorists
Think
• Pragmatists
Do
Developing Reflection
• The course aims to integrate your taught
learning with your practice learning
• These stages involve us in understand ourselves
--this is essential to becoming a professional.
• Identifying your learning style is a good starting
point in this journey
• Complete the learning style questionnaire to
identify your learning style- on moodle!
• Next week seminar – reading is on moodle
come prepared and answer the questions
Directed Reading
• This will back up the initial points made in this lecture
and prepare you for next weeks seminar.
• Chapter on Personal and Professional Development.
Joyce Lishman (moodle).
• Hare, I (2004): Defining Social Work for the 21st
Century in The International Journal of Social Work
(47(3) moodle
• From -Social Work Themes Issues and critical Debates.
Adams ,Dominelli, & Payne
• Chapter on Social Work and Society .Chris Jones (on
moodle)
• Chapter on Values Ethic and Social Work. Steven
Shardlow
Directed Reading
• Alan Keith-Lucas Giving and Taking Help
(1972) A short History of Helping
• Schon, D (1991): The Reflective Practitioner:
How Professionals Think in Action. Ashgate.
Basic Books
• Thompson, N (2009): Understanding Social
Work (3rd Ed). Basingstoke, Palgrave- there will many
chapter from this book that you will find useful