Module 3: Understanding Social Work

Training Kit : Personalised Social Support 2012

Shirin Kiani and Annie Lafrenière (Technical Resources Division)

Handicap International 2012

Overview

1. What is social work?

2. Goals and values of social work

3. History of social work

4. Social work in developing countries

5. Generalities of social work

6. Social work interventions

What is social work?

Goals of Social Work

Goals

• Increase people’s self-reliance• Mobilize individual, families, organizations

and communities to improve people’s life satisfaction, empowerment, quality of life.

• Overcome inequalities and injustice through inclusion of all (especially marginalized, vulnerable, excluded, at risk)

• Introduce social change (laws, social policies)

Main goal?

Do you agree with this statement?

No matter what you do, the primary goal of social work is to increase the empowerment (self-power) of a person or group of people.

Values• What are your values? (what important

beliefs guide your actions/work)

• What do you think are the values of social work?

Values of social work

• Every person has value• All people should be treated equally• Human rights and social justice are important• Social work aims for human development• Each person can take an active role in their life• Diversity has value• There is potential in all communities• Solidarity is important

History of Social Work

History of social work

• International federation of Social work (IFSW) created in 1950

• IFSW response to international issues needing to be considered

• 1950-today, increase in number of conflicts and famine around the world

• Throughout the years 3 models of social work have come to be

Over the last 30 years, 3 major changes in western countries

• Poverty related to social exclusion and employment => focus of social work shifted more towards employment

• Governments not the only reference point => many grassroots organizations are now present.

• From centralized and traditional social work (focus on individuals) => to decentralized and new types of social work (focus on public domain).

3 models of social work

1. Government is the only one qualified and responsible to address social needs of all.

2. Government should only reach most needy. The rest of the social needs should be addressed by the private sector.

3. The government should be less involved. Communities need to strengthen and address social needs, to build mutual-aid networks.

List 2 dis/advantages for each model:

Social work responsibility

Advantages Disadvantages

Government

Private sector

Community

Decentralized

Centralized

Social work in developing countries

• Social policies may be under developed or non-existent

• Management of resources centralized at national level

• Numbers of social workers low with often a higher density of population

• Poverty and chronic crisis may make the nature of social work more protection, basic needs related, until other issues can be tackled.

Nevertheless…

• International NGOs getting more involved in local development

• Social work tied into many different types of development programs

• Social work is important to MDGs• In developing countries, there is room for

innovation/experimentation, the institutional constraints are not present like in developed countries.

Social work in your country

• Does social work exist

as a profession?

• If yes: –When did it start?–Why did it start?–Has it changed?

• If no:–What informally exists to solve social problems?–Who support the social needs of most vulnerable?

Generalities of social work

• Present in many contexts

• 4 levels of impact

• Systemic approach

• Two-track approach– person and environment

Many contexts

• Social work happens in crisis and emergencies, as well as for everyday personal and social problems

How is social work in a conflict or emergency different than working on an everyday social problem?

Levels of impact

Social work can have near or far-reaching effects depending on the intervention used, there are 4 levels of impact:

1. person2. family3. community4. society

Systemic approach …

• Believes that humans are a product of their environment.

• To understand a person, we need to understand their environment.

• The environment is made up of many different types of ‘systems’.

• Each person belong to different systems according to their own needs/characteristics.

(System: a set of things working together as part of a connected network)

There are 5 types of systems

• 1st layer: Personal - age, gender, abilities• 2nd layer: Immediate - family, school, work,

friends, • 3rd layer: Community-region - NGOs,

ministries, funding sources• 4th layer: Society - larger values, beliefs,

politics, values, national laws of area (country, region)

• 5th: Interaction of all systems (system itself)

Using a systemic approach…

His/her place in society

In his/her different spheres of life

The places to which s/he

belongsSocio cultural and religious

His/her work

and companyThe personPersonality

CultureHistoryIdentityValues

InterestsOrganisations to which s/he belongs:

Sporting, humanitarian, other

His/her schooland where s/he

received training

His/her accommodation

And neighbourhood

Question to understand the system• Purpose of a group/system: Why does it exist? What

benefit do members have from belonging?• Power division: Who is allied with who? who controls

what in the system? • Distances: Who is close to who? Who distanced/isolated?• Leaders: Who does the group rely/depend on? • Roles: Who contributes? Who manages finances? Who

sets limits? Who authorizes ideas? Who suffers? • Positions: How children are seen? How adults seen?• Rules: Common rules?• Values: Cultural and religious values?• Beliefs: Family and community beliefs?

Systemic approach… in your work

• Understand role and function of person within the larger group they live in.

• Observing a system and how the person fits into it… helps you choose an appropriate personal project, that fits into their role/values/beliefs.

Social work interventions

There are different ways to impact the person and the environment.

What ways have you used before?

Social work interventionsPersonal level: PSS - personal support on a particular project

(focus of this training kit), counseling, psychosocial support, guidance, (…)

Family level: using sociograms, teaching self-advocacy, protection - child/family reunion, (family mediation – family counseling, conflict mitigation, …)

Community level: community organization and engaging in social and political action, coordinating systems, access to basic needs -facilitating meetings, mapping services, networking & forging links

Society level: Social policy, planning, development

Link to practice* Give participants 5 minutes to answer these questions individually on a piece of paper, and

then do a roundtable with each person sharing some of their answers.

How do you (or could you) use the systemic approach in your work ?

Which level of intervention, new to you, will you focus on in the coming months and how ?