Social Work Notes / Importance of Social work / Kerala PSC Notes / UGC -Net

 Social Work Notes / Importance of Social work /  Kerala PSC Notes / UGC -Net

 Social Work Notes / Importance of Social work /  Kerala PSC Notes / UGC -Net

Earlier poverty was known as distress and the material help was given to the people who did not have food or money or sufficient clothing and shelter. But in the early twentieth century, the distress was redefined and was known as intrapersonal and interpersonal discomfort, with this swift from poverty to psychiatric discomfort (problem of living), the will to help was assessed inefficient and the helpers needed training to provide proper help. This occurred first in medicine and later on in social work.

Modern man is experiencing an increasing loss of belief in God and a life after death, therefore, the distress of the current experience could not be minimized and seems to require relief. Further, the philosophy of existentialism tells us that the things that exist are only concretization of potentials that might also lead to other concretization. The people are dissatisfied with the concretizations and find difficult to perceive their real ‘Self’. It is thus natural for dissatisfied person to demand for help.

People find that they do not express the most desirable potential of their living and thus there is no authenticity in living. They are forced into concretization which seems to be justifiable to their parents, spouses, employers or society as such who are powerful than they. For this struggle to relieve stress and tension social work comes to their rescue.

Man’s awareness of his mortality makes the experience of living one of running towards one’s own death. This results in the experience of worrying. To alleviate this worry, an element of urgent efforts makes the profession of social work more essential.  

Due to economic hardships and industrialization the members of ‘socialization group’ have gone away from the scene. The entrance of women into the labour market and the increasing participation of women in the professions have separated spouses not only in time but frequently in geographical space. Under such conditions many persons’ experience loneliness to an unprecedented degree. Here social work becomes first and foremost a process rather than a production. He who gets social work services, comes out of distress (production) as well as fortifies against new distress (process). Therefore, what social work can provide is not freedom from discomforts, rather, it can provide change of discomforts. 

 Social Work Notes / Importance of Social work /  Kerala PSC Notes / UGC -Net