Social Work Notes / Social Functions of Social Welfare / UGC -Net / Kerala PSC Notes

 Social Work Notes / Social Functions of Social Welfare / UGC -Net / Kerala PSC Notes

 Social Work Notes / Social Functions of Social Welfare / UGC -Net / Kerala PSC Notes

They are Social Provisions, Social Services and social action. Social provisions are public assistance, social insurance, public housing, medical care etc… The ideal goal of social provisions is social security and social justice. Social services may be seen of four types: developmental, remedial, supportive and substitute. Education services are developmental, family counseling and child guidance services are remedial, day care and nutritional services are supportive and foster services are substitutive.

Social action is concerned with the system change, while services are concerned with changing people. Social action seeks to alter the structure of roles and the distribution of power, prevent problems, expand opportunity and enhance the quality of life. In general system change is brought through violence or revolution but in social welfare, violence or revolutionary tactics are not considered part of social welfare methods. Social action may be defined as an organized effort with the aim of securing social progress and of solving mass social problems by influencing social legislation or the administration of social services.

Social welfare and social work are historically related and are sometimes still used synonymously. The distinction between the two is of recent origin. When Devine wrote about social work in 1922, he did not make the distinction. He wrote, “Social Work is the sum of all efforts by society to take up its own slack”, to provide for individuals when its established institutions fail them, to supplement those established institutions and to modify them at those points at which they have proved to be badly adapted to social needs. It may have for its object, the relief of individuals or the improvement of conditions. It may be carried on by the government or by an incorporated society or by an informal group or by an individual, or it may be temporary growth on some older institution which exists primarily for some other function. It includes everything which is done by society for the benefit of those who are not in a position to complete on fair terms with their fellows, from whatever motive it may be done, by whatever agency or whatever means, and with whatever result.

Both Social Work and Social Welfare have common stages of development as noted by United Nations Department of social affairs, Training of Social Work, the stages through which social work has passed in many of the countries in which it is today fully developed, may be broken down into three major categories: (a) social work as individual charity (b) social work as organized activity, under governmental and non-governmental auspices, directed towards the solution of problems associated with economic dependency and (c) social work as professional service, under governmental and non-governmental auspices, potentially available to every member of the community, irresponsive of his means, to assist him in achieving his full potentialities for productive and satisfying living.

Social work stands in relation to social welfare as the medical profession stands in relation to the field of health. Social work seeks to enhance the social functioning of the individuals, singly and in groups, by activities focused upon their social relationships which constitute the interaction between man and his environment. These activities can be grouped into three functions; restoration of impaired capacities, provision of individual and social resources and prevention of social dysfunction. Social work is a form of professional service having composite of knowledge and skills which attempt on the one hand to help individuals satisfy their needs in social milieu and on the other hand to remove barriers which obstruct them from achieving the best of which they are capable.

Social welfare is an organized system of social services and institutions, designed to aid individuals and groups to attain satisfying standards of life and health. Social work is a professional service based upon scientific knowledge and skill in human relations, which assists individuals, alone or in groups, to obtain social and personal satisfaction and independence.

Social welfare is specialized work for the benefit of the weaker and more vulnerable sections of the population and would include social services for the benefit of women, children, the physically handicapped, the mentally retarded and those specially handicapped in many ways. Social work is a professional service based on knowledge of human relations and skill in relationship and concerned with problems of intrapersonal and/or interpersonal adjustments resulting from unmet individual, group or community needs.

Social welfare aims at providing services to the weaker sections of the population who because of various handicaps, physical, mental, economic and social, are unable to make use of social services provided by the society or are traditionally denied these services. The aim of social work is to remove social injustice, to relieve distress, to prevent suffering and to assist the weaker members of society to rehabilitate themselves and their families and, in short, fight the five giant evils of (1) Physical want (2) Disease (3) Ignorance (4) Squalor (5) Idleness.

Social welfare is basically secured through the institutional organization of society, and its activities are directed towards the improvement of that organization, while the activities of social work are directed towards assisting individuals in their use of social institutions.

Social welfare is a constructive approach to assist and aid the people to understand them ails, acquire necessary skills and establish or organize productive centres, craft centres, schools etc… for the fulfilment of their needs. It is all done on planned lines with the aid of government machinery. Social work refers to an occupation and profession concerned with improving social relationships. The activities of the social workers are oriented towards almost every major social institution. That is, public assistance is oriented towards the economic functioning of individuals; family and child services are, of course, concerned with the family; probation, parole, correctional social work is directed to the relationship between the individual and the law; school social work is concerned with the relationship between the educational institution and the individual whereas medical social work is oriented toward the relationship between the individual and health institutions.

In social work, a personal identity, rather rapport, is established between social worker and his client whose rapport or identity of interest is neither required nor relevant in any kind of social welfare activity.

Social work is a professional service but social welfare is general service. Social worker has scientific knowledge and skills in human behavior whereas social welfare activities can be carried on by any individual. The basic aim of social work is to solve adjustmental problems but social welfare activities are mainly directed to solve socio-economic problems. The clients in social work have choice to select their own paths for the solution of their problems but in social welfare such type of freedom is not given.

 Social Work Notes / Social Functions of Social Welfare / UGC -Net / Kerala PSC Notes