Social Work Areas and Function

• THE FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL WORK 1. Rehabilitative Function 2. Preventive Function 3. Developmental Function 
• REHABILITATIVE FUNCTION -Refers to restorative, curative, and remedial actions: Social workers are responsible for assisting individuals and groups to determine and settle or reduce the problem that came out of the imbalance between the individuals and the environment. This function attempts to put back the person to a balanced state of social functioning. 
• PREVENTIVE FUNCTION -Detects impending imbalance between the individuals or groups with the environment. This function encompasses early detection, control, and eradication of situations which may have a damaging effect on the social functioning. 
• DEVELOPMENTAL FUNCTION -Ascertains and strengthens the full potential in individuals, groups, and communities. This function seeks to help the individual make full use of her/his potentials and capacities and to enhance the effectiveness of available social or community resources. 
• true -  Social workers are found in every facet of community life, including schools, hospitals, mental health clinics, senior centers, elected office, private practices, prisons, military, corporations, and in numerous public and private agencies.
• true -  Some social workers help clients who face a disability or a life- threatening disease or a social problem, such as inadequate housing, unemployment, or substance abuse, Social workers also assist families that have serious domestic conflicts, sometimes involving child or spousal abuse.
• True - Some social workers conduct research, advocate for improved services, engage in systems ns design design or are involved in policy development. Many social workers specialize particular population or working in a specific setting 
• ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT -Social work administrators are proactive leaders in public and private agencies that provide services to clients Administration and management also require knowledge about social policy and the delivery of social services, vision for future planning, an understanding of human behavior, and commitment to social work ethics and values
• ADVOCACY AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION -Advocacy is one of the keystones of social work practice. Social work advocates champion the rights of individuals and communities with the goal of achieving social justice.
• Advocacy is one of the keystones of social work practice.
• JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONS Social workers who can be found in courts, rape crisis centers, police departments, and correctional facilities.
• DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES -Social workers also help parents of children with developmental disabilities understand their legal rights They help parents learn to be advocates and find special services that enable their children to be as independent as possible
• HEALTH CARE Professionally trained social workers have helped people deal with personal and social factors that affect health and wellness. Some health care social workers are in direct services and concentrate on individuals, families, and small groups.
• AGING -Social workers link older adults with services that help them live independently and with dignity, thereby maximizing their quality of life and participation in society. Social work with older adults focuses on the physical psychological, social, and economic aspects of daily living. 
• CHILD WELFARE -Child welfare social workers serve some of the most vulnerable children, youths, and families. Social workers specialize in building on the strengths of families and helping them to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children and youths.
• MENTAL HEALTH AND CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK - Clinical social workers are one of the nation's largest groups of providers of mental health services. They provide mental health services in both urban and rural settings, where they may be the only licensed provider of mental health services available.
• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Work -Social workers help individuals, families, and communities find ways to recover from substance use. Social workers trained in treating alcohol, tobacco, and other drug addictions can be found doing case management, group and individual therapy, family counseling, advocacy for jobs and housing needs, community resource development, education, and policy making. 
• OCCUPATIONAL AND EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EAP) SOCIAL WORK -Occupational social workers help organizations re engineer their structure and methods to improve efficiency. creativity, productivity, and morale. They may also work for a union and be involved in job counseling or organizing.
• POLICY AND PLANNING Social workers analyze policies, programs, and regulations to see what is most effective. They identify social problems, study needs and related issues, conduct research, propose legislation, and suggest alternative approaches or new programs. 
• POLITICS -Increasingly social workers are holding elective offices from school boards to city and county governments, from state legislatures all the way to the US. House of Representatives and the Senate. Social workers also play leadership roles in local, state and federal agencies. 
• PUBLIC WELFARE -Social work in public welfare entails planning. administering, and financing programs, training and supervising staff, and setting and evaluating standards and criteria for service delivery.
• POLITICS

  Increasingly social workers are holding elective offices from school boards to city and county governments, from state legislatures all the way to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Social workers also play leadership roles in local, state and federal agencies.
• RESEARCH

  Social workers in research typically tend to be academics with postgraduate degrees in social work. Research provides the framework for effective practice. Although considered an art by some, social work is also a science based on evidence.
• SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK

  • act as the connection for school, home, and community services to help children with emotional, developmental, and educational needs. Most school social workers practice in public and private schools, although a small percentage may work in social services agencies or other service sites such as a preschool program or residential treatment center for children who are emotionally disturbed.
• ASSESSMENT

  • assessment as a process and a product of understanding on which action is based. This involves the collection of necessary information and interpretation to reach an understanding of the client, the analysis problem and the social context in which it exists. The social worker's tasks include information- gathering and problem definition based on what the client and the worker agreed upon.

   

   
• Primary Source - the client (whether an individual, group, or a community) is the primary source of data. Data are gathered through intake procedures.
• 1.1 GATHERING DATA

  • Primary Source
  • Secondary Source
  • Existing Data
  • Worker's observation
• Secondary Source - the significant others with whom the client has personal relationships. These include the parents, siblings, relatives, and friends in case the client is an individual.
• Existing Data - these can be records or reports from other Professionals (e.g., physicians, teachers, psychologists, etc.) or documents from other agencies such as census data, researches, evaluation reports, among others.
• 1.2 INITIAL CONTACT

  • Walk-in
  • Referral
  • Outreach
• Walk-in - The client (an individual, a group, or a community) initiates the Contact and seek the assistance of the agency social worker about a particular concern or problem with the belief that the worker is in the position to provide help.
• Referral - The client is referred to the worker or a social welfare agency by an interested or concerned party or entity with the hope that the client can avail of any services on the worker and/or the agency in addressing the client's problem concern.
• Outreach - The agency, through its social worker/s, reaches out to the prospective clients to offer help and eventually arrives at an agreement of engaging into a helping relationship after intake.
• PLANNING

  • is the link between assessment and intervention and its process translates the content o! assessment into a goal statement that describes the desired results and is concerned with identifying the means to reach the goals.
• . TERMINATION

  • The helping process has a time limit therefore a social worker is expected to discuss with the client the expected duration of the helping relationship.
• . TERMINATION

  • Also, the client should be made aware that the client-worker relationship will not last long and that the interventions and services will not stay for them forever. It should be made clear with the client that disengagement is the natural conclusion to such a relationship.

   
• The word communication originates from the word "communis,” which means common.
• Communication


  An act by which a person shares knowledge, feelings, ideas and information, in ways such that each gains a common understanding of the meaning, intent and use of the message
• Communication


  • Can occur without words
  • Involves four senses: audio, visual, touch, and smell
• Communication


  • A two-way process with a transmitter and a receiver
  • It is essential for facts to be transmitted in a manner that the meaning intended is conveyed and the receiver understands the use of the message