DISCIPLINES AND IDEAS IN THE APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES
Part I: The Professionals and Practitioners in the Discipline of Social Work
The social work professionals and practitioners are aware that their profession is based on the
principles of human rights and social justice that serve to empower individuals, groups, and
communities to develop their full potential and well-being. The focus of intervention in social
work is the relationship between the individual and their immediate and wider social environment.
Particular emphasis is placed on meeting the needs of vulnerable and marginalized individuals and
groups (Social Workers Registration Board 2004).
8.1. Defining the Roles, Functions, and Competencies of Social Work
Social work as a profession has evolved over time but its enduring feature as a helping profession
is "the dual aims of helping individuals fit better into their environments, typically known as micro
practice, and changing the environment so that it works better for individuals, referred to as macro
practice" (Segal, Gerdes, and Steiner 2005). This special focus on both people and their
environment, a duality as well as the interaction between them, orients social work roles, functions,
and competencies toward helping improve society, helping individuals and families improve their
social functioning, and making society work better for individuals and groups, and facilitating
individuals and groups to function better within society and their communities.
Social work, like other applied social sciences, may help individuals cope with anxiety, stress, or
depression but it goes further to help the client gain access to other community resources and
support or empowering services that may be state-run or privately operated. These resources and
support systems aimed at providing relief or empowering individuals and groups in distressed
situations are as varied as the problems that people experience. They may range from temporary
and special shelters, job trainings, employment opportunities, rehabilitation services, mental and
health services, educational and training services, and so forth that bridge the individual and the
larger community to provide better integration, break of social barriers, and guarantee justice and
fairness.
Roles of Social Work
These provide direction for professional activities and are best situated in the context of the client
system (DuBois and Miley 2008). The roles are generally interwoven with functions but DuBois
and Miley (2008) provided elements that can be distinctively viewed as roles rather than functions.
For individuals and families, their role is that of an enabler-helping people find solutions. They are
brokers or advocates in case management, and they are teachers in terms of information processing.
For formal groups and organizations, their role is that of a facilitator in aid of organizational
development. They are conveners or mediators in aid of creating networks, and they are trainers
for professional development. For community and society, their role is that of a planner facilitating
research and planning. They are activists in aid of social action, and they conduct outreach in aid
of community education. Within the social work profession, their role is that of a colleague and a
monitor—in aid of professional enculturation and socialization. They are catalysts for community
service, and they are researcher-scholars in aid of knowledge development and capacity building.
Today, the roles of social workers are grouped into three, which are case management, direct
practice, and advocacy and policy building (Segal, Gerdes, and Steiner 2005).
Functions of Social Work
These speak of main activities professionally performed by social workers. DuBois and Miley
(2008) included, among others:
• counsel with individuals, facilitate groups, work with families, refine agency procedures, initiate
new programs, lobby for legislative changes, organize community action, educate the public,
conduct needs assessments, and evaluate practice and programs at various system levels and targets
of change or social transformation;
• enhance social functioning of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities;
• link clients systems with needed resources;
• improve the operations of the social service delivery network; and
• promote social justice through development of social policy.
DuBois and Miley (2008) provided a typology to these by grouping them into consultancy,
resource management, and education. Consultancy refers to the professional activities through
which social workers and their clients plan, initiate, and pursue actions toward desired change.
Resource management refers to the act of coordinating, systematizing, and integrating resources
and services needed to support social functioning, meeting needs, and resolving problems.
Education refers to the provision of knowledge and critical information necessary for
empowerment practice that facilitates informed decision-making, increased abilities, and gain
access to opportunities and resources for a client.
Competencies of Social Work
These cover all necessary skills and personality qualities needed by the profession to perform their
various roles and skills, Foundationally, social work requires the following abilities and skills
(DuBois and Miley 2008):
• think critically?
• build and sustain relationships;
• execute empowering Processes
• use practical methods;
• analyze policies;
• communicate effectively;
• strong cultural and intercultural competence;
• good computer literacy;
• conduct research;
• do social planning;
• perform crisis intervention; and
• sound time management.
On the other hand, Segal, Gerdes, and Steiner (2005) suggested a host of functional competencies
that social workers should be capable of, such as:
• handle case management with various clients and population groups;
• perform direct practice depending on the needs of the client and the environment in which the
social worker operates;
• conduct mediations among parties especially where one party is socially disadvantaged;
• make referrals to appropriate agencies and service sectors needed by the client;
• in gerontological context, perform program planning and administration in numerous settings;
• in the mental health setting, function as case managers, advocates, administrators, therapists, and
to use research as basis for problem solving and choice of intervention in empirically based
practice;
• in the school system, analyze the transactions between students, teachers, parents, and the school
system;
• In the judicial system, make the system more fair and beneficial to both convicted criminals and
their victims; and
• pursue social change on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals, eliminating economic
inequality and poverty.
In addition to these, social workers should have the capacities generic to all helping professions:
empathic, compassionate, trustworthy / confidential, humorous, and others that are made more
explicit in the code of ethics for social workers. Compassion is necessary in working with people
who are socially marginalized or suffer deprivation. They require a deeply empathic and
nonjudgmental social worker who intends to empower them. Listening skills will also occupy a
very special role in the social work toolkit. It allows people, regardless of how they take in that
information, to make sense of and understand what they are saying. Listening skills allow a person
to understand what someone is talking about no matter how difficult the subject or issue may be.
8.2. Areas of Specialization of Social Work
Professional social work requires full professional training with a college degree and in a number
of cases, requires a person to have a master's or doctorate degree in social work. Social work
specialization covers five major fields (Hartman 2015):
1. Family and child welfare. This includes services to families in situations that seriously disrupt
family life such as physical or mental illness, unemployment, and divorce in aid of improving the
client's family life. Social Work in this area also covers child welfare programs or services such as
adoption, day care, foster child care, and care for children with disabilities and aiding physically
or emotionally abused children and their families.
2. Health. Social workers help patients and their families in clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare
facilities. They provide physicians information about the social and economic background of
patients; help patients and their families deal with the impact of illness and death and counsel
patients who have been discharged to help them return to everyday life; provide counseling in
maternal and child care; provide care for dying patients and victims of certain diseases like HIV
or cancer.
3. Mental health. Social workers provide aid to people suffering from mental and emotional stress
and many other services similar to the ones offered by medical social workers. Many have training
in psychotherapy, the treatment of mental or emotional disorders using psychological methods.
4. Corrections. Social workers in corrections are involved in programs concerned with the
prevention of crime and the rehabilitation of criminals and provide counsel to people who are on
probation or parole.
5. Schools. Social work in school is part of the program on all levels from preschool through
college. It includes services to students in special schools and for individuals with emotional
disturbances or physical disabilities. Social workers in schools provide vocational counseling and
school adjustment counseling and help with behavioral management and personal problems. They
also assist students who have learning difficulties and help them work their potential.
8.3. Career Opportunities of Social Work
Social work careers span a wide variety of job opportunities in both public and private practice.
Social workers can directly work with people they serve and it is common for them to volunteer
their services. Hartman (2015) identified a number of career opportunities that include work as
administrators, supervisors, planners, researchers, or teachers. They are in various contexts such
as child welfare administration and elderly care services. They also help in obtaining financial
assistance and medical care for the elderly and other services that will enable them to live as
independently as possible. They can work in clinics and community treatment centers to provide
counseling to alcoholics and drug abusers. They can also work in public housing projects to help
people find dwellings for families made homeless by urban crises, and in corporations and labor
unions to provide a variety of work-related services including health counseling and retirement
planning. They can work as social planning practitioners. Moreover, they can do fieldwork
involving organizing and developing programs that deliver social service, and they can work as
researchers on social service issues.
DuBois and Miley (2008) took a wider survey of areas of opportunities and traced a trend in recent
years that indicated a steady increase in the areas of home health, aging services, mental health,
criminal justice, rehabilitation, and school-linked services. Elsewhere, they found areas that
include forensic social work, corporate-based employee assistance, international practice and
political social work, neighborhood-based, multidisciplinary service centers as "one stop shop"
ease access to a constellation of services including public assistance, employment services, literacy
programs, family-centered services, juvenile court services, and health care.
The number of social work professionals in the Philippines is much smaller but they are present in
a variety of settings, including hospitals, retirement homes, mental health clinics, schools, non-
profit agencies, and government offices.
8.4. Rights, Responsibilities, and Accountabilities of Social Work
By definition, social work is jointly presented by the International Federation of Social Workers
(IFSW) and International Association of School of Social Work (IASSW):
The social work profession facilitates social changes and development, social cohesion, and the
empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective
responsibility, and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of
social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people
and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing (March 2013).
The rights of social work are partially outlined. Social work foremost rights include the right to
fulfill its professional mandates and to live by its values. Its responsibilities cover those that pertain
to the dispensation of its basic functions, roles, professional standards, and adherence to its local
and international codes of ethics. Social work is accountable to the clients, the general public, and
the society.
Responsibilities of social workers working within their field of specialization are to help children,
assist those with life-threatening problems, or aid people in overcoming addictions. It is the
responsibility of a social worker to protect and uphold respect for the inherent worth and dignity
of all people as expressed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
and other related UN declarations on rights and the conventions derived from those declarations.
Social workers have a responsibility to promote social justice, in relation to society generally, and
in relation to the people with whom they work. Social workers have a responsibility to apply the
professional values and principles set out above to their practice. They should act with integrity
and treat people with compassion, empathy, and care.
The accountability of the social worker is to the clients, colleagues, employers, professional
associations, and the law. Social workers are accountable for their actions to the values and
principles of the profession, which require them to act in a reliable, honest, and trustworthy
manner. They are answerable to their clients, professional bodies like registered social workers
(RSW), certified social workers (CSW), licensed social workers (LSW), licensed clinical social
workers (LCSW), and licensed independent social workers (LISW) organization, and the laws
promulgated and enforced by appropriate government agencies.
8.5. Code of Ethics of Social Work
The code of ethics specifies the standards of ethics, conduct, and performance expected of
registered social workers. It is a duty of a social worker to always protect the health and well-being
of people who avail of the services. In everything that a social worker does, he/ she has to
demonstrate respect for the inherent dignity and worth of persons, pursuit of social justice, integrity
of professional practice, confidentiality in professional practice, and competence in professional
practice. Critical to any code of ethics is the explicit provision of ethical principles and ethical
standards and may go into specific enforceable guidelines for professional conduct in details that
would provide objective professional judgment and make it easy to identify actual violations of
ethical standards when they occur.
Ethical Principles
A sample of ethical principles and ethical standards here are adapted from the Code of Ethics of
the National Association of Social Workers. They are broad ethical principles based on social
work's core values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human
relationships, integrity, and competence. These principles and standards set forth ideals to which
all social workers should aspire.
Value: Service
Ethical Principle: Social workers' primary goal is to help people in need and to address social
problems.
Social workers elevate service to others above self-interest. Social workers draw on their
knowledge, values, and skills to help people in need and to address social problems. Social workers
are encouraged to volunteer some portion of their professional skills without expecting significant
financial return (pro bono service).
Value: Social Justice
Ethical Principle: Social workers challenge social injustice.
Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed
individuals and groups of people. Social workers' social change efforts are focused primarily on
issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice. These
activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic
diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services, and resources,
equality of opportunity, and meaningful participation in decision-making for all people.
Value: Dignity and Worth of the Person
Ethical Principle: Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person.
Social workers treat each person in a caring and respectful fashion, mindful of individual
differences and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers promote clients' social responsibility
and self-determination. Social workers seek to enhance clients' capacity and opportunity to change
and to address their own needs. Social workers are cognizant of their dual responsibility to clients
and to the broader society. They seek to resolve conflicts between clients' interests and the broader
society's interests in a socially responsible manner consistent with the values, ethical principles,
and ethical standards of the profession.
Value: Importance of Human Relationships
Ethical Principle: Social workers recognize the central importance of human relationships.
Social workers understand that relationships between and among people are an important vehicle
for change. Social workers engage people as partners in the helping process. Social workers seek
to strengthen relationships among people in a purposeful effort to promote, restore, maintain, and
enhance the wellbeing of individuals, families, social groups, organizations, and communities.
Value: Integrity
Ethical Principle: Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner.
Social workers are continually aware of the professions mission, values, Social workers are
continually aware of the profession's mission, values, them. Social workers act honestly and
responsibly and promote ethical practices on the part of the organizations with which they are
affiliated.
Value: Competence
Ethical Principle: Social workers practice within their areas of competence and develop and
enhance their professional expertise.
Social workers continually strive to increase their professional knowledge and skills and apply
them in practice. Social workers should aspire to contribute to the knowledge base of the
profession.
Ethical Standards
The following ethical standards are relevant to the professional activities of all social workers.
These standards are concerned with the social workers' ethical responsibilities: (1) to clients; (2)
to colleagues; (3) in practice settings; (4) as professionals; (5) to the social work profession; and
(6) to the broader society.
Guidelines for Professional Conduct
The following guidelines for professional conduct reflect the spirit of a code of ethics. It consists
the ethical specifics in the professional conduct of social workers culled from the Code of
Professional Conduct and Ethics for Social Workers devised by the Social Workers Registration
Board (SWRB) at CORU (2011) and the Ethics in Social Work Statement of Principles by the
International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) (2004).
1. Social workers are expected to uphold human rights in their practice.
2. Social workers should respect the rights and dignity of people.
3. Social workers should respect relationships of people who use their services.
4. Social workers should promote social justice.
5. Social workers should comply with the laws and regulations governing their practice.
6. Social workers should carry out their duties professionally and ethically.
7. Social workers should demonstrate ethical awareness.
8. Social workers should demonstrate professional accountability.
9. Social workers should act in the best interest of people who use their services.
10. Social workers should communicate with people who use their services, careers, and
professionals,
11. Social workers should seek informed consent of people who use their services.
12. Social workers should keep accurate records.
13. Social workers should deal appropriately with health and safety risks.
14. Social workers should willingly collaborate, delegate, and manage appropriately.
15. Social workers should undertake research ethically.
16. Social workers should maintain high standards of personal conduct.
17. Social workers should act with integrity. This means that they should not abuse the relationship
of the trust with people using their services; they should recognize the boundaries between personal
and professional life, and they should not abuse their position for personal benefit or gain.
18. Social workers should provide accurate information about their conduct and competence.
19. Social workers should treat information about people who use their services as confidential
except in situations that call for greater ethical requirement such as preservation of life. knowledge,
skills, and experience. to date so that they are able to provide appropriate services.
20. Social workers should act within the limits of their professional
21. Social workers should keep their professional knowledge and skills up to date so that they are
able to provide appropriate services.
