The professionals and Practitioners in the Discipline of Social Work

At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:

1. define the roles, functions, and competencies of social work;

2 distinguish the areas of specialization of social work;

3. be familiar with career opportunities of social work;

4. describe the rights, responsibilities, and accountabilities of social work; and

5. explain the Code of Ethics of social work.

ELICIT

Who do you think are the professionals and practitioners in the Discipline of Social work?

ENGAGE

Look at the following list of areas of specialization of social workers:

domestic violence

poverty

child abuse and homelessness

hospital settings

private practice

research work

social policy advocacies

Why do you think there is a need for social workers to have specializations?

Differentiate these areas.

EXPLORE

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 20O04).

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, & 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.

me of

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, breaking 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 client system (DuBois & Miley 2008). The roles are generally interwoven with functions
but DuBois and Miley (2008) have 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 broker 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 convener or mediator in aid of creating networks, and they are trainer for
professional development. For community and society, their role is that of a planner-facilitating research
and planning. They are activist 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, & Steiner 2005).

Functions of Social Work

These speak of main activities professionally performed by social workers. DuBois and Miley (2008)
include 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) provide 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 &
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) suggest 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 operate;
 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 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 school system, analyze the transactions between students, teacher, 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, observes confidentiality, has a sense of humor, 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 non-judgmental
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 college degree and in a number of cases,
requires a person to have a master's or doctor's 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, divorce, in aid of improving client's family life. In
child welfare programs or services such as adoption, daycare, 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 health-care
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; the
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 with 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 for individuals with emotional disturbances or physical
disabilities. Social workers in schools provide vocational counseling, school adjustment counseling, and
help with behavioral management and personal problems. They also assist students who have learning
difficulties and help them work to 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) identifies 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 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 are 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 change 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 well-being (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 roles, professional standards, and adherence to its
local and international codes responsibilities cover those that pertain to the dispensation of its basic
functions, of ethics. Social work is accountable to the clients, the general public, and the

Responsibilities of social workers working within their field of specialization are to help children, assist
those life-threatening problems, or aid people in overcoming addictions. It is a responsibility of 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.

Accountability of social worker is to the clients, colleagues, employers, professional associations, and to
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 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
(probono 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' socially responsible 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 well-being 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 profession's mission, values, ethical principles, and ethical
standards and practice in a manner consistent with 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
com) 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.

20. Social workers should act within the limits of their professional knowledge, skills, and experience.

21. Social workers should keep their professional knowledge and skills up to date so that they are able
to provide appropriate services.

EXPLAIN

What new learning did you develop about the professionals and practitioners in the discipline of
social work? Write your Insights.

ELABORATE

Go online and search for "career opportunities for social workers." Make a listing of the top 10 to 15
career opportunities that come out from your research. Compare your new list with the list in this
chapter. Discuss with your classmates any new opportunities that came out.

EVALUATE

Name ______________________________________ Date:

Grade & Section: ___________ Score:

I. Test Your Knowledge

A. In three sentences, give the difference between the roles and functions of social workers.
B. Discuss how and why compassion and listening skills are important competencies of a social worker.

C. Briefly describe the following areas of specialization of social worker.

1. Child, family, and school

2. Mental health and substance abuse

3.Medical and public health

II. Check Your Understanding

A. Give examples of career opportunities of social workers in the different settings.

Setting Career Opportunities

Hospitals

Retirement homes

Mental Health clinics

Schools

Non-profit agencies

Government offices

B. Explain the nature of the rights, responsibilities, and accountabilities of social workers.
III. Apply Your Learning

Goal: Your goal is to give a speech to the newly licensed social workers who are about to do their oath
taking.

Role: You will take on the role of the chair of the Professional Regulatory Board for the social work
profession.

Audience: Your audience will be the new professional social workers.

Situation: You need to discuss the Code of Ethics of Social Work and illustrate how the new social
workers can practice the principles of ethics proper of their profession.

Performance: You need to outline your speech that contains a simple yet comprehensive explanation of
the Code of Ethics of Social Work, focusing on two ethical principles. Give concrete examples of how a
social worker can live out this Code of Ethics. Simulate the giving of speech in your class.

Standard: Your speech outline should contain an explanation of the Code of Ethics of Social Work and
two ethical principles. The speech should also be delivered in a concise and articulate manner.

EXTEND

Create a blog to promote the profession of Social Work to the Grade 11 and 12 students of your
School. Make it comprehensive on information about competences career opportunities, responsibilities
and accountabilities of a professional social worker. make your blood inspiring and request permission
from your school administration To share it among your schoolmates.