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Field Work Practice in Social Work

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Ajibo, H., Mbah, F. & Anazonwu, N. (2017). Field work practice in social work. In Okoye, U., Chukwu, N. & Agwu,
P. (Eds.). Social work in Nigeria: Book of readings (pp 104–113). Nsukka: University of Nigeria Press Ltd.

Field Work Practice in Social Work

9 Henry Ajibo, Francis Mbah & Nkemdilim Anazonwu

I n fields of learning, it is expected that theories and practice should be

complementary and inter-dependent. History has shown that most theories
are developed from practice, precisely from closely observed experiences
of people with their environments overtime (Ebue & Agwu, 2017). The essence
of practice is to further validate theories, and as well improve on them. Social
work discipline is no exception to this development, hence the introduction of
field work practice as a prerequisite for the fulfillment of the award of diploma
or higher degrees in the discipline. Field work practice helps students integrate
theoretical classroom learning with practical experiences, so as to be clear on
the realities of theories in real life experiences. Littrel (1980) asserted that field
work practice helps us to sharpen and develop skills which will make us more
effective and efficient in dealing with our clients and helping to solve their
various problems.

The profession of social work is too delicate. Becoming a professional social

worker cannot just happen by only sitting in a class. The nature of the profession
which is to engage human welfare does not permit such kind of training.
Invariably, social workers in training spend more time at fields than classrooms.
To engage an orphan or a vulnerable child, or a prison inmate, and have his or
her welfare met, the social worker must have to do so physically and not just
stay in a class telling stories and reading up such experiences. In fact, the more
field experiences social workers have, the more they could tell how competent
they are. Thus, in social work, practice wisdom has become a major source of
knowledge base (Teater, 2010). By practice wisdom, one implies experiences
gotten overtime through first hand engagement with several cases of clients. All
of these have contributed to the reason why social work learning and studies all
over the globe lay special emphasis on field work experiences.

Field work practice in social work aligns with the objectives and purpose of the
social work profession. This is because it facilitates the dexterity of
professionals to develop skills and capacities to regularly, effectively, and
objectively deal with life situations obtainable in the society (Ekpe and Mamah
1997, Morale Sheafor and Scolt, 2010). Specifically, the objectives of social

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work which are likewise the tenets guiding fieldwork practice can be
summarized thus:
 Enhance the problem-solving and copying capacity of people.
 Link people with systems that provide them with resources, services and
opportunities.
 Promote the effective and humane operation of these systems.
 Contribute to the development and improvement of social policy.

Further, to fulfill the above tenets guiding fieldwork practice, the following
tasks should be well attended:
 Increase the coping capacity of all clients by effectively utilizing the
problem solving model.
 Participate fully in contribution to the modification/formulation of
various social policies or influencing most social policies from its
formative stage.
 Create awareness by educating, advocating, and concentrating on
conscientizing the society for an effective utilization of available human
and materials resources.
 Harmonizing human relationships in their physical and social
environments through rehabilitation, reconciliation, and re-integration,
where and when necessary.
 Help in rural transformation by making rural life more meaningful to
the people through helping them to achieve self-reliance.

Dimensions/settings and categories of clients served during fieldwork

The clientele base of social workers during typical Nigerian fieldwork
experiences include: troubled families, STD infected persons, the oppressed,
the poor, the unemployed, law offenders, pregnant teenagers, abusers of
substance, abandoned children, victims of discrimination and social exclusion,
undeveloped/underdeveloped communities, mentally ill persons, children with
poor academic performance, people living with disabilities, among others.

These various categories of persons can be found in various settings. They

include: communities, legal or correctional institutions, remand homes, social
welfare agencies, schools, mental health facilities, markets, industries,
organizations, etc. There is this saying that whenever two persons meet, the next
person who makes the third is a social worker. This is because, the presence of
humans implies the potential of problems. Solving these problems demand the
expertise of the third person who is the social worker. For further learning, the
different agencies where social workers serve and the kind of problems
obtainable in them will be discussed.

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Hospital
In Nigeria, social workers practice in hospitals. Particularly, hospitals owned
and managed by the Federal Government. The interest of social workers is to
pay attention to the psychosocial issues of clients, while the doctors and medical
teams solve problems that involve chemotherapy. They are complementary to
doctors, and emphasize psychosomatic issues. The distinctiveness of social
work in health settings is that people served are clients rather than patients,
which implies that the social worker could still see them as capable of changing
the ill situation. The focus of work is on the psychosocial effects, causes and
sustenance of illness, and not just the illness in itself (Flack, 2008).

School
Social workers also practice in schools. They work with students/pupils,
teachers and parents to ensure that the objectives of school education are
fulfilled. They also focus on students with learning disabilities and those who
engage behaviours not compatible with the objectives of education, like
truancy, cultism, unwholesome relationships, etc. School social workers work
with pupils/students at all grade levels whose academic struggles impact their
school progress negatively. They may consult with parents, guardians, teachers,
and other support staff to find solutions for struggling children. School social
workers are often called upon in situations of child abuse or neglect to navigate
legal channels and serve as a liaison with outside agencies (Social Work Guide,
2018).

Psychiatry
Psychiatric social workers exists. They provide mental health services to
individuals with mental health problems, especially those in psychiatric
facilities. Social workers in psychiatric settings engage responsibilities like
intake of inpatients, repatriation and discharge of service users, psychosocial
assessments of inpatients, equipping inpatients with social skills, reconciling
inpatients with systems around, among other tasks that would make
rehabilitation and reintegration effective. The goal is to ensure that the person
has resources to function independently and optimally within the community
after discharge. They are in frequent contact with the family members of
patients, and facilitate other professionals involve in the care and protection of
the client. If the patient is involved in legal procedures, the social worker may
have a role in information gathering (Social Work Licensure, 2018).

Organizational settings
Social work field practice experience in industries include government and
private owned establishments such as social welfare agencies, banks, insurance
companies, courts, government parastatals, telecommunication companies,
industries, and firms. Here, social workers enhance mutual relationship and
understanding between employers and employees. They also advocate for

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adequate welfare of the employees through workplace policies, rules and

regulations. Social workers beyond the work place ensure wellbeing of family
members of employees and employers, because the conditions of their families
could as well affect their productivity. Industrial social work is a vital area of
social work practice which is concerned with making organizations efficient, as
well as stimulating productive relationships among everyone directly or
indirectly connected to the industry (Dileep, 2006). At social welfare agencies
in Nigeria, social workers attend more to marital disputes, and help them seek
social and legal redress. They work collaboratively with the legal practitioner
who is made to head the agency.

Old people’s home

Old people’s home is also a social work practice setting in Nigeria. Social
workers work with old people at the old people’s home to ensure their physical
and emotional wellbeing through adequate care. Social workers are employed
in homes for the elderly and they perform a number of functions which include,
helping older adults adjust to life in their new residences, advocating for their
clients’ needs and rights, providing supportive counseling and making
psychosocial assessments/interventions (Miller, 2018).

Motherless babies’ homes

Motherless babies’ homes are places where children who do not have mothers
or have been abandoned by their mothers are kept. In majority of the cases these
children have fathers but the fathers believe that the children will be better taken
care of by mother figures, who are often present at motherless babies’ homes.
The motherless babies’ homes in Nigeria only accept children between the ages
of 1 to 6 years. Social workers ensure the wellbeing of the children through
facilitating funds for the children’s up keep, and securing foster placements for
them where necessary. In the event of situations having parents coming to claim
children, social workers become involved in the reconciliatory process, as well
as legal redress.

Orphanage
Orphanage is a home where children who have lost any or all of their parents
stay. Social workers ensure the physical and psychological wellbeing of the
children through facilitating and procuring resources that will be used to take
care of them. Social workers also ensure adequate assessment and evaluation of
parents who come for adoption, so as to make sure that the security of children
is provided. Social workers in orphanage homes ensure that the needs of
children are being met, and safety standards are implemented. So they conduct
intermittent inspections (Xennial, 2018).

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Community
Social workers work with communities, their members and leadership. They
are to ensure the overall wellbeing of the community through addressing
pressing problems along the principles of felt needs. Social workers link the
community to government and non-government agencies in order to facilitate
developmental projects.

Levels of social work field practice

Social work field practicum takes place within three levels, which are micro,
mezzo and macro. The levels are detailed below.

Micro
Micro social work practice involves practice with individuals and families
(Social Work Guide, 2018). It is also known as social case work. This is a
situation whereby a social worker handles a client case at individual level rather
than in group or at community level. In addition, micro practice is the most
common kind of social work practice. In micro social work, the social worker
engages with individuals or families to solve problems. Common examples
include helping individuals to find appropriate housing, health care and social
services. Family therapy and individual counseling would also fall under the
auspices of micro practice (Social Work License Map, 2017).

Mezzo
Mezzo social work practice involves social work practice with groups. It is also
known as group work. This is a situation whereby the social worker handles
problems of clients in a group setting. Such groups include, neighborhoods, task
forces, and support groups (Social Work Guide, 2018).

Macro
This is social work practice with the community. It is also known as community
development. This is a situation whereby the community as a whole forms
social work client base. The social worker works with the community and not
for the community to solve a particular problem that perturbs the community.
Furthermore, macro social work practice involves working with agencies,
organizations, communities, and large groups of people (Gillies, 2014).

Expectations from students in their various field work placement agencies

In preparation for the professional practice, students usually while at school
undergo two phases of training, theoretical classroom orientation and practical
field work orientation. In the usual classroom instructions, theoretical issues are
taught to students with a view of developing their skills in preparation for
practice. They are often assigned to agencies to acquire practical knowledge,

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skills and to test and put into practice what they have learnt in the classroom.
This is akin to internship programmes, and forms a huge part of their grading.

A combination of both training systems prepare students for effective

professional practice. Of course, most students don’t always know or have
refused to imbibe the culture of this all important aspect of social work
education – field practice. This could be due to ignorance, perhaps of what they
are expected to do at the agencies of placement, and how to go about them in
practice. Little do they know that field work orientation is the most essential
and even the most enjoyable part of their training. Also, students tend not to
know how to apply rudimentary knowledge in dealing with the different
categories of their clientele in line with the ethics, values and knowledge base
of their profession (Okoye, 2014). At times, they fall out with their field
supervisor, their clientele and among themselves either by omission or
commission. This is not what it should be.

Whenever the narrative above happens, it shows that such students lack proper
understanding or knowledge of theoretical issues taught them in class before
the field assignments. Hence, it is always necessary to bring to the knowledge
of students the procedures of taking on cases at agencies. No doubt that dealing
with humans could be difficult and delicate as well. As social workers-in-
training, it is important to see through three conceptual lenses in intervening
with people in their placement agencies. The first is to see through himself by
assessing and identifying his weaknesses, competencies and strengths. Second
is to see through the eyes of the profession, which entails being knowledgeable
to the core with the ethics and values of the profession. This calls for a proper
understanding of the knowledge base of social work, its purpose, goals and
dimensions. And lastly is to see through the eyes of the people and agency he
is designated to work with. This calls for a good understanding of the ethics and
values of the agency, and his expectations there.

Field work report

Field work report is a crucial aspect of social work field practice. A social
worker or student social worker working with any form of clientele system is
expected to write a comprehensive field work report detailing his activities with
the client which also must be kept confidential.

In Nigeria, there is a template for writing social work field work report. The
template follows the following sequence: purpose of the visit, observation,
content, impression, worker’s role, and next plan of action (Department of
Social Work, 2015).

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Purpose of the visit

The student social work or a professional social worker is expected to state his
mission, intension or aim of visiting the agency.

Observation
The student or social worker is expected to give account of all that is around
him in the agency that has a direct or indirect bearing with the object/subject of
intervention. The scope of inference must be problem specific.

Content
All that transpired between the student and his client in the course of
intervention, constitute the content.

Impression
This is a subjective expression of students or social worker’s goal assessment.
The student or social worker is at liberty to state his feelings, cognitive
judgment and general expectations with regards to his client and the overall
intervention process.

Worker’s role
The worker is expected to describe all the skills, methods/techniques he or she
adopted in the intervention process.

Next plan of action

The student or social worker is expected to state what will become his next line
of action or better still, what he intends to do in the next field work schedule.

Importance of field work

It is quite evident from the foregoing that fieldwork has always been part of
social work training and it is an integral component of social work education.
Field work experience plays a central role in the curricula of social work schools
around the world (Schmidt & Rautenbach, 2016). During the field practicum,
social work students are moving from class-based learning to learning by doing,
which marks their entrance into the world of the profession and the demands of
learning through practice. The centrality of field experience in shaping social
work students cannot be denied. Field work experiences play an important role
in building the skills and competence of social workers in various ways. These
include:
 Providing an opportunity to social workers to put their theoretical
knowledge into practice during the period of training. This is done by
utilizing different methods and principles of social work which provide
them with the opportunities to blend theory with practice. In field practice,

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 Field work practice in social work

students apply what they learn in the classroom to real-life situations

(D’Mello & Monteiro, 2016).
 Fieldwork experience also develops in social workers, skills that will enable
them to respond appropriately to the needs of clients by applying variety of
social work methods, skills and techniques.
 Through their practical experience, students will be able to work with actual
clients, interact with experienced social work staff and other professionals,
and learn to develop interpersonal skills with these various persons (Eleni,
2014).
 They are exposed to agency practice.
 It provides the opportunity for students to be guided and supervised by field
supervisors who are hands-on at the field.
 With field practice experience, social workers are opportune to work with
varieties of clients such as individuals, families, groups, organizations and
communities as well as people with different personalities, cultures, and
philosophies, thereby applying social work methods in intervention
processes (D’Mello & Monteiro, 2016). Through this interplay, social work
students have hands-on opportunities to discover new ideas or think about
themselves and their own values, prejudices, and attitudes towards others,
while learning to manage emotions and feelings within real-world agency
settings (Eleni, 2014).
 It helps social workers to conduct appropriate client interviews and
assessments as demonstrated by the identification of problems/needs and
strengths and the determination of interventions, plans, goals, and
evaluations.
 In field experience, social workers come into contact with needy people,
their problems, their reactions to the problems and their attitude towards
social workers. It is through such interface that social work students acquire
skills (Safari, 1986; Dhemba, 2012).
 Field practice helps social workers to demonstrate an awareness of
themselves in the professional context.
 Through field experience, social workers learn the organizational
framework of services, understand structure and policy, and how to apply
them to practice. They become familiar with different institutional styles
associated with various field practices.
 To demonstrate ability to proficiently communicate oral and written
information in a manner that reflects professional social work skills.
 The students become familiar with administrative procedures and
processes. They learn how to run an office administratively daily.
 The ideal field placement offers social workers a focus on the methods of
direct practice, policy development and implementation, and other social
work special projects and research activities.

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 Ajibo, Mbah, & Anazonwu

 The students acquire knowledge regarding community structure and process

by knowing different groups that exist in various communities and develop
the ability to utilize community resources in problem solving.

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