Social Work in Canada

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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA

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An Introduction
Third Edition
Chapter 1: The Canadian Welfare State Today
Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

The Canadian Welfare State Today Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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The Canadian Welfare State Today
 Social Work and the New Economy

 What Is Social Welfare?
 The Provision of Social Welfare
 What Do Social Workers Do?
 Approaches to Practice
 Defining Social Work

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Social Work and the New Economy
 Keep ultimate goal in mind

 Acknowledge reality you are working in
 Recognize that you work in a “bureaucracy”
 Rely on strength & resilience of individuals
 Don’t get discouraged
 Keep a sense of humour
 Be patient, genuine, and open-hearted
 Remember, your profession is noblest of all

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What Is Social Welfare?
Social Services Income Security

 Child care  Employment Insurance
 Child protection  Social Assistance
services  Old Age Security
 Women’s shelters  Workers’ Compensation
 Counselling

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The Welfare State
 The Welfare State is the range of programs and

services available to Canadian citizens
 The key elements are:
 Use of state power to provide essential social
services to citizens
 Use of grants, taxes, pensions, and minimum-
income programs to provide income security

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Social Policies and Social Programs
Social Policies
The overall rules and regulations, laws, and
other administrative directives that set the
framework for state social welfare activity.
Social Programs
Specific initiatives that implement social
welfare policies.

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The Provision of Social Welfare
There are three types of service providers in

Canada:
 Public Welfare
 Private Welfare – Non-Profit
 Private Welfare – For-Profit

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Public Welfare
 Occurs at three levels of government:
 Federal/National
 Provincial/Territorial
 Regional/Municipal
 Public non-government agencies:

 Advisory and appeal boards
 Members appointed from public by government
 Independent/Semi-independent

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Private Welfare
 Non-profit organizations
 Mandated to provide a service but not create profit
 Registered by law
 Receive funds from government and private sources
 Earn money by providing services for other organizations
 Governments are moving more and more towards this
model to save money

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Private Welfare
 For-profit organizations
 Provide services on a fee basis
 May often be purchased by government on behalf of
individuals
 Purpose is to generate a profit for the owner of the
organization

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Debating Social Welfare

There are two key approaches to social welfare:
 The Residual View

 The Institutional View

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Residual View
 Social welfare is temporary response to human need
 Implemented only when all else fails
 Individual’s needs are met through family and market
economy
 Government plays limited role
 Provides benefits at low level to discourage use

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Institutional View
 Social welfare is necessary public response
 Helps people attain reasonable standard of life and
health
 People cannot always meet needs through family and
work
 Helps people by means of a publicly funded system of
programs and institutions
 Evens out economic stratification

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New approach: The Structural Approach
 Society’s underlying problems linked to private concentrations of

wealth and power
 Welfare state is a contradiction of capitalism
 Provides benefits for people in need, but does not address
exploitative nature of capitalist markets
 Social problems and inequalities as a built-in feature of society
 Society itself needs to change

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What Do Social Workers Do?
Canadian Association of Social Workers

www.casw-acts.ca
 A federation of provincial and territorial social work

organizations
 Works to advance the social work profession in Canada

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There are two types of social work:
 Direct social work

 Indirect social work

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Direct social work:

 Involves providing services (individual counselling,
group work, and community development)
 Social workers work for public/publicly funded social
service agencies and institutions
 Some social workers work in private practice

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Indirect social work:

 Concerned with governments and non-governmental
agencies
 Formulate, analyze, develop, and evaluate social
policies and programs
 Work with social service agencies, advocacy or
research groups
 Examples: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives,
National Anti-Poverty Organization

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There are three types of social work practice:

 Micro:
direct practice with individuals
 Mezzo:
working with groups and communities
 Macro:
working with organizations and communities to
improve or change laws or policies

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Approaches to Practice
There are two approaches to practice:

Emphasize the personal (or internal)
Emphasize the structural (or external)

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Locating the problems in the individual

 Wide variety of approaches
 Some locate problem in the body
 Others locate problem in the mind
 Purpose is to enhance the coping and problem solving
abilities of the client

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Locating the problems in social structures

 Approach gives emphasis to wider social factors
 Includes structural or critical social work practice
 Varies according to clientele
 Based on belief that structural factors have significance
for many types of social work problems

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Defining Social Work
New definition of social work:
The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human
relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance
well-being.
Utilizing theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work

intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments.
Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.
International Federation of Social Workers, July 2000

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Definition of social work emphasizes four key

concepts:
1. Social change/social justice mandate
2. Problem solving
3. Person-in-the-environment
4. Empowerment

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Social Change/Social Justice Mandate

 Means working in solidarity with disadvantaged
 Forefront of promoting policies and legislation
 Promote equal opportunity for all
 Seek ways to redress social imbalances
 Reduce need for welfare services

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Problem Solving
 Use problem-solving techniques to identify problem
 Explores person’s concerns to identify needs, barriers
to needs, and plan of action
 Inclusion of client at each stage
 Teach client problem-solving skills

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Person-In-The-Environment
 Examines relationship between individuals and their
environments
 Environments include interactions with friends,
neighborhoods, schools, religious groups, laws and
legislation, agencies/organizations, places of
employment, and economic system

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Empowerment
 Increasing power to improve one’s situation
 Client must believe efforts of practitioner make a
difference
 Social workers seek to empower their clients by:
 Making power explicit
 Giving clients experiences in which they are in
control
 Supporting client’s own efforts to gain greater
control over their lives

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Questions for Discussion
Summarize the key points of the residual,

institutional, and structural approaches to social
welfare. Are there similarities? In what ways do
they differ?

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Think about the provision of social welfare

services in your province. Do you see elements
of the residual, institutional, or structural
approaches in the provision of service? If yes,
in what ways?

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Do you think individual and structural

approaches to practice are mutually exclusive?
Do you think that these approaches can be
integrated? Discuss your position.

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In addition to Canada, which other countries are

considered “welfare states”? How might one’s
socioeconomic status intersect with one’s
position on social welfare?

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In what ways might social welfare programs

facilitate a greater sense of belonging in Canadian
society?

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Websites
 Social Work Glossary

www.socialpolicy.ca
 Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)

www.ccsd.ca
 Canadian Social Research Links

www.canadiansocialresearch.net


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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA

Chapter 1: The Canadian Welfare State Today

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

 Social Work and the New Economy

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

 Keep ultimate goal in mind

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Social Services Income Security

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

 The Welfare State is the range of programs and

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

There are three types of service providers in

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

 Public non-government agencies:

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Debating Social Welfare

 The Residual View

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

New approach: The Structural Approach

 Society’s underlying problems linked to private concentrations of

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Canadian Association of Social Workers

 A federation of provincial and territorial social work

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

There are two types of social work:

 Direct social work

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Direct social work:

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Indirect social work:

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

There are three types of social work practice:

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

There are two approaches to practice:

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Locating the problems in the individual

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Locating the problems in social structures

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

New definition of social work:

Utilizing theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work

International Federation of Social Workers, July 2000

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Definition of social work emphasizes four key

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Social Change/Social Justice Mandate

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Summarize the key points of the residual,

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Think about the provision of social welfare

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

Do you think individual and structural

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada

In addition to Canada, which other countries are

Chapter 1: Social Work In Canada