SOCI

ALWORKPROFESSI
ON
(
Subj
ectcode:
MS/
15C/
101)
Cr
edi
ts:
3 Lect
urehour
s:45
-
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
----
---
---
---
--
--
---
--
--
--
---
--
--
--
--
--
--
---
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
----
--
--
--
--
--
---
--
--
--
--
Obj
ecti
ves
 Togai nanunder st
andingaboutsoci alworkandr el
atedconcepts.
 Topr ovidei nformat i
onaboutev oluti
onofsocialwor kintheWestandi nIndi
a
andit
s
emergenceasapr ofession.
 Tor ecognizet heneedandi mpor t
anceofsocialwor keducationandtrai
ning.
 Tounder standv ari
ousmodel sofprofessi
onalpracti
cesandi tsappl
i
cations.
 Togai nani nsightint
oper sonal
it
yr equi
rementsandcodeofet hi
cs.

UNI
T-I
:Int
roduct
ion(
9hour
s)

Soci
alwork:Def
ini
ti
on,Nat
ure,char
act
eri
sti
cs,f
unct
ions,v
alues,pr
inci
ples,goal
s
andscope.

Concept
srelat
edtoSocialWork:Soci
alWel
far
e,Soci
alSer
vice,Soci
alRef
orms,
Soci
alJust
ice,Soci
alDevel
opmentandSocialEmpowerment.Volunt
arySoci
al
WorkinI
ndi
a.

ConceptofInternat
ionalSoci
alWork.Rel
i
gio-
phi
losophi
calf
oundat
ionsofsoci
al
workinI
ndia.Histor
yofSocialWor
kintheWestandinIndi
a.

Soci
alWor
k:

Def
ini
ti
on,

TheNASW ( 1973)definessocialworkas" Theprofessi

onalactiv
ityofhelpi
ng
i
ndiv
iduals,famili
es,groupsorcommuni ti
esenhanceorr est
oretheircapaci
tyf
or
soci
alfuncti
oningorcreatingsoci
etal
condi
ti
onsfavor
abletothatgoal
.

Thef oll
owingdef ini
tionwasappr ovedbyt heIFSW Gener alMeetingandt heIASSW
Gener alAssembl yinJul y2014:“Socialworkisapr act i
ce-
basedpr ofessionandan
academi cdisci
plinet hatpromotessocialchangeanddev elopment,socialcohesion,
andt heempower mentandl i
ber
ati
onofpeopl e.Principl
esofsoci aljusti
ce,human
ri
ghts,coll
ectiv
er esponsi bi
li
tyandrespectfordi
v er
siti
esar ecentralt
osoci alwor k.
 
Under pi
nnedbyt heoriesofsocialwork,soci
alsciences,humani t
iesandi ndigenous
knowledge,soci alwor k 
engagespeopleandst ructurest oaddressl i
fechal l
enges
andenhancewel lbeing.

Page1of1
Accor di
ngt oPr of.
 Fri
edlander,
”Socialwork isapr ofessionalservi
cebasedupon
scientif
icknowledge&ski l
linhumanr el
ati
onswhi chassi stsi
ndivi
dualsaloneorin
groupst oobtai
n social 
&pr of
essionalsati
sfacti
on&i ndependence.”
Soci alworkmaybedef i
nedasanar t
,ascience,apr ofessionthathelpspeopleto
solveper sonal
,group( especi
all
yf amily)
,andcommuni t
ypr oblemsandt oattai
n
satisfyi
ngpersonal,groupandcommuni t
yrelati
onshi
pst hroughsocialworkpract
ice

Socialworki
sapr ofessi
onconcer nedwi thhel
pingindivi
duals,famili
es,groupsand
communi t
iestoenhancet heirindividualandcol l
ectivewell-
being.Itaimst ohelp
peopledevel
opt heirskil
l
sandt heirabili
tytouset heirownr esourcesandt hoseof
thecommuni tytor esolv
epr oblems.Soci alworkisconcer nedwi thindiv
idualand
personal pr
oblems but al so wi t
h br oader social i
ssues such as pov er
ty,
unemploymentanddomest icviolence.

Nat
ure

Soci
alworkisaprobl
em sol
vi
ngprofessionthati
scommi t
tedtoi
mpr ovet
hequal
i
ty
ofhumanli
febyimparti
ngvari
ousint
erventi
ontechni
quesandstr
ategieswhi
char
e
sci
enti
fi
cal
lypr
ovedandarti
sti
cal
lyappli
ed.TheKeyConcept sar
e

1.Psycho-soci
alProbl
ems
2.Social
Wor kasaPr oblem Solvi
ngProf
essi
on
3.Misconcepti
onsaboutSoci alWork
4.ScopeandObj ecti
vesofSoci al
Work
5.Social
Wor kasaPr ofessi
on
6.Ski
ll
sandQual it
iesofaSoci alWor
ker

Psy cho-socialProbl
ems
Wef acenumer ousprobl
emssuchast ensi
on,anger
,frust
rati
on,st
ress,i
ll
ness,
alcoholism etc.inourdaytodayli
fe!
Any thi
ngt hatcasusesdiffi
cul
tyt
oani ndi
vi
dualorevenagr oupofpersonsmaybe
termedasapr oblem.Inthesamemanner ,
unsati
sfi
edneedsorwant smayal so
resultinproblems.Pr obl
emscanbebr oadl
ycategori
sedintophysi
cal,mentaland
social.

Canyoul istoutsomepr
obl
emscomi
ngundereachoft
hesecat
egor
ies?
•Physicalproblems
•Ment alproblems
•Socialproblems

Phy si
calproblemsar et hoseproblemsthataf
fectourbody
.e.g.cancer,fev
er,pai
n,
disabil
i
tyet c.Problemst hataf
fectthementalreal
m,suchasst r
ess,depressi
on,
excessiveangerar eexampl esofpsy chol
ogi
calormentalproblems.Somesoci al
problemsaf fectindiv
idualaswellasthepeopl
earoundthem;e.g.alcohol
i
sm, cr
ime,
unempl oyment ,r
iotsetc.

Thinkaboutsol v
ingtheseprobl
ems!Isiteasy
?Isi
tpossibletosolv
etheseproblems
i
nasi ngl estep?No,itisimpossi
ble!Commonpeopl euset heirownstrat
egiest o
sol
v etheseproblems,butthosest
rategi
esmaynotbesci enti
fi
candmayhav emany
l
imitat
ions.Thatresult
edintheemergenceofascient
if
icpr of
essi
ontosolvepsy cho
social
pr obl
ems.

Page2of2
From thesoci
alworkper spect
ive,problemsaregeneral
lyinterr
elated.I
tr angesf r
om
si
mpl eto complex.Ev eryproblem hasnumer oussolutions.Buti ndiv i
dualsand
communi ti
es are conf used wi t
ht he pr
oblem and i t
s sol uti
ons.Soci alwor k
prof
ession al
so helpst heclientto chooset her i
ghtsol uti
onswhi ch ar emost
appropri
atetotheclient.Thisprofessionhelpsthecli
enttounder standt hepr obl
em
andtocopewi t
hit.Italsopr ev
entstheonsetofsi mi
larproblemsi nfuture.

Thesoci alli
feofthemoder nwor ldi
schar act
eri
zedbynumer ousprobl
ems.The
consumer i
sti
candpr ofit
-or
ientedappr oachesoft hepr esentsoci et
ybri
ngabout
drasti
cconsequencesinsoci alli
fe.Pr
obl emsl i
keisolat
ion,pov ert
y,unemploy
ment ,
migrati
on,famil
ydisi
ntegrati
on,sexualv iol
ence,atrocit
iesagai nstwomen,sui ci
de,
substanceabuse,communal ism,terr
orism,chi l
dabuseet c.ar eont heincrease.
Soluti
ont otheseproblemsonasci entifi
cbasi sisessent ialtoensurepeacef ul
sociall
if
e.
Characteri
sti
cs

1.Social worki sawel fareact i

v i
tybasedonhumani tari
anphi l
osophy .
2.Itrespectst hewor t
handdi gnityofindi
vi
dual s.
3.Iti
sapr ofessi onal acti
vit
y .
4.Itassistsindi viduals,groupsandcommuni ti
est obecomesel f
-r
eliantand
interdependent .
5.Itpromot esadapt abil
it
yofi ndividual
stosoci alf
unctioning.
6.Social workhasast r
ongsci enti
ficbase.
7.Iti
scl oselyrel atedt opsy chologyandsoci ology.
8.Iti
sanact ivi
t yt hathelpst ocopewi t
hproblems.
9.Itrequiresspeci fi
cknowl edge, skill
sacquir
edt hroughf ormaltr
aining.
10.
Iti
sr emuner ative.

Funct
ions

Funct
ionsofsoci
alwork:Funct
ionofsoci
alworkreferstot
henat
uralact
ivi
tyof
soci
alworkort
hestat
ementsofhowsocial
workoperates.

According to Proff
.P. D.Mishra soci
alwor k operat
es t
o assi
stindi
vi
dualsin
adj
ustingt otheinsti
tut
ionalf
ramewor kofthesoci et
yandatt
emptstomodi f
ythe
i
nsti
tutionalframewor kitsel
finappropri
ateareas.Heclassi
fi
edthefunct
ionsof
soci
alwor kintothefoll
owing4majorcategor
ies:

1.Cur
ati
veFunct
ion

Theser vi
cespr ov
idedundercur at
ivefuncti
onsar e–medicalandheal t
hser vi
ces,
serv
icesrelat
ingtopsychiat
ry,chil
dguidance,chi
ldwel f
areservi
ces,ser
vicesfort
he
handicappedordisableinthef orm ofprot
ectionandr ehabil
i
tat
ion.Thesekindsof
serv
ices aim to curet he phy si
cal
,social,mat eri
al,psychol
ogicalsickness of
i
ndivi
dualsinthesociet
y.

2.Cor
rect
ional
Funct
ion

Thecorr
ecti
onalf
uncti
onofsoci
alworkhast
hreebr
oadareas,suchas:
a)I
ndiv
idualr
efor
m serv
icewhi
chincl
udespr
isonr
efor
m,probation,
par
oleandot
her
Page3of3
rel
atedservi
ces.b)Servi
cesforimprov i
ngsocialr
elat
ionshi
pwhi chincl
udesfamily
welf
areservi
ces,schoolsoci
alwork,i
ndustr
ialsoci
alwor ket
c.
c)Servi
cesf orsocialrefor
m thati ncl
udesempl oymentservices,prevent
ion of
commer ci
alsexwork,beggarypr
ohibi
tionserv
icesandr emoval
ofuntouchabil
ityet
c.

3.Pr
event
iveFunct
ion:

Itincludes l i
fei nsur
ance services,public assist
ance,soci allegi
slat
ion,adult
educationandpr event
ionofdiseaseset c.Thi
st ypeoff unctionbasical
lydealswith
theser vi
cesr el
ati
ngt ot heprevent i
onofprobl emsl ikeinsecuri
ty,unlawful
ness,
i
gnor ance,sicknessetc.Itisdi
rectedt owar
dstheel i
mi nati
onoft hosefactorsinthe
socialenvironmentort hosedef icienci
esint hedev elopmentofper sonali
tythat
preventsthei ndivi
dualfrom achi evi
ng amini mum desi rablestandard ofsocio-
economi cli
fe.

4.Developmental Functi
on
Devel
opment al
f unctionincludesthetasksofsocio-economicdevelopmentact i
vi
ti
es
suchas:education,recreati
onalservices,ur
banandr ur
aldevel
opmentpr ogrammes
and programmes ofi ntegrati
on etc which ar e pri
maril
y concerned wi t
ht he
devel
opmentofi ndivi
duals,famili
es,groupsandcommuni ti
es.Thebasicf uncti
ons
ofsocialworkcanbedi videdi n3broadi nt
erdependentandinter
relat
edcat egori
es,
vi
z;

1.Restor
ationofsocialf
uncti
oni
ng
2.Provi
si
onofr esourcesand
3.Prev
entionofsocialdysf
uncti
on.

1.Ther est orati

onofi mpair edsocialf unct i
oningi st heol destandmostcommonl y
knownf unctionofsoci alwor kprofession.Thi sf unct i
oni ssubdi vi
dedi ntocur ati
ve
and r ehabi li
tati
veaspect s.Thecur ativeaspect sar et o eliminat eenv ironment al
factorst hathav ecausedbr eakdownofsoci alf unct i
oni ngofi ndividual s,groupsor
communi tiesandt her oleoft herehabi li
tati
veaspect si st or ecogni zeandr ebuil
d
i
nteract i
on pat terns i nt he soci ety.As ment i
oned ear l
ier,soci alwor kt ri
es to
i
nterv eneatt hepoi ntwher et hei ndividuali nter actswi t
h hi senv ir
onment .The
environment al f
act orshi nder i
ngthef unct i
oningofaper sonmaybesoci al,economi c,
poli
ticalor cul tur al. Thisf uncti
on emphasi zes at pr oblem sol ving t hrough
modi ficationi nthepsy cho-socialenv i
ronmentofi ndividualandgr oupsandt hrough
bri
ngi ngaboutchangesi nt heat t
it
udeofr ecipient soft heser vices.Ther efore,ifa
personbecomesdy sfuncti
onalduet oanyoft heabov ement i
onedenv ironment al
factors,t hef i
rstt askathandwi l
lbet or estoret heper son’snor malf unct i
oning.The
secondt askwi l
lbet oassesst hedamagecausedbyt hedy sf
unct ionandst rategi
es
aredev isedt or ehabi l
itat
et hepersonsoci all
yandbr inghi m backt ot henor mal
mainst ream.

2.Pr
ovisi
onofResour cesi
sfurt
hersubdi
vi
dedintodev el
opmentalandeducati
onal.
Thedevel
opment alaspectsaredesi
gnedtoextendeffecti
venessofexist
ingsoci
al,
humanandmat eri
alresour
cesortobri
ngaboutfulluti
l
izati
onpersonalcapaci
tyf
or
moresociali
nteracti
on.Theeducati
onalf
unct
ionsar edesignedtomaket hepubli
c
awareaboutspeci f
icconditi
onsandneedsfornew andchangi ngresourcesand
appr
oaches.

Page4of4
3.The pr eventi
on ofsoci aldy sfunction i nvol v
es ear l
y detection,cont roland
eli
mi nati
on ofcondi ti
ons and si t
uations t hatcoul d obstr
uctef fecti
ve soci al
functioning.Themai ntwodi vi
sionsar epr ev entionsofpr oblemsi nt hear eaof
humani nteracti
on( indiv
idualsandgr oups)andsecondl y,preventionofsoci alil
ls.
Althoughi tisav eryimpor tantf uncti
onofsoci alwor k,itisnegl ectedinmost
sit
uat i
ons.Soci alwor khasgener allyconcent ratedont hecurat
iveandr ehabili
tati
ve
functionandhaswor kedont hepr oblem sol vingmodel .Howev er,keepingi nthe
mindt her apidl
ychangi ngsoci alscenar io,ithasbecomei mper ativ
et oadoptt he
prevent i
veappr oacht osocialwor k.Thepr ofessionshoul densur ethatpr oblemsar e
neithercr eatednorel i
minatedatt hev er ybegi nning.Forthisf unctionthesoci al
wor kerspl ayacr ucialrol
eofconsci entization,capaci tybuil
dingandor gani z
ing
peopl esot hattheythemsel vescanpr ev entsoci al dy sf
uncti
ons.

Int hepr esentdaycont ext,soci

alwor khast oemphasi zeont heaspect sofchange.
Itisincreasinglybeingreali
zedt hatthemai ncauseofdy sfunct ionli
esnotwi t
hthe
peopl ebutwi ththesy st
emswi thi
nwhi chtheyoper at
e.Eithert hepeopl edonotget
andenv i
ronmentorr esourcesr equir
edf orpropersocialfunct ioningortheydono
haveaccesst ot heresourcest of ul
fil
ltheirneeds.Ther efore,t her
eisaneedt o
challengeandchanget hesy stem sot hatpeopl egetaf av ourabl eenvi
ronmentto
funct i
on.Inanut shel
l,itcanbesai dthatthef uncti
onofsoci alwor kshouldshif
t
from a st atus quo ser vi
ce oriented approach to change or iented devel
opment
appr oach.
Values

1. Recogni
ti
onoft
hewor
th&di
gni
tyofi
ndi
vi
dual
 
2. Sel
fdet
ermi
nat
ion 
3. Equal
oppor
tuni
tyf
oral
l
 
4. Soci
alr
esponsi
bil
i
ty 
5. Tot
alout
lookofl
i
fe 
6. I
ndi
vi
dual
freedom 
7. Mut
ual
tol
erance&r
espect
 
8. Democr
ati
cri
ght
 
9. Sel
frel
i
ance 
10.Mut
ual
hel
p 
11.Di
gni
tyofl
abour
 
12.Ut
il
izat
ionofr
esour
ces 

Pr
inci
ples
There are cert
ainr ules and gui
delines thatshoul
d be f
ollowed in anypr ofession for
practi
singitsuccessfull
y.Theserulesandgui del
i
nesarecal
ledprinci
ples.Pri
nciplesar ethe
guidel
ines foract i
on.They ar e guiding stat
ements which incl
ude gener all aws or
fundament alt
ruthsder i
vedfrom experienceandresear
ch.Theyar euniver
sall
yaccept edin
thepr acti
ceofpr ofessionalsocialwor k.Soasoci alworkerhast okeept hef ollowing
pri
nciples.

a.Pr
inci
pleofI
ndi
vi
dual
i
zat
ion

I
denti
fythedif
fer
encesi
nyour
sel
fwi
tht
hest
udent
ssi
tt
ingaty
ourr
ightandl
eftsi
dei
nthe
f
oll
owingareas.
Page5of5
•Responses
•Wayoft al
king
•Thoughts
•I
nterest
s
•Att
it
udeSt udent
sbehav
edi
ff
erent
lyt
odi
ff
erentsi
tuat
ions.

Likewiseindivi
dualsarediff
erentint hei
rcapaci t
ies,hobbies,emoti
onalmatur
it
y,wealt
h,
i
nt el
l
igence,etc.Heret hepri
ncipleofi ndiv
iduali
zati
onsay st hatasocialwor
kershould
recognizetheuni quenessofeachi ndiv
idualwhilet ryi
ngt ohelpthem.A soci
alworker
shouldt r
eateachindivi
dual
andhi s/herproblem di
fferentl
y.

b.Pr
inci
pleofAccept
ance

Whatar
eyouri
mmediat
ethought
sasy
ouheart
hesenames?Fi
l
m st
ar,sexwor
ker
,beggar
,
aper
sonwit
hHIV/
AIDS.

Thepr i
ncipl
eofacceptancesay st
hatwemustacceptt heclienti
rr
especti
veofhis/herclass,
creed,posit
ion,col
ourorstat
us.SocialWorkershouldacceptt hecl
ientashe/sheis,wit
hal l
hi
s/ herli
mitati
ons.Soci
alworkbelievesthateveryindi
vidualhaswor t
handdi gnit
y.Mut ual
acceptancebet weentheworkerandt hecl
ienti
sessent ialtocarr
youtpr of
essionalsocial
wor k.I
nshor t
,Soci
alWorkerdispl
aysanuncondi t
ionalacceptanceofthecli
ent.

c.Princi
pleMeani ngfulRel
ationship
Relati
onship,in soci alwor k,i s a channelt hrough whi ch gr owth-or i
ented changes ar e
i
niti
ated.Ther elationshipbetweent hesocialwor kerandt heclientisknownasr appor t
.Iti
s
consideredast hef l
eshandbl oodoft hesoci alwor kpr ocess.I nsoci alwor k,r apport
betweent heclientandt hewor keri snecessar ytopr ovideservicest othecl i
ent.Relati
onship
i
sani mportantt oolwher ethehel pingpr ocessbegi ns.Itisthechannelt hroughwhi chthe
cli
entsar eenabl ed.Thi spr ofessionalrelationshipi ncl
udesamut ualpr ocessofshar ed
responsibi
li
ti
es, recogniti
onofone’ sright
s, accept anceofdi f
ferences, objecti
veset c.Social
wor krel
ati
onshi pist i
me-bound, goal -
ori
ented, objecti
veandempat hetic.

d.Pr
inci
pleofSel
f–det
ermi
nat
ion

Readt hef ol
lowingcase:Vi vekhadalreadydeci dedtodolegalst
udiesaf
terhisplustwo
courseinhumani t
ies.ButhejoinedTTCundert hecompulsi
onofhisparent
s.Hewasnotat
alli
nterestedi nTTC.Hef ail
edwhent her esultwasout…….Whydi dVivekf ai
linthe
examination?Lackofi nter
est,poorint
ell
igence,unabl
etoconcentr
ateinhi
sstudyetc.may
bether easons.Thedeci si
ont ojoi
nTTCwasnott akenbyVi
vek.

Princi
pleofsel fdet erminat i
ongivesr i
ghttosel ftot akedeci si
ont osol v ethepr oblems
facedbyt hecl i
ent.Her et hewor kerfaci
li
tatest heclientt otakeappr opriatedeci si
onsf or
him.Heput sdi ffer
entalter nati
vesinfrontoft hecl i
entt osolvehispr oblems.Fi nalchoice
anddeci si
onsar el efttot heclient
.Responsi bil
i
t ytot akedecisionsisr eal l
yv estedi nthe
handsoft heclient.
Thecl ienthimself/herselfbear st
hepr osandcor nsofhi s/herdeci si
ons.
Asocialwor kerbeli
ev esthatt hecli
entcanfindoutsol utionstohis/herprobl ems.

e.Pr
inci
pleofCommuni
cat
ion

Communi cat
ion ist he medi um through whi ch ideas,emot ions,i nformati
on,et c.ar e
tr
ansferredfrom oneper sont ootherper sonorgr oups.Communi cationisamaj ort oolas
wellasapr i
ncipl
etopr act
isesocialwor k.Asoci alwor kershouldcr eat eanenvironmenti n
whicht heclientwillfeelcomf ort
abletoexpr esshi s/herf eel
ings.Thecl i
ent
sshoul dbe
al
lowedt ocommuni catetheirproblemsi nt hei
rownway s,sothatt heymayt hinkt hatt hey
aregivenduei mpor t
ance.Ther earemai nlytwot ypesofcommuni cati
onsuchasv erbaland
nonverbal.Verbalcommuni cationuseswor dsinor almet hodori nwr i
ttenfor
ms.Non- verbal
communi cat
ionusesgest ures,postures,facialexpr essions,eyecont actandev ensi lence.
Page6of6
Non-v erbalcommuni cati
onisequal
lyimportanttoestabl
i
shandmai nt
ainrelat
ionshipin
soci
alwor kpract
ice.Thus,theSocialWorkershouldbepr of
ici
enti
ncommuni cation,to
understandthev erbalandnonv er
balresponsesoft hecli
ent
.Communi cat
ionhelpst he
workertomai ntai
npsy chol
ogi
cal
contactwit
ht hecl
i
ent.

f
.Pr
inci
pleofSoci
alFunct
ioni
ng

Doyout
hinkanHI V-
inf
ect
edcli
entcanholdsoci
alr
olesli
kefat
her,son,husband,empl
oyee
et
c.i
naneffect
ivemanner
?Everyi
ndiv
idualhasv
ari
ousrolest
oplayinthesociety
.

Thepr i
nci
pleofsocialf
unctioninghel
pst hecl
ient
stoperfor
m welli
ntheirsoci
alrol
es.The
SocialWorkerusest hi
sprinciplef
orhelpingthecli
enttobecomear esponsi
bleandlaw-
abidi
ngcit
izenofanat i
on.Thewor kerfacil
i
tat
esthecli
enttodi
schargethesocialf
uncti
ons
properl
yeveninadversi
ti
es.

g.Pr
inci
pleofConf
ident
ial
i
ty

Havey ouev
erdi scl
osedyoursecretstoanybody?IfYes,towhom?Weexpr essoursecret
s
onlytosomebodywhom wet r
ust.Everysecreti
sshar edwithsomeoneonlyont hebasi
sof
tr
ust.Thecl
ientsalsoshar
etheirsecret
stothewor kerbecauseofthet
rusthe/shehas.Thi
s
pri
ncipl
eent
ailstheSocial
Workert okeepthesecrecyofinformat
iondi
scl
osedbyt hecli
ent
.

Thewor kerhast oassur ethecl i

entthatt hei nf
ormat iondi sclosedwi l
lremainconf i
denti
al.
Thewor kerhast obr eaktheconf identiali
tyinunav oidablesi tuati
onsonl y
.Theinf ormati
on
discl
osedbyt heclientcanbeshar edwi t
hot herexper tsfort heclient’
sfurt
hertreatment.If
theinformat i
ondi sclosedbyt hecl i
ent sishar mfult ot hem,ort heirfamil
yort heentir
e
societ
y ,thewor kerhast her esponsibili
tytoconv eyt hemat tertot heconcernedper son
withoutr eveali
ngt hecl i
ent’sidentit
y .Int hisparticularsi t
uat i
ont hesocialwor keracts
positi
velywi t
houtv i
olati
ngt hecodeofet hicsandsoci alresponsi bil
i
ty.Innormalsituat
ions,
thepriorconsentoft heclientisrequiredt osharethei nformat ion.

Goal
s

1.Topromoteeffecti
ve&humanser vicesy
stem 
2.Toenhanceproblem solvi
ng,coping&developmentcapaci
ti
es,
 
3.Tol
inkpeoplewithresources,servi
ces&opportuni
ti
es,
 
4.Todevelop&impr ovesocialpol
icy 
5.Car
ing,curi
ng&changi ngthesociety.
 

Scope

Scopeofsoci alwor kScopeofsoci alwor kimpl iestowhatext entwecani nt

ervene
socialwor k.I tmayal soimplyt otheareasorf i
eldswher esocialwor kcanbeappl i
ed
byusi ngi t smet hods,t ool
sandt echniques.Soci alwor kaspr ofessionalpracti
ce
extendsf r om asi ngleindivi
dualt othel argestbodyl ikeUNO.Thescopeofsoci al
wor k can be br oadl y cl
assifi
ed into 1)The agenci es-
non-gov ernmental,semi -
government alorgov er
nment alwhi chr endersoci alwor kser vices;2)Theway s
(methods)t hroughwhi cht heyr enderser vicessuchasCaseWor k,GroupWor k,
Communi ty Or ganization, Social Act ion, Soci al Resear ch, Soci al Wel f
are
Admi nistrationet cand3)Thev ari
ousty pesofser vi
ces( f
iel
dsofsoci alwork)that
they rendert o diffi ndivi
duals,groups and communi ti
es keepi ng in mind the
objecti
v es, philosophyandv al
uesofsoci al wor k.

Page7of7
Thescopeofsoci alworkhasbeenchangi ngwi ththechangesi nit
sobj ectiv
esand
witht hechangingsocialsi
tuati
on.Thepr ofessionisi ncr
easinglyrecognizedf orit
s
uniqueser v
icestothepeopleandbeingaskedt oper form newandv ari
edt asks.The
pri
ncipalaim ofsocialworkist osolv
epsy cho-socialproblemswhi chobst ructthe
socialadvancementofani ndiv
idual
.Socialwor kasoneoft hey oungestbranchesof
knowl edge,isgradual
lyembr aci
ngev eryaspectofhumanl i
fe.Consequent l
y,it
s
scopei sgraduall
yexpanding.Ithasnowst art
edt obecomei nternati
onalandi nt
er-
racialinscope.Itdealswithalmostal lthegr oupsoft hesoci et
yi nthef oll
owing
way s:

1.Publ i
cAssi st
ance
Iti
saki ndofhel ppr ov
idedi naccordancet otheeconomi candsoci alneedsoft he
applicants.Itdependsupont hecertai
ncondi ti
onsandl egal
it
ies.Thereforepubl i
c
assistanceisgr antedont hebasi sof‘ meanst est
’.Thr
oughmeanst estway sand
meansofl ivi
nglikeincomesour ce,l
ivel
ihoodandot her
sofi ndivi
dualarei dent
if
ied
andmeasur edbef or eprovidi
ngpubl icassist
ancebyt hest ateorgov ernment.In
somecount riesincludi
ngI ndiasuchser vicesincl
udetheassi stancegi v
ent ool d,
bli
nd, di
sabledanddest itut
e.

2.SocialInsurance
Likepublicassistancesociali
nsuranceal socov erscert
aincontingenciesofl i
felike
old age,unempl oyment,industr
ialaccident s and occupati
onaldi seases et c.It
doesn’tinsistuponanymeanst est.Undert hi
sschemeofser v i
ce,benef i
tsar e
providedonlyt othosepersonswhopayacer tai
namountofcont r
ibuti
on.I ti
spar tl
y
fi
nanced byt hest ate.Pract
ical
ly,sociali nsurancecoverssomer iskssuch as
medi calcar ei nt ime of il
lness,medi calcar e and cash al lowances dur i
ng
empl oymenti njur
ies,pension duri
ng inabili
ty,and pension during old ageaf ter
reti
rement ,
cashal l
owancest owifeandot herdependant sincaseofdeat h.Here,t
he
benef i
tsoftheappl i
cantsarepre-
determined.

3.Fami lyWel far

eSer vi
ces:
Familyisbot hani nsti
tutionaswellasanassoci ati
on.I tist heoldestandendur i
ng
amongal lsocialinsti
tutions.Itist hef ir
standmosti mpor t
antofal lf ormsof
associationsi nthecont extofhumandev elopment.Soci alwor krender sasigni fi
cant
rol
eint hespher eoff ami l
yorgani
zation.Itprovi
desf orsomemat eri
alassi stance
andcounsel i
ngser vi
cet ot hefamil
yrelatingtomar r
iage, health,economi cpr oblems
andbr ingingupsi bli
ngs.Hav i
ngtheknowl edgeonhumanr el
ationshipt hesoci al
workerbear stheresponsi bil
it
yofestablishingharmoni ousr elat
ionshi pbetweent he
i
ndivi
dualandhi sf amily.Thus,socialwor kerhastopl ayacr uci
alr oleinthef ieldof
famil
yor ganizat
ion.

4.Chil
dWel fareServi
ce
Socialwor kersalsopr ovi
demanywel f
areservi
cesf orthechi
ldren.Thosei nclude
resi
dent i
alinstit
uti
onsf orthei
rcareandpr otect
ion,educati
onandr ehabili
tati
onof
soci
allyhandi cappedchi l
drenv i
z,orphansdesti
tutefondli
ngchil
drenofunmar r i
ed
mother s.ChildWelfareservicealsoincl
udestempor aryhomesforchildren,daycare
centers,recreati
onalandcul t
uralfaci
li
ti
es,holi
dayhomesf orthechi l
drenofl ow
i
ncomef ami l
ies.

5.Communi t
yWelfareServ
ice
Communi t
yi sanotherimportantuni
tforsoci
alworkpract
ice.The community
welf
are serv
ice i
ncludes t
he establ
i
shmentofurban community dev
elopment
Page8of8
centers deal
ing withthe welfar
e aspects ofslum impr ov
ementsuch as sl
um
cl
earance,sanitat
ion,heal
theducationandcar e,seeki
ngempl oy
mentforwomen,
dormitor
ies and nightshelt
ersf ormigranthomel ess people,hol
i
dayhome for
chi
ldrenandcommuni t
ywelfareservi
ceinrur
alareasetc.

6.WomenWel fareSer vi
ce
Womenar ethedr i
vi
ngf orcesofanat i
on.Longbef or
ethedawnofI ndianf r
eedom it
wasr ealizedt hatsoci alreform withemanci pati
onofwomenwast he‘sine-
qua-non’
ofpol i
ti
calindependenceoft hecount r
y.Pioneeri
nginthisregar
dwasdonebyRaj a
RammohanRoy ,KeshavChandr aSen,MG Ranadeet c.Gandhij
ialsogav eanew
i
mpet ust othecauseofemanci pati
onofI ndianwomanhood.Wi t
ht heindependence
i
twasal sor ealizedt hatwomenwel farewasessent i
altobuil
dast rongnat i
on.The
benefit
sofgener alwel farereachedt hewomenbuti twasinadequat etomeett hei
r
requir
ement .Ther eforewomenspeci fi
cpr ogrammeshav ebeeni nit
iatedfort he
welfareoft hesame.Thepr ogrammeofwomenwel f
arei nIndiaincludessaf e
mot herhood,women pr otection,familycounseling,marri
agecounsel ing,income
generationpr ogrammef orwomenet c.

7.LaborWelf areService
Theterml aborwel fareisv er
ycomprehensi
veinthesenseofit
sunder
standi
ng.I
t
i
nvolvesdifferentinterpr
etati
onsduetodi f
fer
entsoci
alcust
omsanddegr eesof
i
ndustri
ali
zation.

Accordi
ngtot herepor
toft heILOwor ker’
swelfareshoul
dmeant osuchser vi
ces,
faci
l
iti
es and ameniti
es whi ch may be establi
shed i
n on the vi
cini
ty ofthe
undert
aki
ngst oenabletheper sonsempl oyedinthem toperf
ormtheirwor ki
na
heal
thy,congenialsur
rounding and prov
ided wit
h ameniti
esconduciveto good
heal
thandhighmor al
s.

Socialworkhasawi def i
eldofappli
cat
ionf orlaborwel farewhi chincludesthe
acti
vit
iessuchasf ami
lymanagementcounsel i
ng,counselingonsaf etymaintenance,
advocacyf orlaborri
ghts,healt
heducati
on,v al
ueeducat i
onet c.InI ndia,l
abor
welfar
e activ
iti
es hav
e been undert
aken bymai nlyt hree agencies namely,the
government,theempl oy
ersandt heemploy ees’(labours’)union.Thef ir
stonei s
stat
utoryandreststwoarevolunt
aryi
nnature.

8.Wel f
areSer v
icefortheHandicapped
Handicapped peopl e ort he di
sable ar e anot herneedy sect i
on oft he Indian
populati
on.Hence, socialworkorsoci alwelfarehasaf ormi dabl
er olei
nwor kingfor
them.The wel fare servi
ce fordisabl ed includes i
nstituti
on fort he care and
rehabil
it
ationofphy si
call
yandment allyreti
red,hostel
sf orthewor kinghandicapped,
smallpr oducti
onuni t
sf orthediff
er entlyable,specialschool sforment al
lyr eti
re
chil
dren and or thopaedical
l
y challenged and counsel ing service for ment all
y
depressedet c.

9.WelfareServicesf ortheAgedandI nf
irm
Peopleinthet wil
ightoft heirager equir
enumeroussupportsfrom t
hesociet
y.Soci
al
workint hi
sr egardhasagr eaterr ol
einunderst
andingtheirneedsandwor ki
ngfor
thei
rsatisf
iedandcomf ortablelifeforahappyending.Theact i
vi
ti
esofsocialwork
fort
heagedandi nfir
mi ncluder unningoldagehome, r
ecreati
onalfaci
l
iti
es,
physi
cal
support,
psy chologicalsuppor tetc.
Page9of9
10.School SocialWork:
Att i
mest her earei nst
ancesofpr oblemsduet oimpai r
edr elat
ionshipbet ween
studentsandt hei
rsocialenv i
ronmentandt eachersandt hei rsocialenv i
ronment .
There are al so many ot herpr oblems int he schoolenv ir
onmentwhi ch are
responsi
blef oreducati
onalmal funct i
oningintheschools.Soci alwor kasprof essi
on
stepsint osuchenv ir
onmentandat temptsmodi fythesi tuationinf avouroft he
l
earnersandt eacherswher erequi red.Theact iv
iti
esofsoci alworki nter
vent i
onin
schoolsincludecounsel i
ngser vicet ot hechil
drenandt heirpar ents,counsel i
ngto
theteacheront heperspectiv
esoft heemer gedpr obl
ems, etc.

11.Cor r
ecti
onalservice:
Cor r
ect i
onalSetti
ngr eferstotheinstit
uti
onsl i
kejai
l,pr
obati
onhome,par ol
ehome,
j
uv enileshelter
set c.wher epeople(incl
udingchil
dren)withunusualbehavi
ourand
reactionar eplacedt obr i
ngcorrecti
ont otheirat
tit
udeandbehav i
our.Socialwork
hasv astscopef ori nter
vent
ion int hi
sf iel
d ofservi
ce.Itincl
udesr ecr
eati
onal
activi
ties,counseli
ng,v ocati
onaltrai
ningf ortheunempl oy
edcr i
minal
s,aftercar
e
service,rehabil
i
tati
onet c.

12.Yout hWel far eSer vice

Yout hist hest ageofl ifei nwhi chthrought rai
ni ngnddev el
opmenthumanbei ngcan
cont ri
butet hebestf ort hebet termentoft hesoci et
yandf orthebet t
ermentoft heir
own.The l i
fe of y out h shoul d hav et he oppor tunit
yt of orsel f -expression,
compani onshi p,communi tyli
feandnat ionalser v
ice.Fort hewel fareoft hey outhin
thecount ry,ther ear ev arioust ypesofy outhwel f
areor ganizati
onsi nt hecount ry
suchasScout sandGui desor gani
zat i
on,NCC,NSS,St udents’Uni on,Spor tsand
Athel i
ti
cAssoci ations,Dr amat i
cCl ubset c.whi chcatert hemul ti
fariousneedsoft he
yout h.Nehr uYuv aKendr aistryingtobol sterthey outhnet workint hecount r y
.Youth
aredesi gnedast hemosti mpor tantinstrumentofNat i
onalIntegr ati
onpr ogr amme.
Attempt sar emadet ouni t
ey outht hroughobser vationofy outhf est i
v als.Youth
counsel ingser vice,Yout hheal thservice,Nat i
onalFi tnessCor ps,Ser vicesf orpoor
student s,NationalPhy sicalef f
icacyDr i
ve, Nati
onalEmpl oymentSchemeet c.arethe
variouspr ogr ammesunder t
akenf orthewel f
ar eoft hey outhint hecount ry.Social
wor khasr ecogni zedthey outhsasi mpor tanthumanr esour ceoft henat ion.Thr ough
allthesepr ogr ammest hewel fareagenci eswher esoci alwor kist hegui dingspi r
it
areonmov etoser vey out hsinourcount ry.

13.Wel farefortheWeakerSect ions:

Socialwor kasapr ofessionisincreasi
ngl
ybeingrecognizedfori tsuni
queser vi
ceto
thepeopl eandbei ngaskedt operfor
m newandv ari
edtasks.Theconcer nofsocial
wor kforpr eventi
onaswel last r
eatmentofindi
vidualandsocialpr obl
emsgi vesthe
professionanev erincreasingnumberofi mportantresponsibil
iti
estoassumei n
helpingt osocialpolicyi nadditi
ont oimprovi
ngser vi
cest othepeopl e.Inmeet i
ng
thesemul t
ipl
er esponsibili
tytothesociet
y,soci
alwor khasachi eveditsbestresul
ts
nott hroughi tswor kingal one,butincooperati
onwi t
ht heot herprofessi
onsand
groupswhosecommonconcer niswelfar
eofthepeopl e.

Concept
srel
atedt
oSoci
alWor
k:

1.Soci
alWel
far
e
Page10of10
Meani ngandConcept :
Thet er m‘ socialwelfar
e’denot esthesystem ofsuchser viceswhi chintendtocat erto
the speci alneeds ofper sons,groups and communi t
ies who,byr eason ofsome
handi cap-social,economic,ment alorphysicalareunabletoav ailthemsel v
esof ,orare
traditionallydeni edthebasi cameni t
iesorser vi
cesprovidedbyt hesoci et
yorst ate.It
i
mpl iest hat,socialwelf
areser vi
cesaremeantt obenefi
tt heweaker ,dependentorunder
privil
egedsect i
onsoft hepopul ati
on.Suchser v
icesbasicallycov ertheneedymember s
oft hesoci ety,li
keorphanchi l
dren,widowsanddest i
tute,ment all
yr etar
dedper sons, t
he
blind,t hedeaf ,thecr i
ppledandot hereconomi cal
l
yunder pri
v i
l
egedmember soft he
soci et y.

Socialwel fareconst i
tutesspeci alser vi
cesf ormeet ingt hespeci alneedsofpeopl e
fal
li
ngunderspeci alcat egor yoft hepopul ati
on.Serv i
cesundersoci alwelfaredonot
for
mt hepar tofgeneralsoci alservicesthosear eprovidedtoalltheci tizenswithoutany
specialconsi der
ati
on.Forexampl e,publicheal t
h,education,recreationalactivi
ti
esand
medi calreli
efetc,thosear egener ali nnature.Theser vi
cesundersoci alwelf
areaim at
enablingthemar gi
nalizedpeopl etoabsor bthegener alsocialservicest oequal l
yshare
thef rui
tsofeconomi cdev elopmentoft hesoci et
y.Shor tl
yspeaki ng,socialwel f
are
ref
erst ot hecoll
ectiver esponsibi
litytomeett heneedsofal lthepeopl eingeneraland
theneedyandmar ginali
zedi nparti
cul ar
.

Fri
edl
andersaid,
“Soci
alwelfarei
st heorgani
zedform ofsoci
alservi
cesandinsti
tuti
ons,
desi
gnedt oaidi
ndivi
dual
sandgr oupstoattai
nsatisf
yingst
andardsoflif
eandheal t h,
andpersonalandsocialr
elati
onshipsthatpermit
sthem todevelopthei
rfullcapaci
ties
andtopr omotethei
rwellbeingi nhar monywiththeneedsoft hei
rfamil
iesandt he
community”.

Obj
ect
ives:

Themainobject
ivesofsocialwelf
areistocreatethebasi
ccondi
tionst
hatwil
lenableal
l
membersoft hecommuni tyreali
zetheirpotent
ial
sforgrowt
handsel f
-f
ulf
il
lment.The
pri
nci
pleofnormalizati
onisf undament alt
ot hesocialwel
far
egoals.Regardl
essof
physi
cal
,psy
chologicalorsoci
alhandicaps,apersonshoul
dbeenabledtoli
veworkand
devel
opinanormal envi
ronment.

Accordingt
othedocumentoff
iveyearpl
anofI
ndi
atheobj
ect
ivesofsoci
alwel
far
ecan
bestatedundert
hefol
lowi
ngli
nes

1.Toensur
eadequat
eli
vi
ngst
andar
dforal
l
2.Toassur
esoci
alj
ust
icet
oal
l
3.Toprovi
deoppor
tuni
ti
esf
orcul
tur
aldev
elopmentt
hroughi
ndi
vi
dual
groupsel
f
expr
essi
on.
4.Tor eadj
usthumanr el
ati
onsleadi
ngt
osoci
alhar
mony
.
Gener
al obj
ect
ivesofsoci
alwelf
are:

1.Expansionofsocialservi
cesandt hei
rimprov
ement
2.To prov i
de wel
fare services and devel
op the weakerand mor
evul
ner
abl
e
secti
onsofthepopul ati
on
3.Todev el
opsupplement arywelf
areservi
ces
4.Tobringaboutsocialreform

Page11of11
 5.Topr ov i
desoci al securit
yandsoci alassist
ance
6.Tobr i
ngaboutsoci al changei ncludi
ngr educi
ngdisparit
iesofincomeandweal th
7.To pr ev entt he concent r
at i
on economi c powerand t ake st
ep to equalize
opport uniti
eswi thinthecommuni ti
es.
8.To hel pi ndi vidualst o attai
n sat i
sfyi
ng standards ofl if
e,health and equal
opport uniti
eswi ththef ell
owci tizensandsel f
-r
espect.
9.Tosecur ef oreachi ndivi
dualt hebasi ceconomi crequi
rementanddecentl i
vi
ng
condition
10.
Tostr engt heni ndividualcapaci ti
estocopeupwi ththereal l
if
esit
uati
on.
11.
Tocr eatet hebasi ccondi t
iont hatwillenableal
lthemember softhecommuni ty
torealizet heirpot entialcapaci t
y,growthandsel fful
fi
ll
ment

Resi
dual
andi
nst
it
uti
onal
concept
sofsoci
alwel
far
e:

Resi
dual
ConceptofSoci
alWel
far
e

Ther esidualconceptofsoci alwel far eistheol destform ofsocialwel f

arewhichwas
ori
ginatedi nthewest er
ncount r
ies.Thet erm‘r
esi dual
’meansl eftoverormar gi
nalized
orexcluded.I fwelookatitf rom t hesoci alwelfareperspecti
ve,itrefer
st othewelfare
serv
icesf ortheexcludedormar ginalizedgroups, whoduet ocertainexternalf
act
orsar e
unablet omanaget hei
rday -to-dayl ivi
ngont heirowncapaci t
yandr equireoutside
supportf ordoingso.Thisincludest hepeopl ewhounder gobadr isks,unemployed,old
people, or phan childr
en, chr onically sick, economi cal
l
y dependent peopl e and
handicappedet c.

Thisconceptofsoci alwel farehol dsthev iew that;socialwelfarecomest opl ayonly

whent henor malstructureoft hesoci alenv i
ronmentoft heindivi
dualisbr okendown.
Peopleappr oachforsoci alwel fareser vi
ceswhenal ltheirresourcesandl iveli
hood
alt
ernati
veshav ebeenexhaust ed.Undert hisconceptofsoci alwel f
aret hest atedoes
nothav ewelfareobligati
ont owar dsit
sci ti
z ensasmor alri
ghtandt heposi ti
onoft he
stateherecanbechar acteri
zedas‘ t
hel enderofl astresort’
.Thewel f
arepr ogrammes
existtomeett heemer gencyneedsofi ndividuals,groupsandt hecommuni ti
es,when
theyareincapableofprov i
dingthemsel vesthebasi cameni ti
esoft hei
rlives.

Inthiscaset hesocietyi nt
erv
enest hroughpubl icorv ol
untarymeanst oassur ecer t
ain
minimum l ev
elofper sonalandsoci alwellbeingandef fect
ivesocialfuncti
oning.The
welfareservi
cesundert hisconceptar eprov i
dedont hebasi sof‘meanst est’tosome
sel
ected indivi
dualswho meett her equir
ed cr i
ter
iaest abli
shed forthepr ospective
benefici
ari
es.Meanst estisamet hodt oassesst heav ai
lableresourcesofani ndi
v i
dual
underhi s/
herdisposalf ormeetingthebasi cneedsofl i
ving.Itshouldbenot edt hatin
the societywher e socialgoods ar e dist
ributed on the princi
ple ofselecti
vit
y ,the
commi t
mentoft hestateonwel far
ei sconsiderablylow.

Undert
hismodel,t
hewelfar
eservi
cesareconsi
der
edpr
ovi
dea‘
saf
etynet
’whi
ch
pr
event
sdest
it
uti
onandsuf
fer
ingi
nthesoci
ety
.

Thisconceptwasembr acedbymostoft heEngli

shspeakingcountr
iesandBr it
ish
coloniesofthewor ld.Hist
ori
cal
ly
,El
i
zabethanPoorLawof1601wast hef oundati
onof
ther esidualconceptofsoci alwel
far
e.Now,t hi
sf or
m ofsocialwelfarei swidely
prevalentinthedevelopedcount
ri
esl
ikeUSA,UK,Aust
ral
ia,
Canada,NewZeal andetc.

I
nst
it
uti
onal
ConceptofSoci
alWel
far
e

Page12of12
Thei nsti
tuti
onalconceptofsoci alwel farei swi del
yaccept edfor
m ofsoci alwelfare
especi all
yint hedev el
opingcount r
ieshav i
ngst rongreferencetot herecentti
mes.I t
startedgai ni
ngopt i
mum i mpor t
anceduet ot heemer genceoft heconceptofwel fare
stateandst ronglobbyofdemocr at
sint helatterhalfofthe19thcentury.Thi
sconcept
standsont hev i
ewt hat,t
hemoder ninsti
t uti
onalsocietyrequiresavari
etyofserv
icesas
‘
firstl ine support’t o enablet he individuals groups and communi ti
es to cope
successf ull
ywi t
ht hechangi ngeconomi candsoci alenv i
ronmentandt oassuret he
dev elopmentandst abili
tyofsoci
al i
nsti
tut i
ons.

Inthissy stem needi sconsi deredasanor malpar tofsoci alli

feandt hatwel far
e
provi
sioni sanor malandpr i
mar yfuncti
onoft hemoder ni ndustri
alsociety.Wel far
e
servi
cesar eprovidedf orthepopul at
ionasawhol esuchaspubl i
cserv i
ceslike,roads,
schools,publi
cheal thandsoon.I nthissyst
em socialwelfareisnotj ustfort hepoor
andneedy ,butitisforallthecit
izens.Inasocietywhereagreatnumberofsoci algoods
arebasedonuni versal
ity,onecant alkaboutinsti
tut
ionalwelfareservi
ce.Individualsi
n
suchasoci et
ywi llexperiencethattheyhav eaccesst olargenumberofsoci alright
s
whicharef ormulatedasl egalr
ights.

Inabroadersense,i naninst i
tutionalwelfareinvolv
esstrongercommi tment sonbehal f
ofthestate.How ev ertheser ightsoft hecitizensarenotlegall
yclaimabler atherthey
aremor alri
ght sbasedonsoci alcont r
act.Thi sconceptalsoi sassociatedwi t
ht he
redi
str
ibuti
vef unctionofwel fare,int hesenset hatpubli
cwel far
epr ovisi
onai mst o
redi
str
ibutether esourcest ot hedi sadvantagedsect i
onsoft hesociety.Socialwelfare
serv
iceintheanci entt i
mei nSwedeni sregardedast heprototy
peofi nsti
tut
ionalsoci al
welf
are.Ithasdev elopedt hemor alri
ghtofempl oymentandhousi ngcondi tiontot he
l
egalri
ghtslike,righttowor kandr ighttohav eadecenthousi ngstandard.Thi sform of
soci
alwelfareisfollowedi nalltheScandi naviancountri
es.

2.Soci
alSer
vice

3.Soci
alRef
orms

We are gi v
en wi t
ht he phrase ‘
socialwor k and soci
alr eform’t o under
stand the
underl
yi
ngr elati
onshi
pbetweensoci alworkandsoci alr
eform.Ther efor
e,wear ehereto
l
ookintot hosepointsofrelati
onshi
pbet weent hetwo.Inregar dtosocialwork,agood
dealofdiscussionhasalreadybeenmadeear li
er.Now,itnecessar ytounderstandthe
meaningandconceptofsoci alr
eformi nIndiancontextfi
rst,thenwecanpr oceedt o
knowther elati
onbetweenthet wo.

Meani ngandconceptofsocialrefor
m
Thet erm‘ socialr
efor
m’denot estothepr ocessofchangi
ngexi
sti
ngv al
ues,bel
i
efs,
i
deology ,atti
tude and opi
nion ofthe peopl
e agai
nstan i
ssue ora setofissues.
AccordingtoWebst er’
s

EncyclopedicDi ct
ionarytheter m‘ r
eform’means“ t
hei mprov ementoramendmentof
whati swr ong,corruptorunsat i
sfactory,etc”
.Broadlyspeaki ngsocialreformr efersto
eradicati
onofi mmor al
,unhealthy,corruptandwr ongpr acti
ceswhi chthwar thumanand
socialdev el
opment .M.S.Gorewhi ledefiningsocialref
orm sai d,“
Socialrefor
mi nv ol
ves
adel iberateeffor
tt obr i
ngaboutchangei nsoci alatti
tudes,cultural
lydef i
nedr ole
expect at
ionsandact ualpatt
ernsofbehav iourofpeopleinadesi r
eddi r
ectionthrougha
processofper suasionandpubl iceducat i
on”.I
tcanbesai dthatiti
sapr ocessofchange

Page13of13
f
rom i
nsi
det
hemi
ndoft
hepeopl
econcer
ned.

Inthecont extofsocialwork,soci
alr eform mayber ef
erredtoasapr ocessofchangeor
replacementi nthei
nstit
uti
ons,whi chhav etotal
lyorpar t
ial
lybecomei r
relevantt ot he
cont emporar ysoci
alorderorcausingl osstot hequalityofli
fe,al
ongwi t
hdepr ivation,
unrestandmi serytosizeablesect ionoft hesoci ety.Thest udyofsoci alr eformi s
i
mpor tantf orthe professi
onalsoci alwor kers because they ar e concer ned wi t
h
i
mpr ovingthesocialfuncti
oningoft hepeopl ebyi ntr
oducingdesiredchangesi nsoci al
structureandsy stem.Theobj ect
ivesofsoci alwor kcannotbeat t
ainedtillvariedki nds
ofsoci alevilsandunhealthyandundesi rabl
er it
ualsandpr acti
cescont i
nuet oexi stin
thesoci ety
.

Insocialreform,ther eformeri swor kingforhimsel fasel lasf or/withot herstoremov e

hindrances and t o creat ef avour abl e condit
ion forsoci alpr ogress.Soci alr ef
orm
basicall
yaimsatchangi ngt hoseel ements,whi chmaysomet i
mesi ncludethebasi c
valuesandsoci ali
nst i
tutionsint heconcer nedcommuni ty.Itatt emptst obringabout
changesi ntheat ti
tudeandopi nionoft hesociety,sot hatt hepr evail
i
ngsoci alev i
l
sof
thesoci et
ymaybeer adicated.Theef f
ortstopr eventander adicat etheev il
ssuchas
untouchabili
ty,chil
dmar riages,dowr y,sati
,genderdi scri
mi nationet c.ar esomeoft he
exampl esoftheact i
vitiesofsoci al ref or
mi nIndia.

Indiahasbeenagr eatl andofgr eatpioneersofsocialref

orms.Wehav ehadinIndi
a
some gr eatr ef
ormers st ar
ti
ng from Raj a Rammohan Royt o M.K.Gandhi,Swami
Vivekananda,Day ananda Sar aswati
,Gopabandhu Das,Dr .BR Ambedkarand many
others( aboutwhom y ouwi l
lknow int hediscussi
oni nthethi
spaper).Theunti
ri
ng
effort
soft hesesocialreformershadr esult
edintheimprovementintheli
vesofpeopl
e
i
nv ar
iousway s.

I
tisclearfrom t
heabovediscussi
onthatwhensoci alevi
l
sstartmanifest
ingthemselv
es
onav erylargescal
eandbecomef ai
rlywidespreadtoinfl
uencetheli
feoflargenumber
ofpeople,someenl i
ght
enedpeoplestar
tgivingaser i
ousthoughttothem anddevisi
ng
measurest ogetri
dofthem;anditi
satthisjunctur
ethatsocial
refor
m begins.

4.Soci
alJust
ice
Meani
ngandconceptofsoci
alj
ust
ice

Plato,afamoust
hinkeroftheanci
entwor
ld,whi
l
espeaki
ngaboutj
ust
iceoncesai
d,
“Justi
cesimpl
ymeansgivi
ngever
yonehi
sdue”.

Socialjusti
cer efer
stot heov er
allfai
rnessofthesoci et
yasacol lect
iveforce,init
s
di
visionofr ewardsandbur densamongt hemembersoft hesoci
ety.Iti
sacondi ti
onof
bei
ngj ustandf ai
rtoallhumanbei ngsint hesoci
ety
.I ti
ncl
udesimpartialandhonest
di
stributi
onofmat eri
algoods,equalscopef orphysicalmental
,socialandspi ri
tual
development .

Themai npur poseofsoci aljusticeist oimpr ovethecondi tionst oav oidandr emove
sociali mbalances.I thast wogoal s:1.Rect i
fi
cationofi njusticeand2.Remov alof
i
mbal ancesi nsoci al,cult
ural,economi candeducat i
onalli
feofhumanbei ngs.Social
j
ust iceuphol dst hepr i
nciplet hatallmenar eent i
tl
edt ofulfi
llthebasi chumanneeds,
regar dl
essofsuper fi
cialdifferencessuchaseconomi cdi spar i
ty,di
spar itybasedon
class,cast e,gender ,reli
gion,citi
zenship,disabili
tyetc.Iti
nv olvesint heer adicati
onof
pov ertyand i ll
it
eracy ,suppr ession ofdiscr i
mi nat
ion,corruption and ot hercr i
minal
activiti
es,developmentofsoundsoci al
policies,provi
sionofequal opportuniti
essoast o
Page14of14
br
ingaboutheal
thyper
sonal
andsoci
aldev
elopment
.

SocialJust i
ceisoneoft hemostsoughtaboutphenomenonoft hepr esentwor l
d.Wi th
the gr owt h of i ndustriali
zat
ion, moder nization and subsequent i ncidents of
i
ndi vi
dual i
zationmanst artedt oconfinehist hinkingaroundhimsel fandonl yhi mself
.
Consequent ly,hef or
gotabouthi sresponsibil
ityt owardsotherfellowmen,r atherhe
startedexpl oiti
ngothersf orhisself-
grat
ifi
cati
onandsel fimprovement .Inthisev entthe
strongerr ul
edov ertheweakerandsubj ugatedandusedhi m f orhi ssel finterest
.
Inj
ust i
cewasr ampant.Just icewasdeni edtot heweakermember soft hesociet y.I
tis
then thatt he term “justice”was soughti nt he soci
ety.Witht he dev elopmentof
humani tar
ianat t
it
udebysomepeopl eanddemocr ati
coutlookbymostst ates,thei dea
ofsoci al j
usti
cewasmuchpopul ari
zedalloverthewor l
d.

Scopeofsoci
alj
ust
ice

Intherecentyear
ssoci
alj
usti
cei
soneofthemostpopulart
ermsonecanf i
ndallover
thewor l
d.Someofthemostcommonar
easwheresoci
alj
usti
ceissoughtandaccept
ed
alloverthewor l
dbythedemocrat
icst
atescanbel i
stedanddiscussedunderthe
foll
owingpoint
s:

1.Humant
raf
fi
cki
ng

I
ti soneoft hemostper v
asiveissuesofsoci alj
usti
cer oundt heglobe.Ar ecentreport
byanI nter
nati
onalVoluntar
yOr gani zati
onst at
est hatmor ethan80mi l
l
ionpeopl e
i
ncludingwomenandchi l
drenaret r
affickedacrossdiff
erentpar t
soft hewor l
d.Thegi r
ls
betweent heagesof15t o35y earsofageconst it
utemor et han60%oft hetraf
fi
cked
populati
on.These people are heldi n some unknown pl aces and are engaged i n
hazardouswor ksbythetraff
ickers.They ounggir
lsaref orcedintopr ost
it
utionagainst
theirwil
l
.Inthi
sformthereismassv iolati
onofhumanr i
ghtsandsoci al j
usti
ce.

2.Chi
l
dLabor

Chil
dl aborisanotherimportantissueofsoci alj
usti
ce.Youcanseenumber sofchil
dren
workingi nthef actori
es,bars,restaurant
s,mi l
ls,shoppingcompl exes,t
eastal
lset c.
Theyar epai dv er
yl ow andv eryof t
ent heyarenotpai d.Instead,theyareharassed
physicall
y,mentall
y,sexuall
yandemot ionall
y.Theyar edepr i
vedoft hebasi
cneedsl i
ke
food,cloth,educati
on,goodheal thandadecentl i
fe.Thisisl ookeduponasaser ious
i
ssueofsoci aljusti
ceinthedev el
opingnat i
onsespeci al
l
yI ndi
a.

3.Pov
ert
y

Povertyissi t
uati
onwher eani ndiv
idualisdeniedt hebasicameni ti
esoflife.Apoori s
multi
-dir
ectionall
yv ul
nerabl
et ot he vices oflifelike exploi
tati
on –poli
tical,social
,
economi c,cult
ural
, emotionaletc.i
nhissurroundingsandsounabl etomai ntainjustl
ife
ashi sr i
ch count erpartdo.Heal so isdenied legaljusticei nthe sphereofl egal
proceedings.Thuspov er
tystandstobeamaj orissueofSoci alj
usti
ce.

4.Unt
ouchabi
l
ity

Iti
sapr oblem peculi
artoIndiaandr ampantintheIndi
ansociety.Somesect i
onofour
population,especi
allytheScheduledCastepeopl ehist
ori
cal
l
yunder wentsuchf or m of
suff
ering.Thought hepr act
iceofuntouchabil
i
tyhasbeenabolishednow, i
tstil
lexistsin
somepar tsofther uralI
ndia.I
tconti
nuest odenyal ar
gesectionoft hepopulat
iont he
basi
cr ightswhichar evit
alforgr
owthanddev elopmentofper
sonal i
ty.
Page15of15
5.Genderdi
scr
imi
nat
ion

Genderdi scriminationasi ssueisasol dashumansoci ety.From timei mmemor i

al,
womenwer etreatedassecondst atusi nthesoci et
y.Duet othepr evalenceoft he
sti
gmaofgenderdi scri
mi nati
onwomenhadt opl ayasecondf i
ddleamongt hemen.
Event odayaf t
ert housandsofat tempt sbyt hewor l
dcommuni t
yf orbringingaboutt he
equalst atusofwomenwi thmen,genderdi scriminati
onst andsst r
ongt oper i
sht he
bett
erhal foft hesociety.Thoughi nmanyst andsf ewwomenhav eshownout standing
achievement s,t he majority ofthe gendergr oup stil
lis subjugated by t he mal e
counterparts.Theyst i
llfal
lv i
cti
mt ot hev i
ceslikedomest icviol
ence,ev et easing,l
ower
i
ncomet hanmen,negl i
gibleeducational,poli
ti
calandeconomi crepresent ati
on,mor al
degradation,et c. Thi s issue has at tr
acted t he attenti
on of t he i ntell
ectuals,
academi ciansandact i
vi
stst oputthei reff
ortforthechangi ngsuchunwant edsi t
uation
onthebasi softhephilosophyofsoci al j
usti
ce.

6.Bondedl
abor

Bondedl aborwasacommonphenomenoni nthef eudalperiod.I nt hissy stem t hepoor

l
aborwer econf inedi nthefar
m oft hemast eragai nstav erysmal lpay menti nter msof
money ,cr opsorot hergoods.Thel aborhadt owor kforunl i
mi tedt imei nadayf ora
cert
ainper i
odasaf fir
medbyt hel abor.Thel aborhadt ounder goendl essex ploit
ation
andphy sicaltortur edur i
ngthesaidper i
od.Thissy stem isst i
llprev alentinsomepar tof
thewor l
despeci allyintheunderdevelopedcount ri
es, wherepoorpeopl ei nor dert omeet
thei
rbasi cneedsori nti
meofsi cknessorot herdi ff
icul
tsituationsbor rowmoneyf rom
ri
chpeopl e.Inr et urn,theyser
vet herichforunlimitedt i
me.Thei rwor ksar ev aluedv ery
l
ow, solowt hatt heycannotev eny i
eldtwosquar eofmealadayf ort hem.Of tent heygo
onwor kingunpai d.Whent heyfailtodophy sicallaboroutofhungerorweakness,t hey
arephy sicall
yt or tured.Thi
sey ecat chingissueofsoci alinjusticei swor keduponby
manyVol untaryandGov er
nment alorganizati
onssoast obr i
ngaboutchanget ot he
sit
uati
on.Legi slat i
onsar eenactedtot ackl
esuchcondi ti
ons.

7.Femal
eInf
ant
ici
de

Femal eInfanti
cideisaser i
ousi ssueofSoci aljustice.Thi sissuehasst emmedoutf r
om
theev i
lconceptofgenderdi scrimi nati
on.Genderdi scriminationisnotnewf orus.Since
theancientt i
me,ithasbeenr ulingourmi nds.Si ncet imei mmemor ialsoci
et yhasbeen
dominat edbymal es.Event odayawomani sgi venasecondst atusinthesoci et
y.She
hastof acenumer ouspr oblemsdur i
ngherl i
fetimej ustbecauseshei sawoman.Asgi r
l
sheisal waysinsecur eaboutrape, mur der
, andhar assmentandki dnapping;asawoman
sheist hev i
cti
m ofdomest icv iolence,dowr ytorture,r apeet c.I
tisf orthi
sr easonthat
veryoftenamot herdoesn’twantt obor nagi rlchildandi fithappenst oborn, theinf
ant
i
ski l
ledort hrownal i
veinmanycases.Thef emal ei nfantloosest herightt ol i
fej
ust
becauseGodcr eatedherasaf emal e.Thisi snotaj usticeforachi l
dandi nvolvessevere
viol
ati
onofhumanr ightsandsoci aljusti
ce.

8.Et
hni
cdi
scr
imi
nat
ion

Ethnicdiscr
iminati
onisawor ldwi
dephenomenoni nt hepresentt ime.Itconti
nuest o
existinalmostallthecountriesoft heworldinspit
eofi nternational
,nati
onandl ocal
effor
tsbyt hegov ernmentsandot hercivilsoci
etyorganizations.Communalv i
olence
basedonet hnici
tyatt i
meshascr eat edhavocinoursoci et
y .Undert hi
ssystem many
minorit
yethnicgroupshav ebeenattackedbythemaj ori
tygroupsandhav ebeendepr i
ve
doft hei
rbasicandet hnicri
ghtswhi chareessenti
alfortheirgrowt handdevelopment.
Page16of16
Thishasappear
edasanot
herser
iousi
ssueofsoci
alj
ust
ice.At
tempt
satv
ari
ousl
evel
s
aremadetodealwi
tht
hisi
ssueofsoci
alj
ust
ice.

5.Soci
alDev
elopment
Meani
ngandConcept

Socialdev elopmenti sanew concepti nt hefi

eldofsoci alsciences.Thet erm‘social
developmentcamet ol i
mel i
ghtatapoi ntwherei twasf el
tthatdev elopmentintrue
sensecannotbeat tai
nedonl ythrougheconomi cadv ancementandt hereisanurgent
need f ora hol i
sti
cand mul t
i-
dimensi onalappr oach.Thussoci aldev elopmentwas
i
dent i
fi
edasapanaceaf ort
hepr oblem ofdevelopmenti nUnit
edNat i
on’sReportonthe
WorldSi tuationintheni net
eenf if
ti
es.InI ndi
at het er
m‘ Soci
aldev el
opment ’wasfir
st
usedi nIndianCounci lofSoci
alWel far
ei ntheyear1973.

Whilether
ei slackofconsensusont hedefinit
ionofsocialdevel
opmentitisgenerall
y
underst
oodt ocompr i
seofasetofobj ect
ivesincludi
ngequityandsoci
aljusti
ce,which
subsumeaddi t
ionalobj
ecti
vesincludi
ngsoci ali
nclusi
on,sustai
nabl
eli
vel
ihoods,gender
equit
y,i
ncreasedvoiceandpart
icipati
on.

Socialdev elopmentt heoryat

temptstoex pl
ainquali
tati
vechangesi nthestr
uctureand
framewor kofsoci ety,whichhelpthesocietytobetterreal
izei t
sai msandobj ecti
ves.
Dev el
opmentcanbr oadl
ybedef inedasanupwar dascendi ngmov ementfeaturing
greaterlev elsofener gy,eff
ici
ency,quali
ty,pr
oductivi
ty,compl exit
y,comprehension,
creati
vity,
mast ery
, enjoymentandaccompl i
shment.Socialdevelopmenti saprocessof
socialchange,notmer el
yasetofpol i
ciesandpr ogramsi nsti
tutedforsomespeci fi
c
result
s.Thi sprocesshasbeengoi ngonsi ncethedawnofhi story.Butduri
ngt helast
fi
v ecenturiesithaspi ckedupinspeedandi nt
ensit
y,anddur ingt helastf
ivedecades
haswi tnessedamar kedsurgeinaccel
erati
on.

Thebasi cmechanism dri

vi
ngsoci alchangei sincreasingawar enessleadi
ngtobetter
organizati
on.Li
feevol
vesbyconsci ousnessandconsci ousnessinturnprogr
essesby
organizati
on.When society senses new and bet t
eroppor tuni
ti
es forprogr
ess it
accordingl
y devel
ops new forms ofor gani
zati
on t o exploitthese new openi
ngs
successfull
y.Thenew formsofor ganizati
onarebet terablet oharnesstheavail
able
socialenergi
esandskill
sandr esourcest ousetheoppor tunit
iestogettheint
ended
result
s.

Socialdev el
opmenti s governed by many f act
orst hatinfl
uence the r
esul
ts of
development aleffort
s.Theremustbeamot i
vethatdr i
vesthesocialchangeand
essentialprecondit
ionsfort
hatchanget ooccur.Themot ivemustbepower f
ulenough
toov ercomeobst ructi
onsthatimpedet hatchangefrom occurr
ing.Devel
opmentalso
requir
esr esourcessuchascapital
,technol
ogy,andsupporti
nginf
rast
ruct
ure.

Forpurposesofformul ati
ngsocialpoli
cies,howev
er,weproposetogoastepfurt
herby
recogni
zingthatsocialdev el
opmentinvolvesmult
ipl
elev
elsofengagementatthelev
el
ofindiv
idual
s,socialgr oups,andsociety.Asawor ki
ngdefini
ti
on,soci
aldev
elopment
canbedescribedast hepr ocessofincr
easing:

1.t
heasset
sandcapabi
l
iti
esofi
ndi
vi
dual
stoi
mpr
ovet
hei
rwel
l
bei
ng,
2.thecapaci
tyofsoci
algroupstoexerci
seagency,tr
ansfor
mthei
rrel
ati
onshi
pswi
th
othergr
oups,
andparti
ci
pateindevel
opmentprocesses,

Page17of17
3.t
heabili
tyofsociet
ytoreconci
letheint
erest
sofi
tsconst
it
uentel
ement
s,gov
ern
i
tsel
fpeacef
ull
y,andmanagechange.

Def
ini
ti
ons

Inor
dertohaveacleareri
deaofsocialdev
elopmentsomedef i
nit
ionsgiv
enbyv ar
ious
aut
hors,
prof
essi
onalsandacademi
cianscanber ev
iewedunderthefol
lowingl
i
nes:

M.S.Gor e,a famoussociol

ogi
stand socialworkscienti
stofIndia def
ined soci
al
development‘asaprocessofbringi
ngaboutt ot
ali
tyofthesoci
o-economic,poli
ti
cal
,
socialandcul
tural
dev
elopmentofthesoci
ety’
.

The j ournal“ I
nter
nationalSocialDev el
opmentRev i
ew-1971,page- 17 byUNO,sai d,
“social dev el
opmenti s:humanaspect ,
raisingincome,equit
abledist
ri
butionofmater
ials,
structural changestocr eateafavorabl
econdi t
ionforincl
usivegr
owt hetc”.
Johnst ated, “
Socialdevelopmentisthepr ocessofplannedinsti
tuti
onalchangetobri
ng
aboutabet tercorr
espondencebet weenhumanneedont heonehandandsoci al
poli
cies
andpr ogrammesont heot her
”.

I
ndi
cat
orsofSoci
aldev
elopment

Inor
derhav eamor eanal
yti
calunderst
andi
ngofsoci
aldev
elopment;i
tisnecessar
yto
l
ooki nt
ot heindicator
sofsoci aldevel
opment
.Becausethesearethecrit
eriafora
soci
etytobecalledassocial
lydevel
opedandtheseal
soser
veasy ar
dsti
ckstomeasure
soci
aldevelopment.

Somegener
all
yaccept
edmaj
ori
ndi
cat
orsofsoci
aldev
elopmentar
e:

1.Posi
ti
vechangei
nthel
evel
sofl
i
ving
2.El
i
minat
ionofpov
ert
y
3.Expansi
onofeducat
ion
4.I
ncr
easi
ngi
nthel
evel
ofempl
oyment
5.Soci
alj
ust
ice-t
hati
sequal
dist
ri
but
ionofdev
elopmentf
rui
ts.
6.Upl
i
ftmentofweakermember
soft
hesoci
ety
7.Well
organi
zedandr
eli
abl
epr
ovi
si
onsf
orsecur
it
yagai
nstv
ari
ouscont
ingenci
esof
l
ife.
8.I
mpr
ovementofsoci
alwel
far
emeasur
es
9.Reduct
ionofr
egi
onal
andsect
oral
inequal
i
ties
10.Pr
otect
ionandi
mpr
ovementofheal
th.
11.I
ncr
easedpopul
arpar
ti
ci
pat
ioni
nthedev
elopment
alpr
ogr
ammes.
12.I
mpr
ovedmechani
smsf
orenv
ironmentpr
otect
ion
13.Goodgov
ernance

Obj
ect
ivesofSoci
alDev
elopment

Themai
npur
poseofsoci
aldev
elopmenti
stor
aiset
hest
andar
dofl
i
vingofi
ndi
vi
dual
s

Page18of18
i
nthesociet
y.Someoft
heobj
ect
ivesadopt
edbymostoft
henat
ionsf
ort
hei
rsoci
al
dev
elopmentar
e:

1.Ashi
fti
nemphasisf
rom t
heindi
vi
dualtolar
gercol
lect
ivi
ti
es,
encompassi
ngt
hepoor
maj
ori
tyorgr
eat
eremphasisoncol
lect
ivebett
erment.
2.Todef
inesoci
algoal
sint
ermsoft
hesat
isf
act
ionofhumanneeds.
3.Toi
mpr
ovet
hequal
i
tyofl
i
fe
4.Tocreatearedi
str
ibut
ivei
nst
it
uti
onalst
ruct
uref
ort
heat
tai
nmentofnew soci
al
obj
ect
ives.
5.Toevol
veabroadst r
ategyfororgani
zat
ionalandv
aluechanget
oensur
espeedy
at
tai
nmentofr
edef
inedsocialgoal
s.
6.Toformulat
eindi
cat
orssoast
oev
aluat
esoci
alpr
ogr
essandt
oassessemer
ging
soci
alneeds
7.Tosetupmoni tor
ingmechani
smst
oensur
ethatt
hegr
owt
hlev
elsar
emeasur
abl
e
andsust
ainabl
e
8.To anti
cipat
e upcoming gr
owth-rel
ated and ot
herpr
obl
ems and t
o pr
epar
efor
handl
ingthem qui
ckl
yandeffect
ively
.
9.Tocreat
eanethosinwhichitispossi
blet
oquest
ionandret
hinkt
heappropri
ateness
andadequacyofexi
sti
ngsocialf
ormati
onsandtoworktowar
dsthei
rrest
ruct
uring.

Pr
inci
plesofsoci
aldev
elopment

1.Wedef i
nesocialdevelopmenti nit
sbr oadestsoci alt
ermsasanupwar ddirecti
onal
mov ementofsoci et
yf r
om l essert o greaterlevels ofenergy,effi
ciency,quality
,
product
ivi
ty,compl
exity
,compr ehension,cr eati
vi
ty,choice,mastery
,enj oymentand
accompli
shment.Dev elopmentof i ndiv
iduals and soci et
ies r
esul
tsi ni ncreasing
fr
eedom ofchoiceandincr easi
ngcapaci t
yt of ul
fi
lli
tschoicesbyitsowncapaci tyand
i
niti
ati
ve.

2.Growthanddev elopmentusuallygo toget

her,butt heyarediff
erentphenomena
subj
ecttodif
ferentlaws.Growt
hi nvolv
esahor i
zontalorquant
it
ati
veex pansi
onand
mult
ipl
i
cati
onofexi st
ingty
pesandf ormsofact i
vit
ies.Devel
opmentinvol
vesav er
ti
cal
orqual
i
tat
iveenhancementofthelevelofor
ganizati
on.

3.Soci
aldev
elopmentisdr
ivenbythesubconsci
ousaspirat
ions/wil
lofsociet
yfor
adv
ancement
.Thesoci
alwi
ll
seekspr
ogr
essi
vefulf
il
lmentofaprior
it
izedhi
erar
chyof

needs – secur
it
y ofborders,law and or der,sel
f-
suffi
ciency i
nf ood and shel
ter
,
organi
zati
onforpeaceandpr osperi
ty,expressi
onofexcessener gyinenter
tai
nment,
l
eisureandenj
oyment,
knowledge,andartist
iccreat
ivi
ty.

4.Dev el
opmentofsoci et
yoccursonlyinf iel
dswher ethatcol
lecti
vewi l
lissuff
ici
entl
y
strongandseekingexpressi
on.Devel
opmentst rategi
eswil
lbemostef f
ectivewhenthey
focusoni dent
if
yingareaswherethesoci alwillismatureandprovi
debet termeansfor
the awakened socialenergy to express itself.Onlythose ini
ti
ati
ves thatarei n
concordancewiththi
ssubconsciousurgewi ll
gai nmomentum andmul t
iply
.

5.Dev
elopmentofthecoll
ect
iveissubconsci
ous.Itst
art
swithphysi
calexper
ience
whi
ch event
ual
lyleads t
o consci
ous comprehensi
on ofthe pr
ocess.Conscious
Page19of19
dev
elopmentbased on conceptualknowl
edge oft
he soci
alpr
ocess accel
erat
es
dev
elopmentandmi
nimizeserr
orsandimbal
ances.

6.Societ
yist hef i
eldofor
gani
zedrelat
ionshi
psandinteracti
onsbetweenindiv
idual
s.
Onlyasmal lporti
onofhumanactivi
tyisorgani
zedforutil
izat
ionbysociet
y,soonlya
smallport
ionofdev el
opmentpot
enti
al(oftechnol
ogy,knowledge,i
nfor
mat i
on,skil
l
s,
syst
ems)ist apped.

7.Everysociet
ypossessesahuger eserv
oirofpotenti
alhumanener gythatisabsor bed
andheldstatici
nitsorganizedfoundati
ons—itscult
uralvalues,physicalsecuri
ty,social
beli
efsandpol i
ti
calstruct
ures.Attimesoft ransi
ti
on,crisesandoppor tunit
ies,those
energi
esar erel
easedandexpr essedi nacti
on.Polici
es,strategi
esandpr ogramst hat
tapthi
slatentenergyandchannelitintoconstruct
iveacti
viti
escanst i
ranent i
renat i
on
toacti
onandr api
dadv ancement.

8.Theactist hebasi
cunitofsocialorgani
zati
on.Theevol
uti
onofmor ecompl exand
product
ive acti
vi
ti
es woven togetherby peoplet oform systems,or gani
zat
ions,
i
nstit
uti
onsandcultur
alv
aluesconstit
utethefabr
icorwebofsoci
alorganizati
on.

9.Theessentialnat
ureofthedevel
opmentpr ocessistheprogressi
vedevel
opmentof
soci
alorgani
zationsandinst
it
uti
onsthatharnessanddi r
ectthesociet
y’sener
giesf or
hi
gherlevel
sofaccompl i
shment.Soci
etydev elopsbyorganizi
ngalltheknowl edge,
humanenergiesandmat er
ial
resour
cesatit
sdi sposal
toful
fi
lli
tsaspi
rat
ions.

10.Thepr ocessoff or
mat i
onofor ganizationt akespl acesi mul taneouslyatsev eral
l
ev els:theor ganizat
ionofpeaceandphy sicalsecur i
tyi nsoci ety,theor gani
zat i
onof
phy sicalacti
v i
ti
esandi nfr
astructur
e,theor gani zati
onofpr oduct i
vepr ocessest hr
ough
the appl i
cation ofski l
ls and technology in agr i
culture,i ndustry and ser v
ices,t he
organi zat
ionofsoci alprocesseswecal lsyst ems,l aws,i nstit
utionsandadmi nistrati
ve
agenci es,theor gani
zati
onofdat aasusef uli nformat i
on,t heor gani zat
ionofknowl edge
througheducat i
onandsci ence,andt heorgani zationofhi ghersoci alandculturalvalues
thatchannel humanener gyint
ohi gherformsofexpr ession.

11.Eachoft heselev
elsoforgani
zat i
onadmitsofunl
imi
teddevelopment.Eachofthese
l
ev el
s ofor gani
zati
on depends upon and inter
act
s wit
ht he other
s.El ev
ating t
he
organizat
ion atany of t hese level
si ncr
eases t
he uti
li
zat
ion of resources and
opportuni
tiesandaccel
erat
esdev elopment.

12.Developmentrequi
resanenor mousi nvestmentofener gytobreakexist
ingpatter
ns
ofsocialbehavi
orandf orm new ones.Dev elopmentt akesplacewhensur plussocial
ener
giesaccumulatebeyondt helev elrequir
edf orfuncti
oningatthepresentlevel
.The
soci
alenergymayber el
easedinr esponset ot heopeningupofanew oppor t
uni
tyor
conf
rontati
onbyasev erechall
enge.Wher edifferentcul
turesmeetandblend,explosi
ve
ener
giesforsoci
alevol
utionarereleased.

13.Ex pression ofsur pl

usener gyt hrough exi
sti
ng for
msofact i
vi
tymayr esul
ti n
growth—a quant it
ati
ve expansion ofsoci et
y atthe existing lev
elofor ganizat
ion.
Channelingt hesur plusenergyi ntomor ecomplexandef fecti
vef ormsofor gani
z ed
acti
vityleadst o development—aqual i
tati
veenhancementi nt hecapabi
li
tiesoft he
society
.Thef r
eshi ni
tiati
vest
hatl eadtot hi
squali
tat
iveenhancementusuallyoccurf i
rst
i
nt heunor ganizedact ivi
ti
esofsoci et
yt hatar
enotconstrainedandencumber edbyt he
i
nertiaofthest atusquo.

14.Ther
ateandext
entofdev
elopmenti
sdet
ermi
nedbypr
eval
entsoci
alat
ti
tudes
Page20of20
which cont r
olt he f l
ow ofsocialenergies.Where at ti
tudes ar
e notconduci ve,
devel
opmentst rategieswi
llnoty
iel
dresul
ts.Inthi
scaset heemphasisshoul
dbepl aced
onstrategiestobr ingaboutachangei nsoci alat
ti
tudes—suchaspubl iceducation,
demonst r
ationandencouragementofsuccessfulpi
oneers.

15.Thesoci algradientbetweenpeopleatdiffer
entlevelsofpowerandaccompl ishment
i
nsoci etyrepresentsa‘ volt
agediff
erent
ial
’thatsti
mul ateslessaccompl i
shedsect ions
ofthepopul at
iont oseekwhatt hemor eaccompl i
shedhav eachieved.Theur get o
maintainthisvoltagegapcompel sthoseatt hetoptoseekf ur
theraccomplishment s.At
thesamet i
me,t heov er
alldev
elopmentofsoci et
yi sdet er
minedbyi tsabili
tytomake
accessiblethepr ivi
legesandbenef i
tsachievedbyt hoseatt hetopt other estofi ts
member s.

16.Devel
opmentpr oceedsrapidl
yint
hosear
easwheret
hesoci
etybecomesawareof
oppor
tunit
iesandchallengesandhast
hewil
ltor
espondt
othem.I
ncreasi
ngawar
eness
accel
erat
estheprocess.

17.Dev el
opmentisapr ocess,notapr ogram.Devel
opmentisanactiv
ityofthesociety
asawhol e.Itcanbest i
mulated,dir
ectedorassist
edbygov er
nmentpolici
es,lawsand
speci
alprograms, buti
tcannotbecompel ledorcarr
iedoutbyadmi
nistr
ativeorext
ernal
agenciesonbehal fofthepopul at
ion.Dev el
opmentstrat
egyshouldai m torel
ease
people’
sinit
iat
ive,
nottosubstit
uteforit.

18.Allr
esourcesarethecreati
onofthehumanmi nd.Somet hi
ngbecomesar esource
whenhumanbei ngsrecogni
zeaproducti
veormoreproducti
veuseforit
.Sincethereare
noinher
entli
mitstohumani nv
enti
venessandr
esourcef
ulness,t
hepotenti
alproducti
vi
ty
ofanyresour
ceisunli
mited.

19.Human bei ngs aret he ult

imater esour
ce and ult
imat e deter
minantof the
devel
opmentprocess.Itisapr ocessofpeopl ebecomingmor eawar eoftheirown
creat
ivepot
ent
ialsandt aki
nginit
iat
ivetoreali
zethosepotenti
als.Humanawar eness,
aspir
ati
onandat t
it
udesdet er
minesociet
y ’
sresponsetocircumstances.Devel
opment
occursonl
yatt
hepoi nt
swher ehumanityr
ecognizesit
spowert odeter
mineresul
ts.

20.Thedev elopmentofsoci alorganizat

iontakespl acewi thinal argerev oluti
onar y
contextinwhi cht heconsci ousnessofhumani tyisev olvi
ngal ongacont inuum f r
om
physicaltovit
alt oment al
.Thisev oluti
onexpr
essesasapr ogressiveshiftinemphasi s
from mat er
ialr esourcest otechnol ogi
calandinformationr esources;from t hesoci al
i
mpor tanceofl andt otheimpor t
anceofmoneyandknowl edge;fr
om her edit
aryrightsof
theelit
etof undament alri
ghtsforal lhumanbeings;from reli
anceonphy sicalformsof
authori
tyt ol aws and shar ed v alues.As society advances al ong this continuum,
developmentbecomesmor econsci ousandmor erapi
d.

21.I
nfi
nit
yisapr
act
icalconcept
.Humanpot
ent
iali
sunl
i
mit
ed.Dev
elopmentpot
ent
iali
s
i
nfi
nit
e.

22.Thesameprinci
plesandpr ocessgover
ndev el
opmentindi
ff
erentf
iel
dsofsoci
all
i
fe
–poli
ti
cal,
economic,technol
ogical,
sci
enti
fi
c,cult
ural
,et
c.

23.Thesamepri
ncipl
esandprocessgov
erndev
elopmentatt
hel
eveloft
hei
ndi
vi
dual
,
theor
gani
zat
ionandthesoci
ety
.

Page21of21
6.Soci
alEmpower
ment
AConcept
ionofEmpower
ment

Thet erm empowermentmeansmanyt hingstomanypeopl e.Concept sofchoi ce,

fr
eedom,agency ,capacity,parti
cipat
ion,aut onomy ,and increased r esources,
howev er
,arecommont ov i
rt
uall
yalldefinit
ions.Consensuscant hereforebef ound
around theideaofempower mentasameansofi mpr ovi
ng qualit
yofl i
feand
expandingthebasisofhumanwel l
-being.Inshor t
,empower mentcanser v
easa
mechani sm f
oref
fect
ingdeepandbr oad-basedsocialtr
ansformati
on.

Thepr ocessofsoci altransf ormat ioncanbeexpl oredatbot ht heper sonaland

structurallevel
s. 
Atoneendoft hespect rum,soci alchangei sseenasanout come
oft hedev elopmentofi ndividual s,achi evedt hrougheducat ion,t raining,accesst o
mat eri
alr esources,and t he like.Accor di
ng tot hisv i
ew,st ruct uralchange i s
assumedt obeanaut omat i
cr esultofper sonalchange.Unf ortunat ely,thisr ar
ely
bear s outi n pract
ice,as ev en t hose who benef itf r
om such r esources f ind
themsel vespar t
ici
pati
ngi noppr essiv esoci alstructures.Att heot herendoft he
spectrum,t hehumanbei ngi sv iewedent irel
yasapr oductofsoci ety,andchangei s
consider edimpossibleunl esssoci alst ructur
es—mai nlythoser el atedt opol i
ti
cal
power —ar echangedf i
rst.Yet ,t
ooof ten,t hi
sappr oachhassuppor tedt hei deat hat
endsj ustif
ythemeansandhasr esul tedi nconditionsofi nj
usti
ceandoppr ession. 

Increasi
ng thecapacityofi ndi
vidualsand communi ti
est o buil
d morej ustand
equitablesoci
alstruct
uresrequi
resaconcept ionofsocialdev el
opmentt hatav oi
ds
theseext r
emes.Indivi
dualandst ruct
uralt
ransfor
mationar eintimatel
yrelated:the
i
ndi vi
dual’
sinnerli
feshapeshisorhersoci alenvi
ronment ,andthatenvir
onment ,i
n
turn,exert
sapr of
oundinfl
uenceonone’ sspir
it
ualandpsy chologicalwel
l-
being.  

Themet aphoroft hebodypol i

ti
c,li
keningal lofhumani tytoasinglesocialorgani sm,
prov i
desausef ulframewor kf orexploringempower mentasmeanst opursuet he
transformation ofi ndivi
duals and soci ety.I mplici
ti n such a concept ion ar e
char act
eri
stics such as t he interdependence oft he parts and the whol e,t he
i
ndi spensabili
tyofcol labor
ati
on, r
eciprocityandmut ualaid,t
heneedt odiff
erent i
ate
butal sohar monizer oles,t
heneedf orinstituti
onalarrangement sthatenabler ather
thanoppr ess,andt heexi st
enceofacol l
ectivepur poseabov ethatofanyconst ituent
element .Viewedi nt hisway ,empower mentbot hdependsonandcont r
ibutest oa
sy st
em inwhi chdi verseactorsarepr ovidedt heresourcesneededf oreachtomake
auni quecont r
ibuti
ont othewhole.

Drawing on the aboveideas,indivi

dualand col lect
ive empowermentcan be
conceiv
edast heexpansi
onofv i
sion,capaci
ty,andv oli
ti
onnecessar
yforpeopl
eto
actaseffect
iveagent
sofhumanwel l-
beingandpr osperi
ty.

Page22of22
ThePr
otagoni
stsofSoci
alTr
ansf
ormat
ion

Whoar etheprimaryactorsi ntheprocessesofsocialtransf

ormation?Exper i
ence
suggestst
hatthreearecriti
call
yimport
ant:theindi
vi
dual,theinst
it
utionsofsoci ety,
andt hecommuni t
y.Int hisli
ght,empower mentcanbesai dt oinvolveassi sti
ng
i
ndivi
dualsto manifestconst r
ucti
vecapaciti
esi ncreati
veanddi scipli
nedway s,
i
nsti
tuti
ons t
o exercise authori
tyin a mannert hatleads tot he pr ogress and
upl
ift
mentofal l
,andcommuni ti
estoprovideanenv ir
onmenti nwhi chcul t
ureis
enri
chedandindi
v i
dualwill
sandcapaciti
escombi neincoll
ecti
veaction.

Raisingcapaci tyamongt heseprotagonistswillr

equir eathor oughr eexami nati
onof
assumpt ionsabouthumannat ure.Notionsof“ us”and“ them”deser v eparti
cular
attenti
on.Di scourseindev el
opmentci r
cles,forexampl e,i
sof tenroot edinnot i
onsof
the “ empower ed” member s of soci ety assisting t he “ disadv antaged” or
“mar gi
nalized.”Thei mpulsetorecti
fysocialinequalit
iesisunquest ionabl ynoble,but
us/ t
hem di chotomi es only perpetuat
e and r einforce existing divisi
ons.Car ef
ul
thoughtneedst obegi vent oway sinwhi chempower mentcanbeappr oachedasa
universalandshar edenterpri
seandnotsomet hi
ngt he“hav es”best owont he“ have
nots.”

Closel
yr elatedisthequest i
onofwhoi sempower edandwhoi snot.Histor
ical
processeshav ecreatedi
nequali
ti
esthatmustbeaddr essed.Butt hedevelopment
framewor kshouldbeonei nwhichev eryindi
vi
dualandgr oupispr esumedt ohave
room foradv ancement.I
nt hi
sli
ght,t
hemar gi
nal
izedarenotwi thoutcapacit
y,and
thepr i
vi
legedar enotal l
-power
ful
.Al lhav ecapaci
tyto developandal lhavea
responsibi
lit
ytoadvancethewelf
areoft hewhole.

Finall
y,thoughempower mentdenot essomeoneorsomet hi
ngbei ngi nv
est edwi th
power ,t he socialdy nami cs ofpowerseem t o have been l argelyi gnor ed in
discussionsondev elopmentatt heUni tedNat i
ons.Thatanexami nati
onoft he
dynami csofpowerhaspr ovendif
ficul
ttoi ntegr
ateintot
hesedi scussionssuggest s
theneedf ornewandal t
ernati
veappr oaches.Howcanpowerbeconcept ualizedas
somet hingothert hanazer o-
sum commodi ty?Howcani tsassoci ationswi t
hcont rol
and domi nat
ion be r eplaced byones ofcapaci t
yand abi l
ity?How can i tbe
approachedasani ntegralpartofallsocialrelat
ionshi
psandi nstit
ut i
ons,rathert han
ar esourcet obeacqui r
edorl ost?Expl orationalongthesel ines,webel iev e,wi l
l
providemuchi nsightint
ot hemeansandendsofempower ment. 

Pr
erequi
sit
esf
orSoci
alTr
ansf
ormat
ion

Becausethosewi thoutaseatatthet ablehaveli

tt
levoiceindecisionsaffect
ingt heir
l
ives,partici
pat i
on int he systems and st ruct
ures ofsoci etyi s an essent ial
prerequi
sit
ef orsoci alt
ransf
ormat i
on.Tobeany t
hingmor ethanwi ndow-dressing
though,parti
cipati
onmustbesubst antiveandcreati
ve.Iti
snotenoughf orpeopl eto
bemer ebenef ici
ariesofproj
ects,eveni ft
heyhaveav oiceincertaindecisi
ons.They
mustbef armor ei nvol
ved in decision-
making processes:identif
ying problems,
Page23of23
devi
singsol
uti
onsandappr
oaches,enj
oyi
ngbenef
it
s,anddet
ermi
ningcr
it
eri
afor
eval
uati
on.

Part
ici
pat
ion,howev er,cannotbeequat edwi t
hempower ment —t
akingparti
nf l
awed
syst
emsmer el
yper petuatesexisti
ngpatternsofinjust
ice.Inordertoadvancethe
commongood,i ndividualsmustpossessbot hthecapaci t
ytoassessthestrengt
hs
andweaknessesofexi sti
ngsoci alst
ructur
esandt hef reedom t
ochoosebet ween
part
ici
pat
ingi nthosest ruct
ures,workingtor efor
mt hem,orendeav ori
ngtobui l
d
newones.

Buildi
ngt hecapaci t
yoft hewor ld’speoplesandsoci alinstit
uti
onst o createa
prosperousandj ustsocietywi l
lrequi reavasti ncr
easeinaccesst oknowl edge.Thi s
willentai
lappr oachesthatf aci
litatet hegener ati
on,appli
cation,anddi ffusionof
knowledge att he l
ocall evel.Rat herthan unquest i
oningl
yadopt ing “sol
ut i
ons”
developedel sewher e,anemphasi sonst rengtheninglocalcapaci tyto gener ate,
apply,anddi f
fuseknowl edgecanhel ptoputintoplaceanongoi ngpr ocessofact i
on
andr efl
ection,onewhi chencour agesr espectoft heexisti
ngknowl edgebaseofa
communi ty, r
aisesthecommuni t
y ’
sconf i
dencei nit
sabil
itytodev i
se, i
mplementand
assesssol uti
ons,andhel pstosy stemat i
zeandexpandl ocalknowl edge.Ther esult
i
sasy stemat i
candcoher entpr ocessofl earningthatcangr aduallyencompassa
widerrangeofcommuni tyendeav or s.

Finally
,t heabil
it
yt oidentif
yt her ootcausesofi njusti
cewi l
lbecr ucialt ot he
empower ment of popul at
ions to become agent s of soci al tr
ansfor mation.
Regar dlessoft
headv antagesapopul ati
onmi ghtenjoy,i
fitisunabletodi scernt he
driversofsoci alinj
usti
ceand i nequity
,itwi l
lremainunabl et orectifyt hem.I f
empower menti stoleadt o socialtransf
ormat i
on,itmusti nvolv
et heabi li
tyt o
recognizet heforcesshapingone’ ssocialreali
ty,t
oi denti
fythepossi bil
it
iesand
challengespresentedbyt hatreali
ty,andtodev i
seiniti
ati
vesforthebet termentof
society.

Fur
therConsi
der
ati
ons

Manyquest ionsremaint
obeanswer ed.Howcanwemeasur eempower ment ?How
doweconcei veofempower mentatt hel eveloftheindividual
,thecommuni t
y,and
sociali nsti
tuti
ons? How can we ensur et hat ef
fortst o assist peopl e and
communi ti
est obecomeprotagonistsoft heirowndev el
opmentdonotr einf or
cethe
notionsof“ us”and“ t
hem”ort he“dev eloped”andt he“dev el
opi
ng”?Howcansuch
effort
sser v eto str
engt
henv isi
on,capabi l
iti
es,and voli
tionratherthancr eati
ng
dependenci es?How cansoci alt r
ansf ormat i
onbeappr oachedasauni v ersaland
sharedent erpriseandnotsomet hi
ngdr i
venbyt he“ haves”forthebenef itofthe
“havenot s”?How canwegi veexpr essiont ot hepowert hatcomesf r om love,
knowl edge,sol i
dar
it
y,tr
uthfulness,and wi sdom?How canwest ri
vef ormut ual
empower menti nhumanrelat
ionsatal llevelsofsociet
y ?

Page24of24
Vol
unt
arySoci
alWor
kinI
ndi
a

Thewor dv olunteerisderiv
edf rom theLatinword‘Volunas’whichmeansdesi r
eor
i
nsti
ncttodosomet hingbywi l
lalone.I
tisactofprovi
dingphy si
cal
,mater
ialandnon
-mater
ialhelpt oanyindivi
dual,grouporcommuni tythatisunabletomeett hebasic
needsofl i
f e.Socialwor kint hi
sf ormisi nexi
stencef r
om t heveryexi
stenceof
I
ndiansoci ety.Topr ov i
dev oluntar
yser v
icehasbeenr ootedint hespiri
toft he
I
ndianssincel ong.Historywitnesseshowt heIndi
anshav econcentrat
edint oserve
theneedythr ough‘dana’,‘
sramadana’,‘
seva’et
cforthedest i
tutei
nthesociety
.

Thet er m‘ volunt eer’hasbeender ivedf r

om t heLat inwor d‘ Volunas’t hemeani ngof
whichi sassumedasv ariousf ormsofi mpulsesordesi r
esorani nst inctt odo
somet hi
ngf ort hebet t
ermentofot hers, forthebet termentoft hesoci et ywi thoutany
expect ationi nr et ur
n.Hence,v oluntarysoci alwor kcanbedef i
nedast hev oluntary
activi
tiest opr ovidephy sical,mat eri
alornon- mat erialhel pt oanyi ndividual ,groupor
communi tyt osol vetheunder li
nedpr oblem.Thei nneri nsti
nctori mpul set ohel p
thosewhoar ei nneedi st hedr ivi
ngf or cetov ol unt arysoci alwor k.Theact ivit
ies
underv olunt aryi ncl
udeconst ruct i
onorr epairi
ngofpubl icroads,di ggi ngwel l
sf or
dri
nki ngwat erf orthepeopl e,bui l
dingcommuni t yhal l
,teachingdest itut echi ldren
andadul tpeopl eetc.Inv oluntar ysoci alwor kact iv i
tiesar ecar r
iedonwi thoutany
remuner ation.Asgener al l
yunder stood, thereisal sononeedoft rai
ning, andsol ving
ofpr oblemst hroughasy stemat icpr ocessi snotconcer nedinv oluntarysoci al wor k.
LordBev er i
dge,whi lespeaki ngaboutv oluntaryact ionsai d,“Voluntaryact i
oni st hat
actionwhi chi snotdi rectedorcont rolledbyt hest ate” .Hecal l
si tapr i
v ateent erprise
forsoci alpr ogr ess.Thus, i
tisapr i
vateact i
onf orpubl icgood.I tisunder takenbyan
i
ndiv i
dualoragr oup ofi ndividuals( associ at
ion)who ar enotgov erned byany
external cont rol butbyowni nstinctordesi r
e.

Phil
ant hropi stsandboar dmember sofanyagencyar ealsosomet imescal l
edas
social wor kers(Samaj Sevaks).Ther eareinallruralvi
ll
agesandur bannei ghborhood
personsofout goingdi sposi t
ionwhocomef orwardtor enderassi st
ancedur i
ng
cri
sesl ikei l
lness,deat h,accidentsori ni
mpor tantoccasionslikebi rt
h,mar ri
age, et c.
Theymayal sogi vefreeadv i
ceandhel ppeopl einthemat terofabst ai
n.Ther ear e
rati
oncar dr egistrati
oncompl aintsandt hemaker sofar egistrat
ionf orprov i
dinga
busst opandmi l
kboot hi nthear ea.Therear efacil
i
tator
swhohav eappr opr i
at e
contact sandsomeski l
lsi ndr af
tingpetit
ions.Suchpeopl ear el ateridenti
fi
edby
peopl e’
swor kers.Itisnotsur pr
isingthatmanyoft hosewhoar eelectedt ot he
represent ativebodi esofv ariouslev el
sdeclaret hemselvesassoci alwor kersatt he
l
ocall ev el
s.Peopl edonotf indmuchdi sti
nctionbetweensoci alwor kersandt hese
poli
ticians.Hence,al loft hesepeopl egener all
ycalledbyt hepeopl easv olunt ar y
social wor kers.

Therear enumberofv olunt

aryor ganizat
ionsi noperati
oni noursoci ety.Pr operl
y
speaking,av ol
untaryorgani
zati
oni stheonewhi chwhet heri t
swor kersar epai dor
unpaidi sini
ti
atedandgov ernedbyi tsownmember swi thoutexternalcont rol.The
i
ndependenceofv ol
untaryacti
ondoesnothowev ermeanal ackofcooper ati
on
between i tand public act
ion.Butt he voluntar
y organi zat
ion means t hatt he
organizati
onhasawi l
landmet hodofoper ationofi t
sown.Asdef inedbyt he
NationalCouncilofSocialServi
ce,av oluntar
yact i
onisi nterpret
edast heact ivi
ti
es
ofself-gover
ningbodyofpeopl ewhohav ejoinedtogetherv oluntar
il
yt ounder t
ake
acti
v i
ti
esforthebetter
mentoft hecommuni ty.

Page25of25
Itcannotbedeni edthatforthehealt
hyfunctioningofthesoci ety
,volunt
arysocial
workisofgr eatsigni
fi
cance.I
tserv
esast r
aininggroundfort hepotenti
all
eadershi
p
ofthecommuni t
yandhel pstocont
inual
l
ybr oadent heconceptoff el
lowfeel
ingand
socialjust
ice.Italsohelpst hemember soft hesocietytodev el
opasenseof
responsibi
l
itytowardsownf el
l
owmensuf f
eringfrom dif
ferentprobl
ems.

Soci alwor ki snotanewt hingi nI ndi a.Ithasal way sbeendone, asi ti sst il
l asanactof
fri
endshi pinor dinarycour seofdut ybyt hepr i
est ,teacher ,thedoct or sandt hel awy ers.
Mayi tbepr of essi onal soci al wor korv olunt ar ysoci al wor k,thebasi cf oundat ioni shel p
orser v i
ceascl earlyexpl ici tint hesoci al wor kdi scour se.Theycl osel yassoci at edwi t
h
eachot her .
Thehi st oryofpr ofessi onal soci al wor ki nI ndi ai sallaboutt hev olunt ar yef fortsmadeby
thev olunt arywor kersi nt hef ieldsofsoci al wel fareser vicessi cneagest illdat e.In
ancientI ndi a, thenat ur eofsoci al ser vicewast hatofr eligi ouschar i
ty .Theear li
er
referencet ochar it
yi sf oundi nt heol destHi ndur eli
giousscr ipt ureRi gVeda( chapt er-I,
XIII
, 2)whi chencour ageschar itybysay ing, “Mayt heonewhogi vesshi nemost ”.The
Upani shadsl i
keBr i
hadar any aka, Chhandagy aandTai tiriya, pr escr i
bedt hatev ery
househol dermustpr act i
cechar i
ty .InMahabhar atitisf oundt hati nani nt eract i
on
Bhismat alkedt oYudhi stirdescr i
bi ngt heessenceofet er nal religion, non- violence, t
ruth,
theconquestofangerandpr act iceofchar ity.Li kewise, ther ewer emanysoci al wor k
activiti
esper for medi nanci entI ndi a.
LordBev eridge, whi l
espeaki ngaboutv olunt aryact i
onsai d, “Vol unt aryact ioni st hat
actionwhi chi snotdi r
ect edorcont rolledbyt hest ateint hel ightofr ight ” .Hecal l
si ta
privateent erpr isef orsoci al pr ogr ess.Thus, itisapr ivateact i
onf orpubl icgood.I tis
under takenbyani ndi vidual oragr oupofi ndi vidual s(associ ation)whoar enotgov erned
byanyext er nal cont rol butbyowni nst inctordesi r
e.
Thesour ceofv olunt arianism i nI ndi amaybei dent i
fi
edasr eligiouspr act i
ces,
philant hr opy ,mat erial aids, mi ssi onar yzeal ofr eli
giousor gani zat ions, commi tmentof
thegov er nmentt opubl icint erest , thepr ofitmaki ngur georbusi ness, thewel farebyt he
sociallysuper iorsandt hemot i
v eofsel f-helpamongf ellowmenar eal l ref l
ect edi nt he
volunt ar i
ani sm.Theot herf act or sofv olunt ar ywor kmaybet oobt aint hesoci al prestige,
recogni tionandexper iencesf orper sonal gai n.Vol untar ysoci al wor ki nI ndi aisgr eatl
y
i
nf l
uencedbyt her eligiousobl igat ionmani fest edi nther i
t ualsandpr act icesl i
ke
arrangi ngf oodf orthebeggar s, pr iest sanddest it
ute;donat i
ngf orsoci al ser vi
cei nt he
nameofdeceasedpar ent sorot herr elativeset c.i nthispr ocessi tisseent hat
throughoutt he18thcent urypov er tywasdeal tbyt r
aditional meansl ikei ndi vidual
philant hr opyandr eli
gi ouschar ity.I n19thcent uryv oluntar yser viceswer emani fest edi n
somebr oadar eassuchas:
Areaofr el i
gi ousandspi ritual tenet s( ther oot sofsoci al ref or m)
Ar
eaofcust
omar
ypr
act
icesandr
it
ual
i
sti
csoci
alr
efor
m
Areaofnewpr
obl
emsandunmetneedst
hatdemandedsol
uti
onandr
esul
tsof
ur
banizat
ion

Inthe19thcent urymanyv ol
unt aryorganizati
onemer gedi nt hesoci alscenari
oofI ndia
andspear headeddi fferentsocial r
eform mov ementt of ightagai nstthet henprev ail
ing
harmf ulpracti
cesl i
kesat i
,untouchabi l
it
y ,
genderdi scriminat i
on, chil
dmar ri
age, dowr y
system etcwhi chal lbadlyi
nfluencedt hel i
vi
ngcondi tionoft hemaj orit
yofpeopl e.
Somesi gnif
icantamongt hosev ol
untaryorgani
zat i
onswer eBr ahmaSamaj ,AryaSamaj ,
PrarthanaSamaj ,Theosophical Society,RamakrishnaMi ssion, MahmmedanLi teracy
Society,TheBombayWi dowRemar ri
ageAssoci ation,Bengal HinduWi dowAssoci ation,
Indi
anNat i
onal SocialConferenceandTheSer vantsofI ndiaSoci etyandsoon.
Theemer genceofnewandcr i
ticalproblem wit
hadv entofi ndust ri
ali
zati
on,

Page26of26
moder ni zat i
on, ur banizat i
onputt remendouspr essur eont heent i
resoci alfabr icofI ndia.
Thet r
adi t
ional wayofhel pingandr ef orm appr oachofsol vingsoci alpr oblem seemedt o
bei mpossi ble.Thet r
adi ti
onal soci al wor ker swer ecl uelessaboutt alkingnewpr obl ems.
Nev erthel essmanysuccessf ul andunsuccessf ul effortswer ebeingmadet obr ingabout
solut i
ont ot hosepr oblems.
Inthey ear1936est ablishmentofSi rDor abj iTat aGr aduat eSchool ofSoci alWor kgav e
anewi mpet ust ot hedev el
opmentofsoci al wor ki nIndi a.Byt hel astdecadeof20th
cent urypr ofessi onal soci alwor kpr act icewasf eltint hel engt handbr eadt hoft he
count ry .Now, prof essional educat ionandpr acticeofsoci al wor khasent eredi nt o
almostal lthear easofhumanpr obl emsi noursoci ety.Butt heendur ingspi ri
tof
volunt ar i
sm andv oluntar yact i
onagai nstt hesoci al evilsi nourcount rycannotbe
over l
ooked.I nspi teofsomet angi bleconf lictbet weent het wo, t
hepr ofessi onal soci al
wor kandv olunt arysoci al wor kgohandi nhand.
Byandl arge,v oluntarysoci alwor ki sgener atedi nar eligiousandcul turalor gani zation
appeal ingpeopl et ohel pt hehel pless.I nacount ryl i
keour s,wher er eli
gionandcul ture
hav esost ronggr ounds,v olunt arysoci alwor kpl aysav eryi mpor tantr olei ni nspi r
ing
peopl ef orsoci alwor konr eligiousandcul turalgr ounds.Hencei ntegr ationofv ol untar y
socialwor kandPr ofessi onalsoci alwor ki st heneedoft hehour .Thei ntegr ationoft he
twomani fest swe- feeli
ng,senseofcol lect iver esponsi bili
tyandsci ent if
icout l
ookoft he
wor ker s engaged i n wel fare act ivit
ies i nt he si mi larf ields.The combi nat ion of
professi onal i
sm andv ol untarism i saj oi ntv enturei nI ndi at ot acklesoci alprobl emsand
at endencyt omov eawayf rom t radit i
onalway sofsoci alandr eli
giousr efor m and
mov ement s.Iti sanew expl icitt hatmanyt rainedsoci alwor kersar eent er
ingi ntot he
volunt ar ysoci alwor kor gani zat i
onsandar eabl et ocont r
ibuteal ott oenl ar geand
reser vet henat ur eand f unct i
onsofv ariousv oluntar yor ganizat ionst hatdealwi th
curat i
v e,r ehabi l
itati
ve,cor rect i
onal ,pr ev ent i
v eanddev el opment alandempower ment
service.Sy nergi sticwor kat t
itudeamongandbet weenv olunt aryandpr ofessi onalsoci al
wor ker scangoal ongwayt ol eadt hesoci etyt owar dsl iber ationf rom soci alpr obl ems.

ConceptofI
nter
nat
ional
Soci
alWor
k

Rel
i
gio–Phi
l
osophi
cal
Foundat
ionsofSoci
alWor
kinI
ndi
a

Thoughsoci alwor ki
snotpr act
icedinitspr esentform, 
servi
ngt hepeopleand
helpingt heneedy  
hasbeenconsi deredalmostamor aldutytoev er
y one.I
nt hi
s
regard severalprescr
ipti
ons are also l
aid down f ort he i
ndiv
idual
st ofoll
ow.
Traditi
onallysocialworkinIndiaismor epersonbasedandnoti nsti
tuti
onbased.
Religiophilosophi
calfoundat
ionofsocialwor kinIndiaisbetterunderstoodtothe
foll
owi ngthreemajorti
tl
es.

1.Socialwelfar
edur i
ngVedicPeri
od
2.Hinduism and t
hephil
osophyofsocialwel
fare.
3.Buddhism and thephi
losophyof 
soci
alwelf
are.
4.Jainism and 
thephil
osophyof 
SocialWel
fare
5.I
slam
6.Christi
anit
y

1.Soci
alwel
far
edur
ingVedi
cPer
iod
Page27of27
TheVedasar
ethescr
ipt
uresder
ivedf
rom t
heVedi
cper
iod(
 c.
150
0-7
00BC)

Communi t
arian(asoci alor derinwhi chindiv
idualsareboundt ogetherbycommon
valuesthatf osterclosecommunalbonds.A modelofpol it
icalor gani
zati
onthat
stressesti
esofaf fecti
on, kinship,
andasenseofcommonpur poseandt radi
ti
on,as
opposedt ot hemeagermor ali
tyofcont r
actualti
esent eredinto betweenal oose
conglomer at
ion 
ofi ndivi
dual s)republicsexistedduringt heear lyVedi cperi
od.In
communi tari
ansoci alor dert hewhol ebusi nessofhel ping peoplei nneed was
everybody’
sbusi nessmai nlyhandlesi nacollecti
veway .Thusev er
ybodywascl i
ent
andagentbot handi fferentoccasi onsandf ordi f
fer
entpur poses.I nearlydaysof
Indianciv
il
izati
onbot hsoci alli
feandsoci alwelfar
ewer ealmosti nseparabl
e

2.Hi
ndui
sm andt
hephi
l
osophyofsoci
al 
wel
far
e.

 
Accor di
ngt oHinduphi l
osophyhumanbei ngsshoul drevere,respectandlov eall
,
because,God,thesupremebei ngper vadesallandimmanenti nal lt
hingsandbeings.
Thegoalof  
li
feistoreali
zet heself,whichisnot hi
ngbutGOD,f ort hisoneneedsto
ri
seintohigherspher
esoft hi
nki
ng, feel
ingandact i
ngandhel pot herstoachi
evethe
same.Ther ulesandr egulati
onpr escri
bedt oachieveselfreali
zationareknownas
Manushy aDharmas.Itisel abor
atedasy amas( acti
onsto beav oided)andniyamas
(act
ions 
tobef ol
lowed)Thesev i
rtuesar eenrichedbytheaddi ti
onalv i
rt
uesofDana,
DayaandKshant hi

Dana:
iti
sunder
stoodaschar
it
yint
hef
orm ofal
msgi
vi
ngt
othedeser
ving.

Day
a:meanscompassi
ont
oal
l

Kshant
hi:
pat
ienceandf
orgi
veness

Thepopul
arHindusayi
ngexpressesJanataSevaisJanardanaSeva.Theserv
iceof
manistheserv
iceofGod.JanataSev ameanshel
pingthepeopl
e.Servi
nghisfel
low
humanbeingsisaninstrumenttoreali
zeSel
f–GodorJanar dana.Therewardf or
Janat
aSevaisthe 
enl
argementoftheself.
 

Atl
aterdays,MaryRichmond,asocialworkpioneer
,whi
leexpl
aini
ngtheunder
lyi
ng
phi
l
osophyof  
soci
alwor k,menti
onedaboutwi dersel
f.Theconceptof 
widerself
matchtheHinduconceptoflar
gerorgreat
erself
. 

“St
andup,bebol d,bestr
ong.Takethewholer esponsi
bil
it
yony ourownshoulder
s,
andknowt hatyouarethecreat
orofy ourowndest iny
.Allthestr
engthandsuccor
you want is wit
hin your sel
ves. Theref
ore, make your own fut
ure.
”-Swami
Viv
ekananda

3.Buddhi
sm andt
hephi
l
osophyofsoci
alwel
far
e.

Byt heperf
ormanceofactsofpunna(punyam)andtheavoidanceofacts
(pavam)ofpapaonecont
ri
but
estosoci
alwelf
arewhil
egradual
l
yt r
ansf
ormi
ng
Page28of28
oneselfinsuchawayt hatnobl equalit
iesofmindconducivetoproducethemat urity
andi nsi
ghtt hatbringfullli
berat
ionoft hemi ndcouldsoonerorl at
erbeat t
ained.
Unti
lsucht i
measoneat tainsthefinall
iber
ati
on; act
sofpunnaprotectapersonfrom
fal
li
ng into unhappyr ebirths and furni
shes one with al
lthe desir
abl
e mat erial
conditi
onsofl i
ving.Buddhism providesagreatincenti
vet
obeliev
ersbyemphasi zing
theeffectsofpunnadeedst oengagei nactsofsocialwel
fare.

Theconceptofpunnai sconnect edwi ththedoctr

inesofkammaandr ebi
rth.These
doctri
nesappealt otheconcernofev eryonewithone'sowni nter
estandhav ethe
effectofprevent
ingpeoplewhohav ef ait
hinthem toav oidengaginginanyconduct
thatisproducti
veofsuf f
eringtoother
sandencour agingthem todoposi ti
vegoodt o
otherswhichi sproducti
veofbenef i
cialeffect
stot hemselves.Itistobenot edthat
theBuddhistnotionofsoci al
welfar
eiswi derthanapur elymundanenot ioninsucha
wayt hatitincl
udesanawar enessoft hemat eri
alneedst hatarenecessar yforthe
promot i
onofsoci alwel
fare.

Thewel far
eofpeopl ecanbepr omot edonlywhenal lthei
rneedsar eadequat ely
fulf
ill
ed.Humani stpsy chol
ogists have pointed outt hathuman bei ngs havea
hierarchyofneeds.Theydonotat taintheirr
ealhumani tyunl
esscer tainhigherand
uniquelyhumanneedsar eal
sosat i
sfied.Buddhism canfull
yagreewi ththatview,for
Buddhi sm recognizest henecessitytoat t
endt othebasicmateri
alneedsofmannot
asanendi nitsel
f ,butasameanst oanendwhi chi smuchhi ghert hanthat.The
greatesthappinesst hatahumanbei ngcanat tai
nbybecomi ngentirelyfreefr
om the
corruptionsofmi ndi sconsideredi nBuddhi sm ast hehighestint hehi er
archyof
humanneeds

4.Jai
nism andt
hephi
l
osophyof
 soci
alwel
far
e.

Jai
nsbel ievet hatal lli
vi
ngbeingspossessasoul ,andt her
eforegreatcareand
awarenessi sr equiredi ngoingaboutone' sbusi nessi nt hewor l
d.Jai
nism isa
rel
i
gion in which alll i
feis 
consider
ed wor thyof respectand itemphasi zesthi
s
equal
ityofal llife,advocati
ngt heprotecti
onofev ent hesmal l
estcreat
ures.Thi
s
goesasf arast helif
eofaf ly.Amaj orcharacter
isti
cofJai nbeliefi
stheemphasis
ontheconsequencesofnotonl yphysicalbutal
soment albehavi
ors.

5.I
slam

Isl
am isthenameofar eli
gion 
foundedbyMuhammadi nancient Arabi
ainthe7th
centur
y.Peoplewhof oll
owI sl
am ar ecal
ledMuslims.Theybel iev
ei nonlyoneGod,
ThatGodi scall
edAllah,whichist heArabicphrasefor"the(only)God".Isl
am has
moref ol
l
ower st
hanRomanCat hol
icism wi
th1.3bil
l
ionfollowerswhi chmakeitthe
world’
slargestrel
i
giondatingt oday.Itisalsothef ast
estgr owingr el
i
gioninthe
world.

TheFi
vePi
l
lar
sofI
slam
Page29of29
Therearef
ivet
hingst
hatMusl
i
msshoul
ddo.Theyar
ecal
l
ed"
TheFi
vePi
l
lar
sof
I
slam".

1.Faith:TheTest i
mony( al-
Shaadai nArabi
c)istheMusli
m beliefthatthereisno
godbutAl l
ahHi mself,
andt hatMuhammad  i
sHismessenger .
2.Pray er:Musli
mspr ayfiveti
mesatspeci alti
mesoftheday .
3.Char it
y:Muslimswhohav emoneymustgi veal
ms( ZakahorZakati n 
Arabi
c)
tohel ppoorMusl imsinthel ocalcommunity.
4.Fast i
ng:Musl i
msf astduringRamadan,Theydonoteatordr inkf r
omsunr i
se
ti
llsunsetforonel unarmont h.
5.Hajj( Pi
lgr
image) :Musli
msi ngeneralwhocanaf f
ordorwhohav emadet he
Hajjmustbuyanani malaccor di
ngtotheIsl
amiccri
teri
at osacrif
iceandcook
asf oodorgi veawayt othepoor ,i
ftheyhavethemoneyf ori
t.

6.Chr
ist
iani
ty

Chr i
stianit
yi saf aithbasedont hebel iev
edl i
f eandt eachingofJesus.Chr ist
ians
believebyf ai t
hthatallwhosi n(disobeyGod)ev enoncewoul dn'tgot oheav en,even
i
ft heydi dgoodt hings,soGodgav eHi sownSon,Jesus,t odi e,sot hatChr ist
ians
can" subst i
tute"Jesus'si nl
essli
fef orthemselv es.Chr
isti
ansbel i
evet hatnomat t
er
howmanysi nsorhowmuchev ilaper sonhasdone,t heywi llsti
llgot oheavenby
takingJesusasasubst itut
eforhi s/herownsi n.Itisauni quer eli
gioni nthesense
thatthebel iever'
sgoodorbaddeedsdonotdet erminetheireternalsalv ati
on.Rather,
i
ti st hesinlessl i
feofJesusandt hesacr i
fi
cialdeathofJesust hati sthewayt o
heav en.Thus,Jesusi st heir"
Savior"andt heyar e"sav
ed"byHi m,andnotbecause
of anythingt heydidont heirown.

Char
it
y-Showi
ngl
ove 
forpeopl
e

Thewor d" Char

it
y"getsi tsr oot
sf ormst heLat i
nwor d" carit
as",meani ngl ove.In1
Peter4:8a( Ki
ngJamesVer si
on),Peterwr i
tes;"Andabov eal lthingshav ef erv
ent
"char
it
y"amongy ourselves."Simpl yput,thi
sv ersesay st hataChr ist
ianis tohav e
completelovetoeachot her.Andi n Mark12:31b( Ki
ngJamesVer sion)Jesus, when
askedwhatwast hegr eatestcommandment ,repli
edt hatf i
rstist olov etheLor d,
"Andthe secondisli
ke,namel ythis,Thoushal t"l
ove" 
thynei ghborast hyself.There
i
snoneot hercommandmentgr eat ert
hant hese."SoinJesus'ownwor ds,itisv i
tal
totheChr i
sti
anbeli
ef,thataChr isti
an,haveChar it
y(orlov e),
toeachot her.

Hi
stor
yofSoci
alWor
kint
heWestandi
nIndi
a

/
/
o Concept 
o Charact
eri
sti
cs 
o Threeri
ngsofSocialWork
o Chartofupgradati
onofSoci
alworkdi
sci
pli
ne
Manli
vesinsociety
.Itist
hecoll
ecti
onofindi
vidual
suni
tedbycer
tai
nrel
ati
onsor
Page30of30
modeofbehav i
ourwhichmar kthem offfrom other
swhodonotent erintothese
rel
ationsorwhodi ff
erfr
om inbehav i
our
.Iti
salsoacompl exwebofsoci alrel
ations.
Thisr el
ati
onistheresul
tofinter
acti
onofsocialpeople.Societ
yischangeabl e.When
socialpeoplecan’tkeeppacewi t
hsocialchangepr operl
y,theyface,especi all
yin
i
ndust ri
ali
zedsociet
y,multi
fari
ousprobl
emswhi chrequireprofessional,knowledge
based&sust ai
nablesolut
ion.Tomeett heseproblemsef fecti
vely,socialworkhas
beenemer ged.

ConceptofSoci alWor k:
Socialworkisahel pingprofessionwhichf undamental
lyandr adicall
yaimst oassi
st
theindivi
duals,groupsandcommuni t
yt ocopewi ththeircompl exsoci
o-economic
psychologi
calpr oblemst hr
oughenabl ingt hemsel
vessot hatt heycansol vethei
r
problem byhel pingt hemselves.Accordingt ooneoft hegr eatpioneerWal t
erA
Fri
edlander,
soci alworkmet hodsaredividedintot
wopar t
s.Thesear e:
 

Basicmethods:
Iti
ncludesanothert
hreepar
tssuchas(
1)soci
alcasewor
k(2)soci
algr
oupwor
k(3)
communi tysoci
alwork.
 

Auxi l
iarymet hods:
Italsoi ncl
udes3par t
s.Thesear e-( 1)socialact
ion( 2)socialadmi ni
strat
ion(3)
social research. 
Soci alwor kisaconceptoft hesoci alsci
enceofdoi ngwellforeachot herpersonal
ly
aswel lascol lecti
vel
y.Itref
erst oacol lect
iveappr oachofreducingsuf feri
ngand
disadv antages and increasingl
y happi ness and adv ant
ages oft he communi ty
member swi ththeact i
vepar ti
cipati
onandi nvol
vementofi ndi
vidualsaswel las
gov ernmentandNon- governmentor ganisati
on. 

Focal
poi
ntofsoci
alwor
kint
erv
ent
ion.
Cur
rentdef
ini
ti
oni
sgi
venbySoci
alSci
ent
ist
sSki
dmor
e&Thaker
y.Theysai
d,“
Soci
al
Page31of31
Wor kmaybe
defi
nedasanar t,ascienceaprofessiont hathelpspeopletosol v
epersonal
,gr
oup
andcommuni typroblemsandt oat tai
nsat isfyi
ngpersonal,groupandcommuni t
y
rel
ationshi
pt hrough socialwork practice incl
uding case work and communit
y
organizati
on,admi ni
str
ationandr esearch.”Soci alworkpr ov
idesservi
ceforthe
problematicper
sonj ustl
ikethef
oll
owi ng: 

Every prof
ession has i
ts knowledge and pr
act
ice on t
he basi s ofwhich t
he
professi
onalsofthatpr
ofessionengagethem i
nhumanservice,andont hebasi
sof
thei
rknowledgeandeducat ionalact
ivi
ti
es.I
nthesamewaysoci alworker
shaveto
practi
cesocialworkonthebasisofsocialwor
keducat
ional
activ
ities.
 

Highli
ght
ingthetheor
eti
calsideW.A.Fr
iedl
andersaid,
“Socialworkisapr of
essi
onal
serv
icebaseduponscienti
fi
cknowledgeandski l
linhumanr elat
ions,whichassist
s
i
ndivi
dualalone orin groups t
o obtain soci
aland personalsat i
sfacti
ons and
i
ndependence.

CharacteristicsofSoci alWor k: 

1)SocialWor kisacommi t
mentofsoci albetterment . 
2)Agoal ofenhancesoci alfunct ion 
3)Anact ionor i
ent ation 
4)Anappl i
cat i
ont ohumandi versi t
y 
5)Av ersatilepract iceper spect i
v e 
Aims&Obj ectiv
esofSoci alWor k:
1)Topr omot eef fect i
ve&humanser vicesy stem 
2)Toenhancepr obl em solving,copi ng&dev elopmentcapacit
ies,
 
3)Tol i
nkpeopl ewi thresour ces, serv i
ces&oppor tunit
ies,
 
4)Todev el op&i mpr ovesoci alpol i
cy  
5)Caring,cur ing&changi ngt hesoci ety. 
ThreeringsofSoci alWor k:
Therear et hreemai nconceptofsoci alwor kwhi chi smustf
orpract
iceknowl
edge,
val
ues&ski l
ls.Itiscal led“Thr eeRi ngsofSoci alWor k”.
 

Knowl
edge:
o Generalsoci
alwor
kknowledge 
o Knowledgeaboutspeci
fi
cpracti
cesett
ing 
o Knowledgeaboutspeci
fi
cpracti
ceagency 
o Knowledgeaboutspeci
fi
ccli
ent 
o Knowledgeaboutspeci
fi
ccontact 

Ski
l
ls:
o Ba si
chelpi
ngskil
ls,
 
o E ngagementski
l
ls 

Page32of32
o Obser
vati
onskil
l
s 
o Communicati
onski
l
ls 
o Empathyski
l
ls 

Val
ues:
o Re cogni tionoft hewor t
h&digni
tyofi
ndi
vi
dual
 
o Se lfdet ermi nation 
o E qual oppor t unityforall 
o So cial r
esponsi bili
ty 
o To tal out l
ookofl if
e 
o Indi vi
dual fr
eedom 
o Mu tualt olerance&r espect 
o De mocr aticr ight 
o Se lfreli
ance 
o Mu tualhel p 
o Di gnityofl abour  
o Ut il
izati
onofr esour ces 
(Morales&Sheaf or:1998, p-
36) 

Soci
alwork
|
Soci
alworkprofessi
on
|
Moderani
sedandi nt
ernat
ionalsoci
alwor
k
Fi
gure:Upgradati
onofsocialwork.

/
/

Di
ff
erencesofSoci
alWor
kwi
thot
herdi
sci
pli
nes 

Soci
alWor
k Soci
alWel
far
e
I
tisapr
ofessi
on I
tisagener
alser
vice
Usessci
enti
fi
cknowl
edgeand
Canbecar
ri
edoutbyanyi
ndi
vi
dual
ski
ll
sinhumanbehav
ior
Tosolveadj
ustment
alpr
obl
ems. Tosolv
esocio–economi cpr
obl
ems.I
tinv
olv
essocialser
vices
Helpi
ngthepeopl
etohel
p toi
ndi
vidual
sandfamil
iesaswel
lasef
fort
stost
rengthenor
themsel
ves modif
ysociali
nst
it
uti
ons
Cli
entschoset
hei
rownpat
hfor
Sucht
ypeoff
reedom i
snotgi
ven
thei
rprobl
ems

Soci
alSer
vices Soci
alWor
k
Hel
pingthehel
plesst
ohel
pthemsel
ves
Hel
pingt
hehel
plessi
ssoci
alwor
k
i
ssocial
work
Essent
ial
l
ypeopl
echangi
ngi
nst
it
uti
on I
tful
fi
ll
stheobj
ect
ivesofsoci
al
Page33of33
(
dev
elopment
,r
emedi
al,
suppor
ti
ve) ser
vices

Soci
alWor
k Soci
alRef
orm
Basisofper
sonal
touchandper
sonal
rel
ati
onshi
pist
hemedi
um of Doesnothav
eper
sonal
pract
ices touch
Pr
ofessi
onal
ski
l
lst
ohel
pcl
i
ent Noneedofanyski
l
l
Concer
nedwi
thassi
sti
ngtheindi
vi
dual
sinf
reei
nghi
msel
ffr
om hi
s Radi
calchangei
nsoci
al
maladj
ust
ment
sinsocial
li
fe syst
em

Soci
alWor
k Soci
alSecur
it
y
I
tconsistofsoci
alsecur
it
yini
ts Itcanbeunder st
oodasthesecuri
tyt
hatsoci
ety
pr
ogrammeact iv
iti
essothati
ndi
vidual furnishedthr
oughappr
opri
ateorgani
zat
ionsagai
nst
mayleadasecuredandhappylif
e certainri
skstowhichi
tsmember sar
eexposed

Page34of34