METHODS AND TOOLS IN SOCIAL WORK

What is Social Work ?

Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and
development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social
justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work.

Methods in Social Work and its concept

Social work is an art of living, it describes the activities of helping individuals, groups,and communities
to enhance their capacity for bringing social change and creating an evil-free society. it is a subject to
identify grassroots of problems and minimize it.Social work is a professional activity, which requires
knowledge, skills, values, and potentialities and their ability is to use their own resources which,
interpret into an actions in working areas.

What are the methods in social work?

These three methods are:

● Social Casework- Social Case work is a method employed by social worker to help individuals find solution to
problems of social adjustment which they are unable to handle in satisfactory way by their own efforts.

● Social Groupwork- Social work with groups represents a broad domain of direct social work practice. Social
workers work with a variety of groups in all settings in which social work is practiced.

Group work is a method of social work which helps individuals to enhance their social functioning through
purposeful group experiences, and to cope more effectively with their personal problems.

● Community Organization- Community organization or Community Based Organization refers to organization

aimed at making desired improvements to a community's social health, well-being, and overall functioning.
Community organization occurs in geographically, psychosocially, culturally, spiritually, and digitally bounded
communities.
10 Tools for Your Career as a Social Work Professional

1. Communication

Actively listening to clients, absorbing and thinking critically about their statements, then responding either in face-
to-face interactions or in your writing is one of the most basic social work skills required for this profession.

2. Organizational Skills

Social work sits at the intersection of a client’s needs and the various relationships that make up their network of
support.

3. Boundaries

There is a limit to what you can accomplish on a given day or with a given client. The ability to set boundaries is
crucial to protect yourself from burnout.

4. A Code of Ethics

In this field, there is very little black-and-white decision-making. The client issues you encounter will be difficult to
manage without your own code of ethics guiding your decision-making.

5. Personal and Professional Support

Being a social work professional is personal work, which means you’ll need your own network of support to keep
you going when times get tough.

6. Persuasion and Coordination

You’re going to encounter a lot of sticky situations as a social worker, where everyone seems to be working at
cross-purposes with one another.

7. Patience

Some days it will feel like hardly any progress is being made, or worse, like you’re taking one step forward and two
steps back. That’s part of the job, and learning to manage your feelings in those situations is one of the most vital
skills for social work.

8. Professionalism

Professionalism isn’t just how you treat your clients, it’s how you represent the field of social work to everyone you
meet. People you meet may not understand what a social work professional does, or may have a negative
impression from inaccurate things they’ve heard in the media.

9. Continuing Education

There are numerous professional associations for social workers (National Association of Social Workers, Council
on Social Work Education, Clinical Social Work Association, just to name a few) and all of them offer networking
opportunities and access to continuing training throughout your career.

10. A Commitment to Self-Care

You can’t help anyone if you’re burned out. You got into this field because you have a lot to give, but everyone has
limits. Recognizing yours and managing them through rest and self-care is one of the social work skills that’s
absolutely essential to a long and fruitful professional career.

Responsibilities of a Social Worker

1. Assess Your Client

Personality Traits — You’re: Perceptive, Objective, Analytical

2. Create and Implement A Treatment Plan

Personality Traits — You’re: Patient, Empathic, Flexible

3. Secure and Refer Needed Resources

Personality Traits — You’re: Organized, Connected, A Strong Advocate

4. Evaluate and Monitor Improvement

Personality Traits — You’re: Perceptive, Flexible, Analytical

5. Serve as a Client’s Advocate

Personality Traits — You’re: Courageous, Impactful, Persistent

“Believe in yourself. A little progress each day adds up to big results”

~Chamber Students Group 4