INDIGENOUS SOCIAL WORK (SW E1)
Ragab (19823) stressed the need to
MODULE I
Unit 1 The Need for an Indigenous
Social Work (Practice & Education)
and the Indigenization Process
The ‘Indigenization’ of social work
practice where ‘indigenization’ or
‘localization’ of social work practice was
seen to refer to the processes through
which traditional, indigenous, and local
helping interventions were integrated to
mainstream social work practices, and
elements of mainstream approaches
were adjusted to local contexts.
Indigenization was a concept coined to
mean the incorporation – with imported
Western knowledge – of local
knowledges, ideas and processes of
problem solving, and service delivery as
well as the adaptation of external ideas
and practices to fit local contexts.
The Indigenization Process
Indigenization - refer to the process of
‘adapting imported ideas to fit local
needs by UN.
Indigenization - was referred to as the
‘process of relating social work function
and education to the cultural, economic,
political, and social realities of a
particular country according in the Fifth
UN International Survey of Social Work
Training.
Midgley (1981), “professional social
work roles must be appropriate to the
needs of different countries and social
work education must be appropriate to
the demands of social work practice.
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identify ‘genuine and authentic roots in
the local system.
Prager (1985) - ‘helping, in all its
nuances is to be securely rooted in the
cultural patterns and systems of the
people to be helped, then education for
the profession should be developed
from within a country’s boarder.
Walton and Abo El Nasser (1988)
described ‘Indigenization’ as a three-
stage process involving adaptation of
Aglo-American technology to the
political and socio-cultural patterns in
the receiving country:
Stage 1 Transmission – involved the
direct unquestioning transplanting of
social work knowledge from Western to
developing countries.
This phase is similar to the
description of Yip (2004) as a static
model of uncritically importing Western
social work models to non-Western
countries.
Stage 2 Indigenization – the phase
which usually began as a reaction to the
‘lack of goodness of fit’ between
Western social work theory and practice
to local culture.
Yip (2004) as a passive model, where
receiving countries modified or extended
the important knowledge and practice to
suit local culture. (Indigenization from
without)
Stage 3 Authentization – means ‘to
become genuine’,
At this point Ragab (1990) reiterated the
need to ‘go back to one’s roots’ to
seek direction. (‘Indigenization from
within’)

Unit 2 Generalist Social Work: Initial
Response of Filipino Social Workers
to the Call for an Indigenous Social
Work Practice and Education
Definition of Generalist Social Work
Practice
- as “the application of an eclectic
knowledge base, professional values,
and a wide range of skills to target
systems of any size, for change within
the context of four primary processes:
●generalist practice emphasizes client
empowerment.
● it involves working effectively within an
organizational structure and doing so
under supervision
●requires the assumption of a wide
range of professional roles
●involves the application of critical
thinking skills to the planned change
process.
Dimensions Involved in the Definition
of Generalist Practice
● An Eclectic Knowledge Base
Field of practice:
(children, mental health, schools, aging,
substance abuse)
Occupational social work (e.g forensic
social work – dealing with the law,
serving as witnesses (Barker, 2003 as
cited in Kirst-Ashman 2006).
Generalist social workers require
information about people who need
help. They must also be knowledgeable
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about the services available to meet
those needs and the major related
issues related to the area of practice.
General Systems Theory (commonly
known as Systems Theory):
Systems theory provides social works
with conceptual perspective that can
guide.
- focuses on the interactions of various
systems in the environment including
individuals, groups, families,
organizations.
System is a set of elements that are
orderly and interrelated to make a
functional whole.
Elements must also be interrelated.
They must have some kind of mutual
relationship or connection with each
other.
Also, the set of elements must be:
Functional – together, they must be
able to perform some regular tasks,
activity or function and fulfill some
purpose.
Must form a whole or a single entity -
the set of elements must be whole.
A systems perspective also guides
workers to view systems ass dynamic –
that is having constant dynamic
movement because problems and
issues are forever changing.
Equifinality refers to the fact that there
are many different means to the same
end.
 Workers and Clients as Systems
Target system or target of change-
the system that social workers need to
change or influence to accomplish their
goals, targets of change maybe
individual clients, families, formal
groups, administrators, or policy makers
depending on om what needed to be
changed
Client system – any individual, family,
group, organization, or community that
will ultimately benefit from generalist
social work intervention. (Individual
clients are client systems.
Change agent system - the individual
who initiates the planned change
process.
Action system – includes all those
people who agree and are committed to
work together to attain the proposed
change.
The Ecological Perspective:
Both the systems theory and the
ecological perspective has at various
times been a theory, model, perspective
or a theoretical underpinning.
The ecological approach assumes a
person-in-environment focus.
●Theory – a coherent group of
principles, concepts, and ideas to
explain some observable occurrence or
trend. Theories provide conceptual
frameworks for how to view the world.
● Methods- are the specific techniques
and approaches that social workers
utilize in their work with clients to
accomplish tasks and specific goals.
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Relationship Between a Theory & a
Method
The concepts of theory and method are
both independent & interrelated.
- As independent concepts, a theory is a
hypothesis, an idea or prediction
- As interrelated concepts: a theory
often informs social workers as to the
type of
method they should use with clients in
various situations.
A method is what a social worker does
when working with a client.
A theory seeks to predict or describe a
particular phenomenon
Method they should use with clients in
various situations.
Theory assists social workers in
understanding various situations,
difficulties,
●Perspective – is slightly different from
theory as it does not necessarily predict
a phenomena
but most often describes a framework or
a way of viewing and understanding
situations.
●Model – is usually a theory or method
depicted logically and/or graphically and
is concerned with ‘what and how
something happens.
Ecological Concepts
Social environment- involves the
conditions, circumstances, and human
interactions that encompass human
beings.
Also includes all the individuals, groups,
organizations, and systems which a
person comes into contact.
Person-in-environment focus sees
people as constantly interacting with
various systems around them. These
systems include the family, friends,
work, social services, politics, religion,
goods and services and educational
systems.
Person-in-environment Fit- Social
work practice then is directed at
improving the interaction between the
person and the various systems. This
focus is referred to as improving people
communicate with and interact with
others in their environment.
Energy is the natural power of active
involvement among people.
Input is a form of energy coming into a
person’s life or putting something to it.
Output is a form of energy going out of
a person’s life or taking something away
from it.
Interface is the exact point at which the
interaction between an individual and
the environment takes place.
Adaptation is the capacity to adjust to
surrounding environmental conditions.
Coping - is a form of human adaptation
and implies a struggle to overcome
problems. It refers to the way people
deal with the problems they experience.
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Interdependence- is the mutual
reliance of each person on each other
person.
Similarities between Systems Theory
and the Ecological Perspective
●Both emphasize systems and focus on
the dynamic interaction among many
levels of systems.
●Some of the concepts used (especially
input and output) are similar.
●Each provide social workers a
framework with which to view the world.
●Both emphasize helping people
improve their interactions with other
systems.
Differences between Systems Theory
and the Ecological Perspective
- Ecological approach refers to living,
dynamic interactions. The emphasis is
on active participation.
- System theory assumes a broader
perspective. It can also be used to
describe the functioning of a human
family.
An Eclectic Knowledge Base:
Curriculum Content Areas:
Social Work Values and Ethics
An essential curriculum content area I
social work’s knowledge base is social
work values and ethics.
Values involve what one does and does
not consider important.
They concern what is and is not
considered to have worth. They also
involve judgments and decisions about
relative worth – that is about what is
more or less valuable.
Ethics involve principles that specify
what is good and what is bad and clarify
what should and should not be done.
Social Worker’s Ethical
Responsibilities to Clients
- Commitment to clients
This involves the importance of a
worker’s dedication to clients’.
- Self-determination
Self-determination is each individual’s
right to make his or her own decisions.
Applied to social work this means that
practitioners are responsible for: (1)
informing clients about available
resources; (2) helping them define and
articulate their alternatives; and
(3) assisting them in evaluating the
consequences of each option.
- Informed Consent
Informed consent is the condition where
clients grant permission for the worker to
undertake the intervention process after
the worker clearly informs clients of all
the facts, risks, and alternatives
involved.
- Competence
Competence involves having the
qualifications, ability, and skill to conduct
social work practice effectively with the
particular clients and problems involved.
- Cultural Competence and Social
Diversity
Social Workers should pursue the
understanding and on-going application
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of cultural competence and social
diversity. Cultural competence is defined
as:
(1) understanding the concept of culture;
2) appreciating the strengths inherent in
all diverse cultures;
(3) acquiring a continuously growing
knowledge base about clients’ cultures
that can be applied to practice;
4) being sensitive to and appreciative of
cultural differences; and
(5) seeking to understand the nature of
oppression and social diversity as they
apply to various groups.
Social diversity is the configuration
of elements characterizing various
groups of people. Social workers must
be especially concerned with people at
risk of oppression due to the elements of
“race, ethnicity, national origin, color,
sex, sexual orientation, age, marital
status, political belief, religion, and
mental or physical disability.
- Conflicts of Interest
Social Workers should avoid conflicts of
interest such as those between a
worker’s personal interests and her/his
professional responsibility. Conflicts of
interest may also occur when a worker
is responsible to two or more clients
whose interests’ conflict with each other.
- Privacy and Confidentiality
Practitioners should uphold client
privacy and confidentiality.
Privacy is the condition of being
free from unauthorized observation or
intrusion.
Confidentiality is the ethical
principle that workers should not share
information provided by a client or about
a client unless that worker has the
client’s explicit permission to do so.
 Confidential information.
- Access to Records
Workers should provide clients with
“reasonable” access to records. A
worker should clearly document in the
clients’ file any client request to see
records and reasons for declining such
requests.
- Sexual Relationships
Simply put, social workers should not
have sexual relationships with current
clients, clients’ relatives or others
personally involved with clients, or
former clients.
- Physical Contact
Social workers should not engage in any
physical contact with clients when there
is potential of inflicting psychological
harm on the clients.
- Sexual Harassment
Social workers should not sexually
harass clients. Sexual harassment
includes sexual advances, sexual
solicitation, requests for sexual favors,
and other verbal or physical conduct of
sexual nature.
- Derogatory Language
Workers should be respectful in both
written and verbal communication about
clients, avoiding any use of derogatory
terms.
- Payment for Services
Workers should not solicit private fees
from clients when services are available
through their employer or agency.
- Clients Who Lack Decision-Making
Capacity
Workers should “take reasonable steps
to safeguard the interests and rights of
those clients” who are unable to make
informed decisions. When a client is
determined “legally incompetent,” the
social worker should do everything
possible to make certain that the client’s
rights are not violated. The social worker
should always keep the client’s rights
and well-being in mind.
- Interruption of Services
Practitioners “should make reasonable
efforts to ensure continuity of services”
for clients when such “services are
interrupted by factors such as
unavailability, relocation, illness,
disability, or death” (NASW, 1999 as
cited in Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2009).
- Termination of Services
Social workers should terminate
services to clients when goals have
been achieved or such services are no
longer necessary. A practitioner should
make all efforts to continue needed
services elsewhere if for some reason
the relationship with that practitioner
should end and services are still
required. Social workers should not
terminate services for their own personal
gain (such as beginning an intimate
relationship with a client).