The history and emergence of

social work and it’s

professional ethics.

By Jigar Mehta & Praduta

Singh Vaghela
 What is social work?

According to the International Federation of Social Workers(IFSW),

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.  Underpinned by theories of social work, social
sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges
and enhance wellbeing.
Social work as a profession

 Social workers have played an important role in the advancement of human civilization since long ago.
 They uphold social justice by reducing inequality and promoting human rights. Social workers try to
improve the quality of life of unfortunate people in the society and help them realize their true potential.
 This is done through counseling, mediating between the needy and charitable organizations or the
government, and other activities.
 Social work helps to solve a lot of problems in the society, and it contributes significantly towards the
cultural and moral advancement of humankind.
Origins and Modern History of Social Work

 All major religions encourage people to help the poor, and some of these religions were formed thousands
of years ago. Therefore, it can be said that social work originated in the ancient times, when human beings
started to perform charity work
 In the western world, the first documented instance of organized social work occurred during the 3rd
century, right after the Christian Church was legalized by Roman Emperor Constantine I.
 The church set up hospitals, poorhouses, orphanages, and homes for the elderly, and these establishments
received grants from the Roman Empire.
 By the 6th century, the church had developed an elaborate system for distributing food and other
consumables to the poor.
 Later on, it would encourage the European public to offer
 During the 19th century, the industrial revolution led to a lot of social problems
in England and the United States, including poverty, diseases, mental disorders,
prostitution, and others.
 As such, there was a great need for social work.
 Churches and governments established effective systems and laws to provide
assistance for the needy, and many individuals started to form groups and
organizations to perform social work.
 Social work, as a profession, originated in the 19th century
Jane Addams – the mother of social work

 Jane Addams was one of the first social workers in the around the world.
 When she was 27 years old, she visited the Toynbee Hall settlement house in London, and she developed an
aspiration to open a similar house in Chicago. In 1889, she partnered with her friend Ellen Starr to set up a
settlement house called the Hull-House
 They gave speeches about the social problems that were plaguing their neighborhood, raised funds, and
encouraged young women to become volunteer social workers.
 After two years, the Hull-House was providing assistance to around 2,000 people every week. As she
became more famous in Chicago, she began to take on greater civic responsibilities, such as founding a
school of philanthropy, conducting investigations on social problems, and campaigning for peace.
 For her extraordinary efforts in social work, Jane Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the year
1931.
Social work- the Indian heritage

 India has a long history of Social Work of which it can be justifiably proud.
 The concept of concern for others, often in the form of charitable giving, has been enshrined in Hindu
scriptures since ancient times
 In addition to India‟s sacred texts, there have been many historic individuals who have sought to provide
help for the vulnerable and those in need.
 Recent history has given us further examples of individuals who have furthered the cause of Social Work in
India
People who worked for social work in India

 Raja Ram Mohan Roy sowed the seed of social and religious reform in his work for the abolition of Sati,
in addition to supporting widow remarriage and women's education.
 Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar also advocated for widow remarriage and women's education, as well as
economic self-reliance and an end to polygamy.
 Gopal Hari Deshmukh promoted the establishment of dispensaries, maternity homes, and orphanages.
 M.K. Gandhi worked tirelessly for the upliftment of women and dalits when, alongside his fight for
freedom from foreign rule, he also fought for freedom from social evils.
Development of Social work in
India
Pre- British Period to 1800 A.D

 Pre-British system was dominated by caste system, upper caste protected lower caste people in time of same
difficulties, some of the important aspects are as follows:
a) Joint family: it is like a trust sharing common property. It protected aged, children and women. It served as a social
trust.
b) Village community: Indian villages were independent in matters of food, clothing and shatter. The whole
community used to take each other
c) Village Temple: In every village there were temples. People donated money to the temple and under this system
socially backward people were protected.
During the British period

 Before the advent of the British, Indian practically lived in village. Thus the economy of the village was
self-sufficient. But under the British rule only Industries were allowed to develop.
 These economic and organization change brought down the economic condition of Indians. All the problems
are chiefly related with health, housing, child and woman welfare and labor, recreation, crime and social
disorganization. Due to these problems the need for organized social work was realized.
 Christian missionaries spread education, brought the theory of equality, which in turn helped the social
reforms to attack the evil customs and inequality.
 Raya Ram Mohan Ray started the brahma samaj,
 Pandit Ramabhai started the Arya Samaj,
 Swami Vivekananda established Ramakrishna mission
 Annie Besant started home rule movement against British.
 Late Gandhi did a lot of work in the field of social reform
 Due to the impact of the western education, and Christian missionaries, a new term of social work came into
use.
Growth of professional training in India

 Professional social work is of recent origin in India. During 1900 onwards, those who were engaged in
social welfare activities found the need of trained social workers.
 In India, professional social work owes its origin to a shortterm training course on social service organized
by the social service league at Bombay.
 Later, the first school of social work was started in 1936 by Clifford marshal, who was a protestant
missionary and worked in Nagpada. He came to Indian in 1925 and felt the need of trained social workers.
 Later on different schools of social work came into existence in Delhi, Calcutta, lucknow, Varanasi, baroda,
agra, Udaipur
After independence

 In the Independent India the source of all welfare service are inherent in the constitution.
 In order to supervise the social welfare services, the central social welfare Board has been established. The
board assists in the improvement and development of social welfare activities
 Thus, in Indian social work is gradually emerging as a social oriented profession. Social work came a long
way to become an important profession in the modern society. The scope of responsibilities of social work
became wider over the years, and social workers required more extensive training to perform their duties
effectively.
Ethical Principles of social work

 The following broad ethical principles are based on social work’s core values of service, social justice,
dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence.
 A Code of Ethics specifies rules of conduct to which members must adhere to remain in good standing
within a professional organization.
 The Code of Ethics sets forth the values, principles & standards to guide social workers’ behavior
 Social workers owe ethical responsibitly to clients , colleagues,in practice settings as professionals, to the
social work profession and to the broader society
The National Association of Social Workers(NASW) provide the
following code of ethics:

 1) To identify core values on which social work’s mission is based. 2) To summarize broad ethical principles
that reflect the profession’s core values and establishes a set of specific ethical standards that should be used
to guide social work practice.
 3) To help social workers identify relevant considerations when professional obligations conflict or ethical
uncertainties arise.
 4) To provide ethical standards to which the general public can hold the social work profession accountable.
 5) To socialize practitioners new to the field to social work’s mission, values, ethical principles, and ethical
standards.
 6) To articulate standards that the social work profession itself can use to assess whether social workers have
engaged in unethical conduct.
Thankyou