VARIOUS SETTING OF

SOCIAL WORK
The specific place where social work intervention is possible is understood as settings.

Analee Cuadro - Charlane De Silva - Bien Mayuga Fields of Social Work

LEARNING
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this presentation is to provide conceptual
clarity of settings of social work so that in the future
you may be able to identify the appropriate setting
and practice in social work profession.

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After reading this you will be able to:
• Understand the meaning of setting in context of social work.
• Familiarize with different settings related to the profession.
• To know the designations of social workers in various settings.

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 OUTLINE
SOCIAL WORK IN VARIOUS SETTINGS
WELFARE INSTITUTIONS
INDUSTRIAL/CORPORATE
COURT CHURCH MILITARY

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SOCIAL WORK IS EITHER PRACTICED IN:
PRIMARY SETTING
SECONDARY SETTING
 SETTING
School is an important setting for social work intervention. Most of the private
and public schools today employ school social workers to assist the students to
develop their personality. Social work intervention by applying groupwork and case
work methods are very popular in this particular setting. The social workers in
school setting basically deal with the students who fail to accomplish the
developmental tasks and cannot fulfil the social expectations of parents and teachers
as a pupil due to various reasons..

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 The SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER usually engages in the
following activities which focus on particular children:

● Provision of counseling services to selected children and/or

parents in case where the children manifest certain problems in
school such as negativism, isolation, bullying other children, etc.

● Meeting regularly or occasionally with groups of parents of school

children to discuss/find solution to their children’s/family’s
problems which affect the former’s performance in school.

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● The school social workers : help the students to
cope up with the school, social and family
environment and help them to change their
attitude and behavior so that they may perform
well in academics which will eventually reach
their developmental tasks.

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 / HEALTH CARE SETTING
is also an institutional setting of social work
profession. In this setting, welfare services
are provided to patients and his family
members.

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 Specific Social Work Activities
in HOSPITAL SETTING include the following:
● Eligibility/Social Case Studies (this is done during admission
since there is a need to determine whether a patient should be
given free or partly free medical treatment)
● Assisting the diagnosis by assessment of social and
economic background of the patients, counselling the
patients, providing moral support to the patients and
family.
● Individual counseling as well as group treatment activities
with his family and/or together with other patients.
● Social worker can also provide group therapy to persons with mental
illness, chronic illness and their families. Social worker also educates
the patients and their caregivers about the illness and treatments.
● Interpretation to patient and his family of hospital
policies and regulations.
● Mobilizing hospital as well as community resources to
meet various patient needs
● Performing coordinating and liaison activities between
patients and hospital administrations, and the
patients/hospital and the community at large.
COURT SETTING
COURT SOCIAL WORKER / social work practitioner:
work in victim, children in conflict with the law and family
benches and give mediation, intermediary, guidance and
case management services for client and give expert
support the court in promoting best interest of the child.

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 Social Workers in COURT SETTING, the following are the
expected roles of social workers under different benches:
CASE MANAGER; social workers on custody bench are expected to provide detailed
information about both parents and children based on the assessment they make
through interviews conducted with the parents and the child / children, and if necessary,
through home and school visits.
INTERMEDIARY; social workers in victim benches serve as intermediary agents
between the court, and children who are victims of a crime. Social workers attempt to
make the court ‘child friendly’ to children who come before the court of law as
witnesses.

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GUIDANCE; this is a service given by social workers to
Children In Conflict with the Law (CICL)bench. In addition
to presenting assessment report and expert recommendation
for the court on what type of correctional measure should be
passed by the court, they provide guidance service for
children in conflict with the law so that the latter do not get
involved in the crime again.

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MEDIATOR; social workers who work with children in
conflict with the law, also serve as mediators between the
victim family and children in conflict with the law so as to
smoothen their future relationship and avoid revenge
between the two families and the victim and the
defendant.

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CHURCH SETTING
It includes working for a church or similar organization to break economic
barriers that hamper success and develop programs that help move families
forward. Certain groups focus on helping veterans or the elderly deal with
unemployment or mental health issues.

Addressing the spiritual needs of a persons in crisis and relating personal faith to
professional action.

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INDUSTRIAL SETTING
SOCIAL WELFARE IN THE FIELD OF MODERN INDUSTRIAL
OPERATIONS ARE GENERALLY CONCERNED WITH THE FOLLOWING:
● Counseling employees on work and/or non-related
problem
● Providing counseling and other forms of help to the
families of employees, like family planning
motivation, interceding on behalf of family
members who have court cases, or have financial
and other problems.

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INDUSTRIAL SETTING
● Engaging in information and educational programs
to maximize employee and company services

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MILITARY SETTING
Military social workers help members of the armed
forces reintegrate into civilian or professional life after a
deployment, injury, or personal crisis. These
professionals also provide social service support to
families of veterans and active-duty military personnel.

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 WELFARE INSTITUTION SETTING

● Represents the public pursuit and extension of

social values through specific welfare programs that
impose social values concerning people’s right to
certain minimum standard of living

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 WELFARE INSTITUTION SETTING

● examples: Residential Center and Institutions

● provide alternative family care arrangement to poor,
vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals or families
(children, elderly, CICL, mentally challenged) in
crisis whose needs cannot be adequately met by
their families and relatives or by any other forms of
alternative family care arrangements over a period
of time
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Thank You!

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