Methods of Social Work:
Social work to become unique among helping professions developed distinct
methods of practice. These methods are social casework, social group work,
community organization, social welfare administration, and research. Social
casework is the first social work method pioneered by Mary Richmond.
It is “scientific humanism” as it uses a scientific base. Social work is based on
certain values which when organized constitute the “Philosophy of Social Work”.
Social work is based on faith in the essential worth and dignity of the individual.
Man is an object of respect not because he is rich or powerful but became, he is
a human being. Social work hesitates any kind of discrimination based on caste,
colour, race, sex, or religion. Social work is against “Social Darwinism” and the
principle of “survival of the fittest”. This means that social work does not believe
that only the strong will survive in society and the weak will perish. Those who
are weak, disabled, and or need care are equally important for social workers.
The individual is understood as a whole with the same worth and dignity in spite
of differing psychological, social, and economic aspects.
The social worker believes in the capacity of the individual and also recognizes
individual differences. The individual’s self-determination is given importance.
He should be understood from both domestic and cultural points of view. Social
work is a combination of “idealism and realism”. To a social worker, an individual
is important but society is equally important. The individual is greatly moulded
by social circumstances. But ultimately the individual must bear the
responsibility for his or her conduct and behavior. The worker has to solve the
problem on account of which the client is disturbed.
Hence, professional social work with selected knowledge and the set of social
work values has to be transformed into a professional service. A social worker
has to establish a positive relationship with the clients. She should know how to
interview and write reports. He or she should be able to diagnose i.e., find out
the cause for the problem and finally should work out a treatment plan. An
Assessment of the problem, planning for its solution, implementing the plan,
and evaluating the outcome are the four major steps involved in social work. The
social worker’s keen interest in helping the client, alone will not solve the
problem.
The methods of social work will help his/her to understand ways of helping
people. Social work methods are:
Primary methods (direct helping method)
1) Social casework
2) Social group work.
3) Community organization.
Secondary methods (Auxiliary methods)
4) Social work research.
5) Social welfare administration.
6) Social Action
These six social work methods are systematic and planned ways of helping
people.
Social casework deals with individual problems- individual in the total
environment or as a part of it. An individual is involved in the problem as he is
unable to deal with it on his own, because of reasons beyond his control. His
anxiety sometimes temporarily makes him incapable of solving it. In any case,
his social functioning is disturbed. The caseworker gets information regarding
the client’s total environment, finds out the causes, prepares a treatment plan
and with a professional relationship tries to bring about a change in the
perception and attitudes of the client.
Social group work is a social work service in which a professionally qualified
person helps individuals through group experience so as to help them move
towards improved relationships and social functioning. In group work individuals
are important and they are helped to improve their social relationships, with
flexible programs, giving importance to the personality development of the
individual in group functioning and relationships. The group is the medium and
through it and in it, individuals are helped to make necessary changes and
adjustments.
Community Organisation is another method of social work. Being made up of
groups, a community means organized systems of relationships but in reality, no
community is perfectly organized. Community Organisation is a process by
which a systematic attempt is made to improve relationships in a community.
Identifying the problems, finding out resources for solving community problems,
developing social relationships, and necessary programmes to realize the
objectives of the community are all involved in community organization. In this
way, the community can become self-reliant and develop a co-operative attitude
among its members.
Social Welfare Administration is a process through which social work services
both private and public, are organized and administered. Developing
programmes, mobilizing resources, involving selection and recruitment of
personnel, proper organization, coordination, providing skillful and sympathetic
leadership, guidance and supervision of the staff, dealing with financing and
budgeting of the programmes and evaluation are, some of the functions of a
social worker in administration.
Social work research is a systematic investigation for finding out new facts, test
old hypotheses, verify existing theories, and discover causal relationships of the
problems in which the social worker is interested. In order to scientifically
initiate any kind of social work program, a systematic study of the given situation
is necessary, through social work research and surveys.
Social action aims at bringing about desirable changes to ensure social
progress. Creating awareness about social problems, mobilizing resources,
encouraging different ‘sections of people to raise their voice against undesirable
practices, and also creating pressure to bring about the legislation are some of
the activities of the social workers using the method of social action. It seeks to
achieve a proper balance between community needs and solutions mainly
through individual and group initiatives and self-help activities
