“Social work”, “Social welfare” and “social services” are terms that

continue to be used interchangeably.

While these concepts are interrelated, each has its own particular
meaning. It is essential that we distinguish one from the other for a
common frame of reference.

Social Welfare
In its broadest sense, “social welfare” covers practically everything that men
do for the good of society.

Gertrude Wilson characterizes social welfare as an organized concern of all

people for all people.
Walter Friedlander defines it as “the organized system of social services and
institutions, designed to aid individuals and groups to attain satisfying
standards of life and health.”
According to Elizabeth Wickenden, social welfare includes those laws,
programs, benefits and services which assure or strengthen provisions for
meeting social needs recognized as basic to the well-being of the population
and the better functioning of the social order.

These provisions may be directed toward strengthening existing

arrangements; mitigating the hardships and handicaps or particular
individuals and groups; pioneering new services; stimulating a better
adaptation of the social structure including the creation of new programs as
needed; or a combination of all these approaches to social needs.

The Pre-Conference Working Committee for the XVth International

Conference on Social Welfare defines social welfare as all the organized
social arrangements which have as their direct and primary objective the
well-being of people in a social context. It includes the broad range of policies
and services which are concerned with various aspects of people’s lives -
their income, security, health, housing, education, recreation, cultural
traditions, among others.

We find in the foregoing definitions essentially one idea - that social welfare
encompasses the well-being of all the members of human society, including
their physical, mental, emotional, social, economic and spiritual well-being.
Thus, social welfare history, from the prehistoric times of mutual aid to
modern-day organized services, gives us accounts of what society has done,
and continues to do, to respond to the various needs of its members.

Society responds to unmet needs or problems through the following

ways:

1. Individual and group efforts. These refer to systematic and voluntary

efforts undertaken by individuals and/or groups in response to unmet
needs of people in a community.
2. Major societal institutions which have their designated roles and
responsibilities for meeting human needs. The family, the church, the
government, cooperatives and labor unions are major institutions.
Social forces bring about changes which can affect the effectiveness
of these institutions in performing their social welfare functions.
Institution building should therefore be a serious continuing effort
because of its crucial implications for the welfare of human society.
3. Social Agency. Whether under public or private auspices, a social
agency is a major provision for helping people with their problems. It is
an integral part of a community’s institutionalized network of services
for its members. The professional social worker in the Philippines is
usually employed by a social agency.

TWO VIEWS OR CONCEPTION OF SOCIAL WELFARE

The residual formulation conceives of the social welfare structure as

temporary, offered during emergency situations and withdrawn when the
regular social system - the family and the economic system - is again working
properly. Social welfare activities of this kind, because of their residual
substitute characteristic, often carry the stigma of “doles,” or “charity.”

The Institutional formulation, in contrast, sees social welfare as a proper,

legitimate function of modern society. That some individuals are not able to
meet all their needs is considered a “normal” condition, and helping agencies
are accepted as “regular” social institutions.

Our own Philippine Constitution (1987) reflects the institutional view in the
following words:
 The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure
the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people prom
poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full
employment, a rising standard of living and an improved quality of life for all.

In the Philippines today, many institutions and agencies under

government as well as private auspices, combine the two views because of
the nature of the people’s needs and problems.

Social welfare involves the contribution of many people with different

competencies. Representatives of different professions and occupations
work in the field of social welfare - doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers,
nurses, social workers, priests, psychologists, sociologists, nutritionists,
guidance counselors, para-professionals, etc., all having their own roles and
functions to play. Social welfare would also cut across the concern of various
agencies, institutions and organizations with particular areas of interest
and/or responsibility, such as those in health, nutrition, education, housing,
labor and industry, community development, social insurance, family
planning and so on.

Social welfare programs usually fall under the following categories:

1. Social security - This refers to the whole set of compulsory

measures instituted to protect the individual and his family against
the consequences of an unavoidable interruption or serious
diminution of the earned income disposable for the maintenance
of a reasonable standard of living. Examples are compulsory
employer liability (with or without insurance), provident funds and
social insurance.
2. Personal social services - These refer to service functions which
have major bearing upon personal problems, individual situations
of stress, interpersonal helping or helping people in need and the
provision of direct services in collaboration with workers from
government and voluntary agencies..
Examples are programs for counseling, therapy and rehabilitation; programs
for providing access, information and advice; institutional services; child
protective services; and programs for the treatment of deviants

3. Public Assistance - This refers to material/concrete aids/supports

provided, usually by government agencies, to people who have no income
or means of support for themselves and their families for reasons such as
loss of employment, natural disasters, etc. In many foreign countries, public
assistance is simply called “Welfare.”

Social services

The collective concern of society for the well-being of its members, in turn,
is expressed in the provision of concrete social services. “Social services”
refers to the programs, services and other activities provided under various
auspices, to concretely answer the needs and problems of the members of
society.

These social services may take the form of services to individuals and
families, services to groups, services to people with special problems (the
handicapped, the mentally retarded, etc.) as well as community services. In
the sense that “social welfare” would be a meaningless term unless there are
concrete demonstrations of its “concern for the well-being of human society”
through actual social services, then the two terms are inseparable and, for
this reason, often used interchangeably.

Why is there a need for social services? At all times everywhere, there are
people who have needs and problems beyond their own capacity for solution.
Social welfare (and, therefore, social services) has been accepted as a
legitimate function of modern industrial society in helping people fulfill
themselves.

Many of the problems people face today, after all, are traceable to the rapid
social change that has been taking place, including the adverse effects of
urbanization and industrialization. This includes problems of people in the
rural areas 0 a major concern of social welfare in the country today - for after
all, rural underdevelopment is undoubtedly linked to urbanization and
industrialization.
Richard M. Titmus sees social problems as structural or basically located in
the economy. “Since we cannot name and blame the culprits and oblige them
to make redress, we must either provide social services or allow the social
costs of the system to lie where they fell.” He considers social services as
partial compensation for the “socially generated disservices” and “socially-
caused diswelfare.”

There are many motivation or reasons for providing social (welfare)

services. However, among the many legitimate and vitally important goals
of social welfare which often compete for scarce resources are the
following:

1. Humanitarian and Social Justice Goals

This goal of social welfare is rooted in the democratic ideal of social justice
and is based on the belief that man has the potential to realize himself,
except that physical, social, economic, psychological and other factors
sometimes hinder or prevent him from realizing his potentials. This concept
submits that it is right and just for man to help man, hence, social services.

This goal involves the identification of the most affected, the most dependent,
the most neglected and those least able to help themselves and making them
the priority target for the investment of scarce resources.

a. Certain social services which prevent or counteract the disruptive effects

of urbanization and industrialization on family and community life and help
identify and develop local leadership in communities. Examples of these are
family life education services, leadership training programs and various
types of community services which enhance or develop self-reliance and
therefore promote people’s own capabilities for problem solving.

b. Certain social services which prevent or relieve the burden of dependence

on adult workers of such dependents as the very young as well as the very
old, the sick, the disabled, etc., which could hamper their productivity.
Example of these are day care centers, old age homes, health clinics,
rehabilitation centers, etc.;

SOCIAL WORK

Social work is a profession which is concerned with man’s adjustment to his

environment; a person (or groups) in relation to that person’s (or group’s)
social situation. This is referred to as a person’s “social functioning,” which
result from the performance of his various social roles in society, e.g., son,
father, husband, employee, employer, patient, committee chairman, citizen.
Some people have difficulties in the performance of any, or several, or even
all of their social roles, and therefore have inadequate or ineffective social
functioning. Why do people experience these difficulties?

In general, social functioning problems are caused by any of the

following:

1. Personal inadequacies or sometimes pathologies which may make it

difficult for man to cope with the demands of his environment;

2. Situational inadequacies and other conditions which are beyond

man’s coping capacities; and

3. Both personal and situational inadequacies.

Personal inadequacies may be due to physiological factors like poor

physical constitution, wrong attitudes and values, poor or unrealistic
perception of reality, ignorance and lack of skills.

Situational inadequacies, on the other hand, refer to the lack of resources

and opportunities in society, the existence of resources and opportunities
which, however, are beyond the reach or coping, capacities of people (such
as the availability of employment, but only for highly skilled or trained
workers), and the existence of an unjust or exploitative situation such as in
the workplace, or in the community.
All social worker efforts are therefore focused on either helping a person
adjust to or cope with his environment (if it is his inadequate coping
capabilities which prevent him from the effective performance of his social
role), or modifying or changing his environment/situation (if thisi s the source
of his problem), or both.

Social work is not a hit-or-miss or trial-and-error method of helping people,

but a professional service which makes use of scientific knowledge and skills
as bases for engaging people in problem solving, whether individually, in
groups or as communities. It makes use of both human and material
resources in the solution of social functioning problems.

The United States Council on Social Work Education has this definition of
social work: “Social Work seeks to enhance the social functioning of
individuals, singly and in groups, by activities focused upon their social
relationships which constitute the interaction between man and his
environment. These activities can be grouped into three functions:
restoration of impaired capacity, provision of individual and social resources
and prevention of social dysfunction.”

In July 2014, the International Association of Schools of Social Work

(IASSW) and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) jointly
announced this new international definition of social work which, it is
believed, is applicable to social work practitioners and educators in every
region and country of the world:

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 nad 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. The above definition may be identified at national and/or regional
levels.

The IFSW is the worldwide body for profesional social work with 140
professional associations representing more than three million social
workers. (The Philippine Association of Social Workers, Inc. is a member of
the IFSW. The NAtional Association for Social Work Education in the country
is a member of the IASSW.)

The IASSW and the IFSW provide a commentary on this definition, stating
that “Social work in its various forms addresses the multiple, complex
transactions between people and their environments. its mission is to enable
all people to develop their full potential, enrich their lives and prevent
dysfunction. Professional social work is focused on problem solving and
change. As such, social workers are change agents in society and in the
lives of the individuals, families and communities they serve. Social work is
an interrelated system of values, theory and practice.”

Social work, introduced in the 1930's as a systematic method of helping

people in the field of public welfare in the Philippines, came to be officially
recognized as a profession with the passage of a law by Congress in 1965,
elevating social work to a profession.

There are 150 schools of social work in the country today and trained social
workers find employment in a variety of fields and settings which are
engaged in social welfare activities. These include traditional social work
settings such as hospitals, public assistance agencies and institutions for
different needy groups, as well as the more recent social work fields like
housing and resettlement, business and industry, social planning and so on.

Certainly, the term “social work” is still mistakenly used in referring to acts of
charity or philanthropy and “social worker” is often used in our society to refer
to charitable individuals who find time or provide material resources for the
needy. This misinterpretation is unavoidable but, with professional social
workers’ active demonstration of their roles and functions in many fields
today, there has been an increasing recognition of the important contribution
of social work to social welfare.