a. Directly contribute to increased productivity among individuals, groups, and communities
such as counseling
services for the youth and for the adjustment of workers to industrial
settings;
labor welfare
services and facilities; services for the rehabilitation of handicapped
workers;
skills training
for the unemployed and underemployed, integrated social services for farmers,
etc.
b. Certain social services 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.
Examples of these are care centers, old age homes, health clinics,
rehabilitation centers, etc.
c. Certain social Services prevent or counter-act 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 community
services which enhance or develop self-reliance and, therefore, promote
people’s capacities for problem-solving.
Major
areas of concern
Family welfare
Social philosophers and caseworkers
generally regard family life as the ideal context for the promotion of social
welfare. Family welfare programs seek to preserve and strengthen the family
unit through both economic assistance, where available and personal assistance
with a variety of services. Personal assistance services include marriage counseling in most developed countries and in
urban centers of developing countries; maternal, prenatal, and infant care
programs; family planning services; family-life education, which promotes both the enrichment of family
relationships and the improvement of home economics; “home-help” or “homemaker”
services providing household assistance to families burdened with chronic
illness, handicaps, or other dependencies; and care of the aged through such
programs as in-home meal services, transportation, regular visitation, and reduced-cost
medicines.
A paramount concern in all family welfare
programs is the welfare of children. Whenever possible, children’s services are
rendered within the setting of home life. Income assistance to parents may help
ensure the basic security of the family structure. Maternal,
prenatal, and child healthcare programs are important in all societies but
especially so in those affected by widespread disease and malnutrition; infant
and maternal mortality rates are in fact the most basic
indexes of child welfare. The increasing number of working mothers worldwide
has given rise to daycare services ranging from simple custodial
supervision to educational and healthcare programs. In some countries,
industries are required to provide such facilities for their employees, in
recognition of the changing economic pressures on family life.
While the family unit is imbued with
great value by most child-welfare programs, these programs must also address
the special needs of unwed mothers and their children, broken families, and children whose
families, although intact, are sources of abuse and neglect rather than love
and nurture. Attitudes vary greatly among the world’s societies toward
pregnancy out of wedlock. Historically, social and even physical persecution
have been common in some communities, but most modern societies recognize a
responsibility toward the welfare of unmarried mothers and their children. In
industrial countries, and in some developing countries through private charity,
services typically include medical care and delivery and counseling regarding the decision to keep the
baby or to give it up for adoption. In many countries, institutional homes
provide for the care both of unwed expectant mothers and of mothers and babies
after delivery, in a setting sheltered from the often-rigid strictures of
family and community. Procedures of adoption vary
considerably worldwide, but arrangements are frequently carried out by social
service agencies in cooperation with legal authorities.
Whereas orphans once made up the majority
of children living in institutional homes, the number of children who lose both
parents through death has been greatly reduced by medical advances.
Institutional and foster care is now provided mainly to children whose home
lives have been disrupted, permanently or temporarily, by marital discord, financial hardship, parental
irresponsibility, neglect, or abuse. While foster care might be considered
preferable because it offers the intimate atmosphere of family living, some
children, such as those severely affected by parental abuse or emotional disturbance, may adjust more comfortably to the more
impersonal environment of an institution. Although it cannot be determined conclusively
whether the increasing incidence of reported child abuse is attributable to falling standards of
parental care or to improved detection and reporting, much effort has been
invested in supervision, social education, and cooperation between personal
social services and health care, education, police, and housing authorities.
Youth welfare
The underlying aim of most social welfare
services for young people, apart from those services that address immediate
basic needs, is to prepare them for the assumption of responsible roles in the
adult world. The majority of programs provide adult-supervised leisure-time
group activities, which may range from cultural and social events to athletics
to hiking and camping. Participation in such programs is high in most European
countries. The former Soviet youth organizations, called Pioneers and
Komsomol, were the largest in the world. Some programs, such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Girl Guides, Young Men’s
Christian Associations, and Young Women’s Christian Associations, have spread
nearly worldwide, stimulating the formation of similar groups tailored to local
needs. In addition to group activity, youth welfare programs also provide
counseling and guidance services on a more individual basis to help meet the
personal, social, educational, and vocational needs of young people.
While the above services are intended to
provide constructive outlets for the energies of young people, there remain
many destructive influences in society. Social services have directed
increasing attention to the problem of delinquency in an effort to provide alternatives to the traditional juvenile
court/institutional methods of control. In some urban areas, so-called street
workers approach the problem at its source. Recognition of the importance of
peer groups in youth behavior has led to the use of group therapy in many correctional institutions
and in communities as a preventive service or as an adjunct to parole.
The
welfare of the elderly
The elderly now constitute the largest single client group
using personal social services worldwide. In all advanced industrial societies
the proportion of infirm elderly is on the increase, and, although they
constitute only a small minority of the retired population, their claim on social services is
disproportionately heavy. Because social care for the elderly is often labor-intensive,
most countries give full support to the promotion of family care and the expansion and rationalization of informal
care on a voluntary or quasi-voluntary basis. Services include transportation,
friendly visiting, home delivery of hot meals, nurse visitation, and
reduced-cost medical supplies. Senior centers sponsor group activities such as crafts, entertainment,
outings, and meals on a regular basis. Nursing homes, variously funded, provide
medical and custodial care for those who are unable to live independently.
Paradoxically, the majority of elderly people lead independent lives, seldom
utilizing personal social services. Indeed, fit elderly people are increasingly
in demand as a source of voluntary service.
Group
welfare
The settlement movement arose in response
to the collective needs of deprived urban communities. Settlement houses today, and
similar community centres and other organizations,
seek to promote the common welfare of local groups that may differ in language,
national origin, race, or religion. Whereas in the United States, attempts were formerly made to
Americanize such groups by supplanting foreign traits of language and custom
with American ones, the emphasis of educational and training programs has
changed; language and other assimilating skills are taught, but the
preservation of cultural diversity is also promoted. In addition to
educational and cultural programs, settlements may offer legal advocacy,
The
welfare of the sick and disabled
Serious illness and disability account
for many of the problems addressed by social services. In addition to the need
for adequate primary care, the ill and disabled also frequently face disruption
or loss of income, inability to meet family responsibilities, the long-term
process of recovery or adjustment to handicaps, and ongoing care in the form of medication,
therapy, and the observance of dietary or other precautions.
In some countries, medical social workers
are local-authority social workers who have been attached to hospitals, local
general-practice health centres, and child guidance agencies. They provide the counseling and other supportive services
required by the physically ill and the disabled and their families. Especially
in countries where free medical care is not available to the poor, the
responsibility for means-testing gives the workers an additional, advisory role
with respect to their clients’ financial problems. Personal social services
make arrangements for domiciliary care in the form of regular visits from
home-helpers and occupational therapists; special appliances and home adaptations are supplied either by personal
social services or by health services. In the case of severely disabled people
personal social services run day-care centres to provide relief for family care
providers and small residential homes for the most dependent disabled when they
no longer require hospital care.
Welfare
of the mentally ill
The social aspects and consequences
of mental illness were recognized early in the
history of social work. The specialty of psychiatric social work developed
initially as an adjunct to hospital care in urban areas. Such services have
also been provided under military auspices, particularly in wartime. In developed
countries today the psychiatric social worker serves at all levels of patient
care; social casework may contribute to diagnosis and the course of treatment;
educational and counseling services help other family members cope with the
problems of hospitalization, treatment, and aftercare; close work with housing
authorities and employers can facilitate the readjustment of patients into
community life by means of foster care, halfway houses, sheltered workshops,
and regular employment.
The work of the personal social services
Social work training
In practice the demand for personal social
services does not fall into clearly defined categories. Welfare needs often
overlap, and the needs of individuals often affect their families or
associates. The range of skills required for effective service provision is
equally complex. Inevitably, therefore, opinions differ on the training and
deployment of social workers.
Administration of services: basic
organization
There are marked national variations in the organization and
funding of personal social services. To begin with, there are differences in
the relative importance of the statutory, voluntary, and private sectors.
Second, even if governments are the major contributors, the proportional
allocation of funds for the statutory and nonstatutory sectors varies from
country to country. Third, there are variations in the relative importance of
central, regional, and local governments with respect to statutory funding,
policy-making, and service delivery. Fourth, there are also variations in
the degree of
administrative autonomy granted to the personal social services.
Conclusion
It is
clear that economic and social change processes create new prospects
and new hazards for every generation. This requires constant adjustment on the
part of the social services. Political considerations and levels of resources
largely determine how social services are organized and how responsibility is
apportioned between the statutory, voluntary, and private sectors. Even in
prosperous societies the scale and diversity of
needs are such that the formal social services are obliged to utilize and
support informal systems of social care and mutual aid. The idea of the welfare
state as a universal provider for largely passive
populations has never had any reality in fact nor much serious support in
political theory. There is widespread evidence of a general trend toward the
development of closer links between the formal and informal systems of social
care, although this might lead to further variation in social welfare services
as societies become more sensitive to their indigenous cultural
diversity and develop their own responses to change.
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