SOCIAL WELFARE, SOCIAL SERVICES AND SOCIAL WORK
SOCIAL WELFARE, SOCIAL SERVICES AND SOCIAL WORK
"Social welfare," "social services," and "social work" 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.
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 or handicaps of 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 Fifteenth 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:
One. Individual and group efforts. These refer to systematic and voluntary efforts undertaken by individuals and or groups in response to the unmet needs of people in a community.
Two. 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.
Three. 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.
There are two views or conceptions of social welfare: the residual and the institutional. 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, nineteen eighty-seven, 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 from 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:
Four one. 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.
Four two. 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.
Six three. Public Assistance. This refers to material concretes 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
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-a major concern of social welfare in the country today-for after all, rural underdevelopment is undoubtedly linked to urbanization and industrialization. Richard M. Titmuss 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 motivations 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:
Four point one. 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 afflicted, 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.
Zero. Social Control Goal. This goal is based on the recognition that needy, deprived, or disadvantaged groups may strike out, individually and/or collectively, against what they consider to be an alienating or offending society. Society therefore has to secure itself against the threats to life, property, and political stability in the community which are usually presented by those who are deprived of resources and opportunities to achieve a satisfying life. Social services to dissidents, and to juvenile and adult offenders exemplify the social control goal of social welfare.
Three. Economic Development Goal. The economic development goal places priority on those programs designed to support increases in the production of goods and services, and other resources that will contribute to economic development. The immediate beneficiaries of such programs may be the able-bodied, relatively better-off members of the community. Examples of social services which pursue economic development goals are:
a. Certain types of social services which 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 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. Examples of these are day care centers, old age homes, health clinics, rehabilitation centers, etc .;
c. 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 capacities for problem-solving.