Last Updated on December 30, 2022 by Team TSW

Social Work as a term has different connotations for different people. To the layman, every work undertaken to help the poor and needy, any kind of philanthropy or charity is labelled “social work”. for some others, any action for social reform may be termed social work. In India the picture is further complicated by politicians who take pride in calling themselves social workers. Professional social work shares with the above conceptions, humanitarian values and ideals; it is humanitarianism, but humanitarianism with a method. It aims at providing services to help individuals singly or in groups, in coping with present or future social and psychological obstacles that prevent or are likely to prevent full and effective participation in society. This provision of professional service is done through the use of skills and techniques based on theoretical knowledge. Professional social work is thus distinguished from ‘lay social work by its scientific method. Problem of developing a social work definition that deals with all of the diverse activities that are considered social work has plagued the profession for hundred years.

Social Work Definition

Social work is a problem solving profession that is committed to improve the quality of human life by imparting various intervention techniques and strategies which are scientifically proved and artistically applied. In order to understand what social work is, it appears essential to present some important social work definitions given from time to time. :

Helen L. Wilmer (1942:121) expressed the view. “The prime function of social work is to give assistance to individuals in regard to the difficulties they encounter in their use of an organized group’s service or in their performance as a member of an organized group.”

According to Arther E. Fink (1942:2) “ Social work is the provision of services to aid individuals, singly or in groups, in coping with present or future social and psychological obstacles that prevent or are likely to prevent full or effective participation in society,”

According to Hodson (cited in Khinduka, 1962:4), Social work is “a form of service which attempts, on the one hand, to help the individual or family group, which is out of step, to attain more orderly rythm in the march of existence and, on the other, to remove, so far as possible, the barriers which obstruct others from achieving the best of which they are capable.”

J. P. Anderson (1945) says: “ Social work is a professional service rendered to people for the purpose of assisting them as individual or in groups, to attain satisfying relationship and standards of life in accordance with their particular wishes or capacities and in harmony with those of the community.”

Helen I. Clarke (1945:16) observes: “Social work is a form of professional service comprising a composite of knowledge and skills, parts of which are and parts of which are not distinctive of social work which attempts, on the one hand, to help the individual to satisfy his needs in the social milieu and on the other to remove, as far as possible, the barriers which obstruct people from achieving the best of which they are capable.”

In the opinion of W.A. Friedlander (1963:4): “Social work” is a professional service based upon scientific knowledge and skill in human relations which assists individuals, alone or in groups, to obtain social and personal satisfaction and independence.”

Boehm (1959:54) in the Curriculum Study sponsored by the Council on Social Work Education expresses the view: “Social work seeks to enhance the social functioning of individuals, singly and in groups, by activities focused upon their social relationship 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.”

A perusal of the above definitions clearly indicates that it is very difficult to define social work but still keeping in view its historical development from service to professional service and its concern from helping people in need to changing the social system, we may define social work as under: “Social work is a specialized kind of work – honorary or paid, done by making use of scientific knowledge and technical skills with humane and democratic outlook, to render help to people in need to enable them to realize their potentials optimally, to perform their social roles effectively and to live in a free, decent and dignified manner, particularly by introducing required changes in personality as well as social structure.”

Methods of Social Work

Being a scientific profession social work has its own methodology. Traditionally the methods of social work are divided as primary and secondary. 

Primary methods are social case work, social group work and community organization. The primary methods make interventions directly with the clients. 

Secondary methods are social action, social welfare administration and social work research. Observe the given illustration.  Secondary methods indirectly assist the primary methods and also help the clients.

Read social work methods in detail.

Conclusion

There is a famous Chinese proverb which perfectly sums-up the concept of Social work :

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a life time”

The main focus in professional social work is to make people realize their true potential and help people to help themselves so that they can improve their social functioning, their ability to interact and relate to others.