Assignment Code: BSW-121/TMA/2022-23

Course Code: BSW-121

Assignment Name: Professional Social Work and its Values

Year: 2022-2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Answer any five of the following questions in about 300 words each. 20x5

Q1) Briefly explain the historical development of Social Work profession in UK and USA.

Ans) The historical development of Social Work profession in UK and USA is as follows:

History of Social Work in the United Kingdom

In primitive society, also referred to as "folk society," the larger family or tribe took care of those whose needs could not be satisfied in the conventional way. Children who had lost their parents were either adopted by childless couples or placed in the homes of relatives. Food was distributed to neighbours and family members.

Laws were passed to make it mandatory for the poor to work once the feudal system gave way to the wage economy. Begging was illegal and may result in jail, whippings, or even death. Early Christians in Europe upheld the folk tradition and saw it as their duty to look after the group's members who were incapable of looking after themselves. The biggest driving force behind charitable giving was religion.

History of Social Work in the United States of America

The establishment of American relief systems was aided by the English Poor Law laws and associated developments. The early and mid-seventeenth-century colonists from England brought with them English laws, practises, institutions, and ideals, which they imprinted in America. As a result of fast industrialization, urbanisation, and immigration, as well as significant population expansion, the United States witnessed an increase in social problems in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

Three social movements arose in reaction to these issues, laying the groundwork for the formation of the social work profession:

1. The Charity Organization Societies (COS) movement, which began in Buffalo, New York in 1877;

2. The Settlement House movement, which began in New York City in 1886; and

3. The Child Welfare movement, which was the result of several loosely related developments, notably the Children's Aid Society and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, both of which began in New York City in 1853 and 1875, respectively.

Q2) What are the areas of interventions and implications of Voluntary Action?

Ans) The areas of interventions and implications of Voluntary Action are as follows:

Factors Motivating Voluntary Action

Voluntarism reflects the missionary fervour of religious groups, the government's devotion to the public interest, the profit-making impulse in business, the altruism of 'social superiors,' and self-help among fellowmen.

Voluntary Organizations at a Glance

Social, religious, and cultural institutions generate most volunteerism. Organizations requesting help make this feasible. Volunteers don't always work through an organisation, though. Voluntary workers and non-profits dominate social assistance. No complete or trustworthy statistics is available on the number of non-profits in the country, as many operate without official backing.

Objectives of Voluntary Organizations

1. Child growth and protection.

2. Women's welfare in remote locations.

3. Services for children.

4. Societal welfare.

5. Promotion of academic institutions.

6. Encouraging public awareness of social issues.

7. Promotion of family welfare and moral values.

8. Health treatment, disease prevention, etc.

9. Protection and care for people with disabilities.

10. Removing societal disadvantages for specific groups.

Voluntary Services in India

The history and development of social welfare in India is primarily the history of voluntary action. The roots of this can be traced to the nature, social milieu and ethos of Indian people who believe in acts of the charity of various kinds.

Voluntary Services, Pre-19th Century

Dr. P. V. Kane says that before the 19th century, large-scale voluntary donation occurred amid calamities such as famine, flood, etc. Chinese traveller Huein Tsang observes Indians planting trees to shelter tired travellers and digging tanks and wells for the village. In mediaeval India, communities collected donations for schools, boardings, libraries, hospitals, colleges, and destitute houses.

Voluntary Services, Post-19th Century

1. Religious tenets and changes.

2. Customary practises, social rituals.

3. Urbanization of voluntary social service created new issues and requirements.

Voluntary Services in the Present Century

Voluntary acts not only paved the way for state action, but when a service is taken over by a statutory authority, voluntary agencies continue to provide a useful supplemental agency with the statutory authority's full approval and/or cooperation.

Q3) Explain status of Social Work Education in India.

Ans) With the founding of the Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work in Bombay, now known as Mumbai, the first social worker training programme was established. It was the only institution that provided social work education up till independence. Kashi Vidyapeeth started teaching social work courses in Ahmedabad in 1947, shortly after India gained independence. With financial support from the American Young Women's Christian Association's Foreign Division, the Young Women's Christian Association of India founded the Delhi School of Social Work in 1948.

Following independence, a brand-new social work college in Varanasi was founded and given the name Kashi Vidyapeeth. The University of Gujarat started offering social work courses in Ahmedabad in 1947. In India, the Delhi School of Social Work was founded in 1948 by the North Young Women's Christian Association. The University of Delhi gave affiliation to this institution in 1961. In 1949, M.S. University in Baroda introduced social work education as a crucial component of the academic system.

Information collected from social services, especially social research techniques. knowledge of social services, particularly administration procedures for social services. a depth of knowledge throughout many areas of social work. Education in social work required in-depth knowledge of the relevant subjects and research methodology. It informed practitioners on the real nature of social work issues as well as the various methods and processes used to carry out social work education. Specialization is valued in the field of social work. When coping with the stress that calls for social work, a number of factors must be taken into account.

It was brought up that there was a teacher shortage and that colleges were unable to fill open positions. Social work education was of poor quality. Different professions were given more prominence, including business administration, human resource management, industrial psychology, and labour law. The group was established in 1959 with the intention of improving social work standards. For a number of factors, including policy formulation, planning formulation, and oddice difficulties, it was unable to perform the function. The state of social work is still terrible even after 70 years of the profession's popularity.

Politicians and a few other professions were also oblivious to the definition of social work. In higher education, it was also taught as a separate discipline, and academics were successful in establishing it. Social workers used to be employed sparingly and were restricted to four walls. They were unable to improve the life of the populace in any way. In order to learn from the past and get ready for the future, they used to go visit the poor in disaster-prone places and think back on the sincere attempts to pinpoint the reasons for failure.

Q4) Discuss the Model Code of Ethics for Social Workers in India.

Ans) The Model Code of Ethics for Social Workers in India are as follows:

The Social Worker's Conduct and Behaviour as a Social Worker

1. The social worker must behave himself or herself in a way that upholds the highest moral standards.

2. The social worker should make an effort to practise their job with a high level of competence and skill.

3. The social worker prioritises the social work profession's duty to serve others.

4. The social worker must conduct themselves in a way that upholds the highest standards of impartiality and professionalism.

5. The conventions of scholarly inquiry should serve as the social worker's guide when conducting research and study.

The Social Worker's Ethical Responsibility to Clients

1. The client's best interests should be the social worker's top priority.

2. The social worker should do every effort to promote client autonomy to the fullest extent possible.

3. The social worker must respect the client's privacy and keep all information acquired while providing professional services in strict confidence.

4. When setting rates, the social worker should be fair and reasonable, taking into account the time and skill invested in providing the services.

The Social Worker's Ethical Responsibility to Colleagues

1. Colleagues should be treated with decency, respect, fairness, and good faith by the social worker.

2. It is the social worker's duty to treat the clients of their colleagues with the utmost professionalism.

The Social Worker's Ethical Responsibility to Employers and Employing Organisations

1. The social worker's response to unethical behaviour within the organisation must be handled in accordance with the gravity of the infraction, its negative impact on the clients, and on society.

The Social Worker's Ethical Responsibility to the Social Work Profession

1. The mission, values, knowledge, and ethics of the profession should all be upheld and advanced by the social worker.

2. In order to provide social services to the general public, social workers should support their profession.

3. For the sake of professional practise, the social worker should be accountable for finding, creating, and fully utilising knowledge.

The Social Worker's Ethical Responsibility to Society

1. All initiatives aimed at eradicating social issues including discrimination and exclusion, violating human rights, and promoting equality should involve social work.

Q5) Enlist the factors determining competence for social work practice.

Ans) The factors determining competence for social work practice are as follows:

1. Initiative and Creativity: A social worker should organise and complete tasks without precise directions. Experienced employees are expected to provide positive ideas. Competent people anticipate challenges and possibilities. Always be ready for more duties.

2. Judgment: A social worker should base choices on facts, not feelings. Good judgement involves skilfully analysing situations and applying reasoning to find answers.

3. Cooperation and Teamwork: A social worker cooperates well with others and follows directions well. He/she works well with staff, co-workers, peers, and supervisors and ensures essential information is shared.

4. Quality of Work: A professional maintains high standards despite target-driven deadlines. They regularly produce accurate, detailed, professional work

5. Support of Diversity: The worker respects all people because of respect for their dignity, worth, and human relationships.

6. Quantity of Work: A qualified social worker generates enough work, avoids excessive detail, manages several projects, determines project urgency, and organises and schedules people and tasks. Social work emphasises hard effort.

7. Communication: A social worker is trained to write and speak effectively, using appropriate conventions, state one's own opinions clearly and concisely, demonstrate openness and honesty, be a good listener during meetings and feedback sessions, explain reasoning behind one's own opinions, ask others for their opinions and feedback, and ask questions to ensure understanding; exercise a professional approach with others using all appropriate tools of communication and use cohesion.

8. Problem Solving: Social workers fix problems. He/she evaluates how a problem may influence other units before making judgments. He/she compares options to client goals and draws findings. His/her goals, dates, and directives vary. He/she removes non-value-added procedures under pressure.

9. Flexibility: A professional must be open-minded and adapt to new information. He/she can switch duties fast as demand changes. He manages task transitions and customer demands efficiently.

10. Staff Development: A social welfare administrator seeks learning/feedback opportunities to improve performance.