Introduction to Social Work
The Emergence of the Discipline of Social Work
Introduction
Social work was introduced to deal with the issues of inequality and poverty in society. The advancement of social work concept was motivated by philanthropic engagement of many organisations as they sought ways to give back to society. UK has developed many laws to facilitate the development of social work which includes; the poor law of 1834 and the Welfare State, the NHS & Community Care Act 1990 and education for social workers.
1990 National Health Service and Community Care Act.
NHS and Community Care Act is one of the major forces which have boosted social work in the entire UK. The Act asserts that every adult eligible for government services has the right to full access to these services from the government. The introduction of the law was aimed at providing the older people with health care service based on individual needs rather than providing what was available (Knapp, Hardy and Forder p 283). The Act tackled the aspect of marketisation which had highly impacted of health care industry making the services expensive for the citizens. Through the implementation of the health of the older adults within the society has been well addressed despite their financial status. Through the implementation of this Act, the state funds were now directed to ensuring that better medical supplies were delivered to the society affordably. The Act made the local authorities responsible for the provision of health care through the restructuring of the supply structure.
Social Work Education
The concept of social work education was aimed at developing the professionals who were to get involved in the in social work. The training was directed towards improving the quality of services provided by the social workers (Solomon, 2015). The government wanted to abolish social work, citing an increase in some non-disabled beggars. The first social work education school was set up in London; Charity Organization Societies used education as a means to get funds from the government to expand social work (Edinburg University, 2019).
Assessment of Eligibility for Services
Assessment is an essential activity in social work. It helps the client get information about the social worker and the appropriate service. It helps society to understand that social work is a highly organised discipline with trained workers. Social workers provide a continuous assessment of clients. Thus, communication becomes effective in promoting quality service in the end. Assessment aims to evaluate the progress of clients to achieve set goals. Thus, people embrace social work as a field that gives back to society (Badger, 2015). Another role of assessment is justifying the effectiveness of social work. In other words, by using evidence collected during the assessment, the caregiver can offer the appropriate service.
Developments in the Role of the Social Worker
Social workers provided care for needy children and those living with disability in society. However, social work has developed and introduced care in the courts. For instance, the introduction of the 1969 Children’s Act required social workers to provide care to underage children in courts (The National Archives, 2019).
The Chronically Sick and Disabled Person’s Act of 1970 is an example that changed how social workers offered services (Davis, 2008). Before the implementation of the act, social workers used to offer services discriminatively; that is, the very ill and disabled persons were often neglected.
Social workers made decisions and provided care based on their judgments. The change came in 1989 when family and person-centred approaches were introduced in social work. Family-centered care is involving the family of the child before making decisions or providing care services to them. The advantages of the approach were; enabling communication between the caregiver and the children and family. Notably, there is an improvement towards the set goal because the caregiver can understand the child’s needs. The person-centred approach involves a patient in making decisions. Social workers do so by providing skills and knowledge for patients to make informed choices (The Health Foundation 2016).
Duties of social workers keep changing. In the beginning, they worked for the charity. However, social work became recognised as a profession. Voluntary organisations used to control social workers, but in 2003, the government took control and created a register for all social workers.
With the introduction of the Internet, social workers have diversified the way they perform their roles. Previously, social workers provided their services physically or over the phone. However, the Internet allows for online services which save time and enables social workers to serve multiple clients.
Conclusion
The political goodwill to promote social work depicted by the UK government has boosted the concept of social work. The introduction of the 1990 Act helped solve the problem of the beggars whose activities had been termed illegal by the government and introduced an avenue through which they could access health care. Training of social workers through education programs helped improve the quality of service provided.
Social Work and Social Policy
Introduction
The government regulates social work since the profession is broad; the government departments share responsibilities. The duties include maintaining a register, ensuring qualified workers practice, and formulating a code of conduct among others. However, social policy conflicts with social workers’ beliefs and morals. Therefore, they should differentiate ethical values to adhere to the social policy.
Aims
To determine the role of the government in social work
To investigate how social workers, deal with competing tensions
To assess the effect of social policy and social work practice.
Characteristics of the Role of State in Social Work
The government oversees social workers, both the individual and those employed by organisations. Therefore, they enforce existing policies into laws for quality service. The government maintains a register for all social workers for purposes of tracking and making decisions, for instance, balancing the supply and demand of social workers. Notably, it formulates the code of conduct by setting standards that workers should adhere to in their profession. Another role is to give licenses to all practising social workers to ensure that qualified and competent workers are allowed to practice (Cromarty, 2018). The government regulates social work by sharing responsibilities among departments. For instance, the health department, education, and local government share social work for adults, children, and social services respectively. Social workers face challenges originating from social policy. For instance, the pressure to perform due to low labour leads to exhaustion of workers affecting the quality of service delivery, and it results in employee turnover. Through supervision and licensing, there is professionalism in social work. Accountability and governance laws are not consistent. Thus, they perform in a few areas. This compromises social work practice, whereby some areas perform, while others are neglected. Poor working conditions lead to a negative perspective from the media, and it creates a blame game among government departments (Cromarty, 2018).
Competing Tensions
These arise when social policy conflicts with an individual’s moral belief which may lead to job loss if not addressed. A patient can give a caregiver a gift as a form of appreciation. However, according to social policy, the caregiver is not allowed to accept gifts. This creates a dilemma because good morals dictate that one accepts presents in order to build a relationship. Confidentiality is an essential code of conduct that caregivers should follow (MSWGuide, 2019). However, in situations of dealing with children, they request the caregiver not to report to guardians or a higher authority. The dilemma a caregiver faces is choosing between not lying to the child and reporting the issue in order to help the child. Following this understanding, there is a need for caregivers to differentiate between moral values and social policy. To do this, the caregiver should consult the code of ethics, seek advice from their supervisors, take time to think about their dilemma, and review government laws to create a balance between morals and the social policy (MSWGuide, 2019).
Conclusion
The government regulates social work for quality and professionalism. It shares the responsibilities among its respective departments. Social policy can cause ethical dilemmas to social workers like receiving gifts and issues of confidentiality. For creating a balance between the two, social workers should seek advice from supervisors, consult the code of ethics, review the government laws, and think about their dilemma.
Theoretical Perspectives in Social Work
The choice and control perspective involve giving the clients an opportunity to decide what they want, especially in matters of payments. The advantage of this perspective is that it increases independence, especially in the disabled and elderly clients. The government of England is implementing this strategy to improve the way disabled persons live and improve social work in the future (Rabiee, 2012). It is looking at achieving independence and personalisation in social work. The disadvantage of choice and control for disabled people is that the caregivers define independence as clients being able to perform self-care services without help. This, however, is not right, because they impose this on the disabled people who view independence as being able to manage their lives. This brings satisfaction and self-control, despite involving social workers. Most clients complain about the loss of independence when caregivers force them to make decisions involuntarily. For instance, Robert could be able to decide to travel to London with the help of someone, but caregivers have the notion that he is unable to move. Hence, his independence is affected.
The personalisation perspective, on the other hand, is when a social worker provides care putting in mind that the clients are individuals with strengths and preferences. First, this is done by ensuring that clients have a broader scope of choices, providing information that will guide them in decision making (Social Care Institute, 2010). Personalization promotes communication between the client, the social worker, and their families. Also, it helps clients to know how to implement policies, solve conflicts, and achieve empowerment to be independent. For instance, Richard can be guided by enlightening him about homosexuality and its effects, which will help him make an informed choice on his sexuality. Notably, the caregiver needs to understand that despite having a learning disability, he is a human with different preferences that should be respected. Hence, Richard can receive guidance to achieve independence in that he can be funded and travel, but with the help of the caregiver. However, clients who make decisions to promote vices can abuse personalisation. For instance, Richard might seduce social workers whose sexual orientation is different, based on the notion that he is practising knowledge attained from the caregiver.
References
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Edinburg University, 2019. Social work timeline. [Online] Available at: http://www.socialwork.ed.ac.uk/centenary/timeline [Accessed 8 February 2019].
Cromarty, H., 2018. Social work regulation (England). House of Commons Library. [Online] Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7802/CBP-7802.pdf [Accessed 8 February 2019].
Badger, K. (2014). Assessment. [Online]. Available at: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195389678/obo-9780195389678-0152.xml [Accessed 8 February 2019].
Knapp, M., Hardy, B. and Forder, J., 2001. Commissioning for quality: ten years of social care markets in England. Journal of social policy, 30(2), pp.283-306.
MSWGuide, 2019. Social work ethics: Common dilemmas and how to handle them responsibly. [Online] Available at: https://www.mswguide.org/blog/social-work-ethics/ [Accessed 8 February 2019].
Rabiee, P., 2013. Exploring the relationship between choice and independence: Experiences of disabled and older people. The British Journal of Social Work, 43 (5), pp.872-888.
Solomon, P., 2015. Origin of social work in UK-USA-India. Slideshare [Online] Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/PrinceSolomon1/history-of-social-work-51412320 [Accessed 8 February 2019].
Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2010. Personalization for social workers in adult’s services. [Online] Available at: https://www.scie.org.uk/personalisation/practice/social-workers [Accessed 8 February 2019].
The Health Foundation, 2016. Person-centred care made simple. [Online] Available at: https://www.health.org.uk/sites/default/files/PersonCentredCareMadeSimple.pdf [Accessed 8 February 2019].
The National Archives, 2019. Children and young person acts. [Online] Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/children-young-persons-acts.htm [Accessed 8 February 2019].