Social Entrepreneurship - New Social Work Format - Assignment Example

Social Work - The Family - Focusing on ‘The Family’, critically debate how changes in social policy, welfare ideologies and societal attitudes have impacted on the evolution of social work as a profession. Family is a very commonly used word in general context. Literally it represents a group of people who are either genetically related or by legal intention that makes them related to one another. Metaphorically the word family can be used to describe any group of people. According to David (1984), family is the surrounding in which the initial education of a child takes place. Be it a domestic household in the suburbs or a socially aggressive home with pretention and wealth or a homeless orphan whose family is the other shelter less people he comes in contact with. The foundation of free thinking, the realization of body, mind and spirit reflect the surroundings a person grew up in. the treatment he was subject to in his early formative years define him as the person he will be for the rest of his life. The different characters in a family a have different roles and perspectives of family life. While for the children it is a means of entering society and personal integration, for the parents it represents the responsibility of their own as well as others’ lives. Sociologists have categorized families into conjugal and nuclear families. The former are families with independent individuals leading separate ties with very little involvement with each other, while the latter explains a close family structure with strong codependent ties. Another popular name given to recognize a type o family is an ‘extended family’. An extended family is a set of families with genetically or legally related individuals. With time it integrates to form a kind of society itself with the family traditions serving as societal norms and the general culture of the extended family is reinforced. Sociologist view family as a haven for the growth of individuals in society. It is a place of love and trust and intimacy that encourages the world view of normalcy. According to Eitzen (1987) promotes domesticity, wholesomeness and a healthy environment for individuals to grow emotionally. For example in this economical and industrial world, the unconditional love and support of family is a welcome contradiction to the cutthroat vigor of commerce. Today, the family objective has shifted towards material things. In earlier times the family focus was to enrich and protect the young, it seems now to have moved towards receiving compensation from the offspring in return of care and loved provided. Parents are more ambitious about their children’s academics and employment opportunity and look upon them as a means of elevating the family’s position among their acquaintances in society. The concept of social work is the contribution to society a large. This contribution takes many forms, but the most widely understood and frequently used form of the word relates to helping the poor and needy to provide them with better living standards. Providing for those less fortunate has been a genuine duty of the people of all major religions of the world. It highlights the ideas of kindness, generosity and self sacrifice that almost all religions preach. The concept of social work and family has been explained by the Family systems theory’s heritage of Ludwig Von Bertalanaffy. He offered the world the mid-twentieth century way of looking at science. He argued that organisms are not simple creatures. They tend to be complex and interactive. The society in itself is a broader domain encompassing these organisms. Thus, general systems theory found greater applicability in community planning, computer science and programming and various other broader domains of the society. Thus a family is more than just a single unit. It’ s an entire system that is a sub-part of the broader system fielding it. After Constantine established Christianity and legalized the catholic church, poorhouse were set up for the needy as well as orphanages were built. These were partially funded by the empire. By 590 the church had a system for circulating the consumables to the poor: associated with each parish was a diaconium or office of the deacon. Christianity encouraged charity, and in the Middle Ages to give to the poor was seen as a sign of piety and devotion to god. (Global Envision "Religion" ,2008) For instance the concept of family can also be seen during the 19th century when social work was established as a profession. When the feudal rule ended, and a social order was established, the poor were seen as a direst threat to it. So to take care of them a system was formed manly in England and the United States. In England the Poor Law grouped similar poor people under headings of the able-bodied, impotent and the idle poor. Each group was dealt with differently. The Industrial Revolution saw a great migration to the urban areas, and a new social and commercial circumstance was formed. ("Social Work History", 2008) In both the States and in England, many churches and missionary groups devised ways of giving charity and helping out the poor. To rescue women forcefully involved in prostitution rescue societies were formed. Mental asylums were also built to provide care to the mentally ill in a secure environment. A concept of ‘scientific charity’ came into existence it stated that charity should be practical and well thought out, not impulsive and emotional.( Huff, 2008) According to Stern et al (2008), in the late 19th century the settlement movement was born. This focused on the cause of poverty by the three R’s ‘research, reform and residence. They provided a variety of services to those in need of them including those of education and health benefits. Social works strives to balance out the unevenness in the structure of society and the imbalanced distribution of wealth among the people. Its ideology completely opposes the economics concept of providing to only those with the financial means to get what they want. Social work works towards giving every individual the opportunity to realize his or her potential even if their lack of monetary funds hinders their growth. Areas such as human development are thoroughly research and social workers intervene to help people with their problems. Social workers can be categorized into local, provincial, national and international workers. International social work bodies are funded by various organizations such as the United Nations. Social work rules apply to all living beings without racial or secular discrimination. (George, 2006) Social workers have been associated with family units since time immemorial. They help families thrive and snap out of serious domestic conflicts. This could involve many facets of their work such as child and spouse abuse etc. Some social workers have specialized in catering to peculiar family settings. For instance, they could assist single parents in finding day car, look around for adoptions for single kids, and even help build homes for the underprivileged children. Thus social workers have a very important role to play in families. Professional social workers need to have an educational background of social work. They usually require a license or professional consent from an authoritative agency to perform social work. A social worker’s education begins with the procurement of a bachelor’s degree or a diploma of social work. In some countries Master’s degrees and even doctorates in social work are offered to interested parties. While this differs from organization to organization, some require a specific qualification to be admitted as a member while others set a minimum qualification expectancy.( Catholic Social Workers National Association) There are a number of associations that provide support to social workers. These organizations give ethical guidance as well as monetary help to social workers. Such organizations can be distributed geographically, as they exist from a regional to international level. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the biggest organization in the US. It has provided the nation with a code of ethics for social workers that all social workers in the US must follow. The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) are two international bodies that promote the research of professional social workers and encourage finding new ways of performing their services. The integration of social work in the 21st century has made it a global multi billion dollar phenomenon and has changed the duties of the social worker. Now the main task of social workers is case management. To dispatch cases to relevant authorities efficiently so that the people in need could be dealt with as soon as possible (Wittenberg, Renee (2003). Opportunities in Social Work). Social work with groups is a branch of social work that deals with the societal rights of certain groups that should be provided to them. While some social workers argue that all social work done with more than two people at a time is a group, some say otherwise. Parameters have been set up (by Garvin (2004), Middleman and Wood (1990)) which clearly define what constitutes as a group requiring social attention. There are four objectives to be met before social work can be identified as done for a group. These include the provision of mutual aid, the dynamic of the group reflects each person in it and welfare to said group would benefit every individual, the whole group is homogenously benefitted by the social worker and on the cessation of social work it still maintains a group.( Brown, L. (1991), (Groups for growth and change) (Garvin, C. (1997). Contemporary group work (Third edition) (Balgopal, P.R. and Vassil , TV (1983). In a certain school of thought, social theory is the framework or outer structure inside of which all social phenomena is identified and discussed. Debates and informed arguments are a method by which such phenomenon is satisfactorily defined. Sociologists use positivist and anti-positivist methodologies to argue the aspects of any social theory brought forward. As new and more advanced social structures are formed, old ones are revised or discarded. The works of modern day sociologist is taken into account while that of those in the past is thoroughly considered to find if it still applies to today’s evolved life system or is it now obsolete. The Marxist theory of the bourgeoisie doesn’t apply to our current predicament. The globalization process has blurred and in some places completely dissolved the boundaries that exist between the upper and lower class. The feudal system is very near extinct and economically, people are provided with opportunity to integrate themselves if they wish to. There are various social work theories that can be applied to the concept of family as a whole. One of them is the attachment theory. It explain how people can impact other people psychologically by virtue of their interaction with them. According to this theory, the connections that people have with each other influences their decision at various points in their life. Another important theory is the standpoint theory that applies to many social workers and psychologists. The standpoint theory is very influential on people who adopt it and tend to use it to shape the world. Every individual standpoint would be partial and holds his views that are diametrically different from the rest. Social work is now a subjective matter with the possibility of human error presenting a very near threat. In most cases, a social worker has to make an empirical rather than a sentimental decision. Who is the person most in need of social care is a relative question. While a social worker has many methods and theories to judge the needs of different individuals or groups, suffering can never really be quantified hence the decision always remains one of better judgment and can always be questioned. While social work is a priority it is secondary to the monetary and fiscal ambitions of many countries, hence social workers always face the problems of changing policies and corporate red tape. (Social Work: Theory and Practice for a Changing Profession Dominelli, Lena (2004)) The struggle of the commercial with the social has grown alarmingly in the past 100 years. The globalization process and the easy accessibility to commodities and services all over the world has turned the world into a colossal free market economy. While the governments of many countries still try their best to keep the democratic view alive in politics, it is very easy to see that money itself has become the power. The planned economy idea has been declared a failure and the foreign policy of many nations is to maintain a mixed economy so that neither the consumer nor the supplier in a particular market will be exploited. The main prerogative of social work is to protect the interests of the weak and to give them the same options in life that a strong person gets. In this world the people with little monetary substance are weak as they do not have the power to trade. the psychological issue being faced by social workers is the rising crime rate in all the major cities of the world. People who do not have power try to get it legally. Hence criminal gangs are formed. These people while as individuals do not amount to much as a group bully the area they operate in. They believe themselves to be above the law and usually work from shady out of the way places so as not to get caught. The smaller gangs are just involved in petty crimes such as stealing from grocery stores, or taking money from people. But as these gangs integrate and gain power in a larger area their activities get increasingly criminal. These include drug, organ and human trafficking as well as bank or jewelry store heists. Their powerful connections let them get away with a lot of such activities. A social worker faces many challenges when making a professional decision. Not only is he ethically bound but the decision must be made without prejudice and any emotional preference. This is very difficult as judgment is an impulse in itself. But the more difficult issue arises when all relevant parties in need of help are in the same amount of pain and only one can be helped. The social worker is funded by another organization to which he is answerable. So if he made a subjective decision to the best of his sensibilities the argument that the organization doesn’t agree with him still exists. A constructive way of putting the corporate agenda to good use is social entrepreneurship. This is set up when a social cause is taken up and business principles are used to form a company to better the cause. The objective of social entrepreneurship is to bring about social change. The purpose of such an organization differs from a commercially minded firm very basically. While the aim of a business is increasing profit and shareholders’ wealth maximization, the goal of a social enterprise is the achievement of social and environmental purposes. (Thompson, J.L, 2004) A famous social contemporary who adopted this method of business is Muhammad Yunus, who shaped the Grameen Bank. He merged the social principles of non-profit trading with the objectives of a bank and came up with a very successful business venture. A NGO (non governmental organization) or a NPO (non profit organization) is structurally an enterprise. But the purpose of them both is not gain, they work towards social causes and make appeals for donations and funds all of which are fully invested into the social work. The final accounts of such an organization are also very different from those operating for monetary gain. The government is lenient towards such ventures and they are given substantial grants from time to time. Other companies are also encouraged to give charitable donations to these organizations by being given tax reductions and write-offs. In the business world, social work takes the form of protecting an employer or employees’ fair rights from exploitation. The concept of trade unions is a group of employees from the same or separate firms, who wish to protect their interest in their employment so that they are not exploited or unfairly treated. Although many strict laws have been passed by the government of the UK on racial, gender or any other form of material discrimination, trade unions help to reinforce these laws. An employee who is a member of a trade union is protected from being unfairly dismissed on grounds that are not mentioned in his employment contract and do not relate to the quality of his work or a redundancy program. The anti-discriminatory policy applies to both racial discrimination as well as gender discrimination. A man of African American descent has as much right to a job as a Caucasian man, if a company takes racial preference it goes against the law and severe action will be taken against it. Also many women have faced problems working in a predominantly male office environment, where they are harassed or face other discriminatory issues because they are members of the ‘weaker sex’. (Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998),(Civil Rights Act of 1866 & Civil Rights Act of 1871) (Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government). While UK’s focus has shifted from being a welfare state to a more market oriented approach, the extent of voluntary welfare has also risen considerably. So much so that it is now possible to assess the position of the local governments on welfare ideologies individually. The economic shift happening today has made it imperative for the government to act quickly for a more optimum allocation of resources among the general public. New methods of welfare need to be established and an efficient framework needs to be established for the distribution of the country’s resources. The burden of responsibility on the government has risen to new heights as the gap between the affluent and the impoverished widens. It is prudent to share this burden with socially aware organizations and to help promote a healthier circulation of funds. The rise of the free market economy in the UK is unhampered by welfare ideologies and the role of the social workers is to keep up with the changing world order and improve the condition of society. References: 1. Schneider, David 1984 A Critique of the Study of Kinship. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 182 2. Zinn and Eitzen (1987) Diversity in American families, p. 3 3. "Religion". Middle School Lesson Plans. Global Envision. http://www.globalenvision.org/forteachers/28/1258/. [ Retrieved 27 12, 2010] 4. "Social Work History". University of Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20071221085300/http://www.socialwork.ed.ac.uk/social/history.html. [Retrieved 27 12, 2010] 5. Huff, Dan. "Chapter I.2 Missionaries & Volunteers". The Social Work History Station. Boise State University. 2008. http://www.boisestate.edu/socwork/dhuff/history/chapts/1-2.htm. [Retrieved 27 12, 2010] 6. Axinn, June and Mark J. Stern .2008. Social Welfare: A History of the American Response to Need (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 9780205522156. 7. Parker-Oliver, Debra; Demiris, George .April 2006. "Social Work Informatics: A New Specialty". Social Work (National Association of Social Workers) 51 (2): 127–134 8. " Catholic Social Workers National Association ". http://www.cswna.org Wittenberg, Renee .2003. Opportunities in Social Work Careers (Revised ed.). Chicago, IL: VGM Career Books. ISBN 0071390480 OCLC 49959266 9. Balgopal, P.R. and Vassil, TV .1983. Groups in social work: An ecological perspective. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc. 10. Brown, L. 1991. Groups for Growth and Change. New York: Longman. 11. Garvin, C. (1997). Contemporary group work (Third edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon 12. Social Work: Theory and Practice for a Changing Profession Dominelli, Lena Polity Press, Cambridge 2004 13. Dr. Huntington Beach (Contradictions of Contemporary Society and Social Work Ethics) http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/sage/contradictions-of-contemporary-society-and-social-work-ethics-xPRCOx7egG [Retrieved 27 12, 2010] 15. PRACTICE UPDATE: Human Rights & International Affairs By: Elizabeth Pathy Salett, LICSW 16. Thompson, J.L., The World of the Social Entrepreneur, The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 15(4/5), 2002, p.413 17. Employment Equity Act No.55 of 1998.1998., from WorkInfo: http://www.workinfo.com/free/sub_for_legres/data/equity/Act551998.htm [Retrieved 27 12, 2010] 18. Civil Rights Act of 1866 & Civil Rights Act of 1871 - CRA - 42 U.S. Code 21 §§1981, 1981A, 1983, & 1988 | finduslaw 19. Executive Order Number 11478 - Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government 20. Ideology and welfare in the UK: the implications for the voluntary sector Marilyn Taylor and John Lansley http://www.springerlink.com/content/p391v3h65k366x76/ [Retrieved 27 12, 2010] Read More