Social Work Problem And Prospects_zia.docx

1. Introduction Social work seeks to enhance the social functioning of individuals, singly and in groups, by activities focused upon their social relationships which constitute the interaction between man and his environment (The United States Council on Social Work Education) On June 27, 2001 International Association of Schools of Social Work and the International Federation of Social Workers jointly announced a new international definition of social work believed to be applicable in every region and country of the world – “The social work promotes social change problem-solving in human relationships and the empowerment and the liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of human behavior and social systems, social work intervenes at the point where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work” In general social functioning problems are caused by any of the ff.  Personal inadequacies  Situational inadequacies  Both personal and situational inadequacies All social worker efforts therefore focused on either helping a person adjust to or cope with his environment or modifying or changing his environment/situation or both Social work is not a hit-or-miss or trial and-error method but a professional service which makes use of scientific knowledge and skills Social Work, introduces in the 1930’s as a systematic method of helping people in the field of public welfare in the Philippines, came to be officially recognized as a profession with the passage of a law by Congress in 1965 elevating social work to a profession

Friedlander (1951) defined, “Social work is a professional service, based on scientific knowledge and skill in human relations, which assists individuals, alone or in groups, to obtain social and personal satisfaction and independence”. This definition of Friedlander is considered as one of the most comprehensive definitions of social work. According him, social work is a profession like other professions, through which a trained social worker 1|Page

with scientific knowledge and outlook in handling human relations, helps individuals and groups to have social and personal satisfaction. Social work in its theoretical aspects is based on the knowledge of human relations with regard to the solution of psycho social problems. In its applied aspect, social work is a professional service based on scientific methods and skills. In the field of social sciences, social work occupies a very important role. Every social problem is the outcome of many external and internal factors. Therefore, when to deals with the individual problems, it is essential to deal with his experiences and reactions towards the problems.

2. Social work development In Europe, scientific social work had its roots in the early 20th century. The Industrial Revolution, which first began in England, had transformed the pace and direction of the industrial production. Increasing use of machine power was far from being an unmixed blessing. The radical changes in the organization and operation of industry ushered in by the Industrial Revolution were doubtlessly responsible for many of the economic and social problems that developed at that time with far reaching consequences. Sensitive minded reformers soon perceived the incongruity of the rapid accumulation of wealth and the simultaneous decadence of human well-being and happiness among the masses. Some employers did act on a humanitarian impulse in response to the appalling conditions of the industrial workers. However, their concept of welfare was paternalistic. The second phase of the industrial era in Europe falls in the period between the World Wars (1918-1939). It was a significant period in relation to employee's welfare. The phase was marked by increasing recognition of the human factor in industry, as was evident from the fact that the worker became a subject for studies in the industry.

Breakthrough was achieved with the series of experiments conducted by the Hawthorne Works in Chicago from 1926 onwards. The experiments believed that if the employees were satisfied with their 'work situation', they were likely to reciprocate by being more productive. Consequently, the facilities relating to housing, work holidays, employment of apprentices, wages, etc. became increasingly important. To this was added the social legislation in the area of health and safety, industrial relations, works committees, social insurances, etc. Thus, in Europe, the concept of industrial social services began to be 2|Page

gradually integrated into the national social policy. In the early 20th century, in addition to the changes in the political systems emphasizing workers' welfare, the advances in social sciences, such as industrial psychology, industrial sociology, etc. added new dimensions to the understanding of the workers as a psychosocial entity rather than a mechanical robot. In Britain, the concept of social work in industry has been virtually non-existent. It was only during the Industrial Welfare Movement between 1890-1913 that there was a brief spell of welfare activities undertaken by enlightened employers. The after-effects of the Industrial Revolution on the social conditions of industrial workers called for immediate action. Consequently, enlightened managements employed female welfare workers on their staff to look after the problems of the women and children working in the factory. The Quaker Firms of Rowntress and Cadbury's took the lead in this movement (U.N.1961). World War II brought in its wake dislocation in industries and consequent problems of unemployment. The need for a social worker was greatly felt at this point. But with the ensuing stability in the socio-economic condition, the social workers in industry were left with no relevant functions. In Germany, the trained social workers were in great majority. but their position experienced basic shocks and disapproval shortly after World War II because industrial social work came to be wrongly identified with the ideology of National Socialism. There were only a few practicing industrial social workers after World War II, as there was a federal cut back in their services. It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that the profession and the schools of social work began to take a more serious look at industry and business as an arena of social work practice.

3. Problems and prospects of social work profession in Bangladesh The history of social work practice in Bangladesh is not as old as it is in the developed world. The people of Bangladesh became familiar with the concept of social work during the 1950s, after the partition of India, when the urban community encountered severe problems resulting from the unavoidable consequences of urbanization. To tackle these emerging problems, the then Pakistani government appealed to the United Nations (UN) for guidance and help. In response to this appeal, the UN sent a team representing two member states to review the situation. The team suggested the introduction of com-munity development services to address the problems in urban areas (Islam, 2011).Accordingly, a short-term training course on social work was recommended and organized in Dhaka in 3|Page

1953. At the same time the Urban Community Development (UCD) program was introduced at Kayettuly in Dhaka, which aimed to improve the situation of slum areas and rehabilitation of migrants, particularly the influx of refugee migrants from West Bengal, India. Two years later, another course was introduced for 9 months with the technical collaboration of the UN. This program was renamed after the independence of Bangladesh as Urban Social Service (USS) (Islam, 1999). After the emergence of Bangladesh through a liberation war in 1971, government and private level workers realized the necessity of rural-based services considering mass poverty in rural areas. Realizing the importance of helping the rural poor, the government introduced a new program for rural poor people following the USS model; this was called Rural Social Service (RSS). The RSS undertook various programs targeting women, children, and youth aiming to make them self-reliant. Both the USS and the RSS programs are still in operation for the welfare and development of the poor since their inception. In addition, various social service programs have been in operation at different settings, such as hospital social service, correctional services, day-care centers, orphan homes, vagrant homes, and Rehabilitation Center for Destitute Women (DSS, 2012).Although social work practice in Bangladesh started more than half a century ago, it could not attain the status of a profession. As in other developing countries, social work practice in Bangladesh is not regarded as a core instrument for the promotion of social development. It is very often treated as an act of charity, either by individuals, or by a group in association inspired either by a sense of religious duty or simple pity and sympathy by well-off or status-hungry people (Islam, 2011). The reason for holding such belief is that the inception and development of the social work profession was associated with such situations. Social work professionals could not change this traditional belief, although many social work graduates were associated with social service departments from the inception of Pakistan. Even after independence, this attitude has not changed and still exists. The problems of social work practice in Bangladesh will be discussed in the following sections in four main streams: social work education, social work literature, social work associations, and social work practice. 3.1 Problems in social work education A holistic understanding of the complex nature of social problems and intervention strategies is required to address social issues effectively. Limited access to social work education is a major impediment for social work practice in Bangladesh. Only four state 4|Page

universities and two private universities out of 34 public and 59 private universities in Bangladesh offer Bachelor and Master’s degrees in social work (UGC, 2012). However, many colleges’ offer undergraduate and graduate level courses related to social work at the National University of Bangladesh. According to 2008 data, 32 colleges offer undergraduate and 17 colleges offer graduate degrees (Islam, 2011). The course content in academic syllabi can contribute much to make an eligible and efficient social worker. Even fifty years after the first social work course was offered in Bangladesh, the social work curriculum is still not at the same level as international standards. The theoretical knowledge that we randomly use in developing countries is not developed to consider local context and problems. The course contents are uneven, dependent on the availability of interested faculty, and often taught sporadically. It is crucial for apprentice social workers to take field training during their course work in order to learn effective use of theoretical knowledge under the supervision of a professional social worker. As many of the organizations are run and controlled by non-professional social workers who have nonacademic knowledge in social work, students are typically not able to relate theoretical knowledge to field practice. It is worth noting here that academics follow the Western concept of social work, but only a few academicians have graduate degrees from developed countries where social work emerged as a profession. This situation is gradually changing as many young scholars are pursuing their higher education in developed countries and concentrating their research focus on Bangladesh. However, a radical change in the philosophy and approach to teaching of this field is required. It is observed from the foregoing discussion on social work education and practice in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam that the academic programs of them have been launched in 1950s through early 1990s. The academic programs of these countries are facing various difficulties. The major ones are: 

Although some changes and adjustments in the curriculum have been made, the current curriculum is still not up to an international standard and not compatible in accordance with the culture, values and changing needs of the respective countries.

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Indigenous reading materials and standard textbooks in mother languages are not still available in accordance with the demands and needs of the students.

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The resource constraints are the most crucial factor in regard to development of social work education because it is not recognized as profession in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand as well as most of the ASEAN Countries.

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Inadequate theatrical course on field practicum, lack of setting/agency, faulty placement procedure, weak supervision, improper evaluation, job insecurity, absence of partnership and less active professional association/organization.

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Lack of effective professional organization.

3.2 Problems in social work practice The number one difficulties with regard to practice of social work is absence of professional recognition and it happens most of the Asian countries indeed. Besides, lack of setting/agency for field practicum, faulty placement procedure, weak supervision, improper

evaluation,

job

insecurity due

to

absence

professional

recognition, lack of partnership and less active professional association/organization are the important challenges in practicing social work in this part of the globe. The level of professional social worker is a pre-requisite for practicing social work. A social worker should be able to select and use appropriate resources in relation to specific community needs and situations. Social workers deal with different types of people, and therefore, they must study behavioral and psychosocial aspects of clients. They acquire knowledge and insight from a variety of disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, political science, economics, biology, history, law, education, and philosophy, in order to assess a client, and hence they are more able to understand the clients than other practitioners. Unfortunately, social welfare activities in Bangladesh, both government and non-government, are run and delivered mostly by non-professionals and paraprofessionals instead of social work professionals1.

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Social work practitioners who have no academic knowledge and training in social work are regarded as non-professionals. Paraprofessionals have no academic knowledge in social work but have completed a short course, diploma, or training course in this field. Social work practitioners who have obtained a Bachelor and/or Masters in social work are recognized as social workers.

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A large number of non-governmental and voluntary organizations are engaged in development activities where social work techniques are being used. It is not only the case that non-government voluntary organizations, who are the core part of delivering development services to the community, are led by social scientists who are not social workers (e.g. economists, sociologists, and anthropologists); the prospective fields of applied research are also under their control. These non-professional and paraprofessionals, who constitute the majority of development workers, have mostly come to this field by chance, not by choice. They are hardly aware of the current innovations in social work intervention around the world. As they have no academic knowledge in social work, they are unable to use social work knowledge in combating social problems. The emergence of professional social work began in developed societies where the problems were mostly psychosocial. Social workers used their remedial approach to address these problems. Conventional social work approaches that have been imported from developed countries do little to ameliorate the problems of poverty, deprivation, hunger, illiteracy, and ill health (Bose, 1992; Khinduka, 1997; Shawkey, 1972). 3.3 Problems in social work association Professional organization works as a vanguard for flourishing and development of a profession. The great lack in the journey of professional development of social work in Bangladesh is the absence of a professional organization. There was an organization of social work teaching professionals during the 1980s (Social Work Teachers Association), but it no longer exists (Islam, 2011). Over the last few years, two professional organizations in this field started to emerge: the Bangladesh Council of Social Work Education and the Bangladesh Clinical Social Workers Professional Organization. However, their activities are not very extensive (Prodhan & Faruque, 2012). Most unfortunately, these two bodies have not followed any democratic process in membership recruitment and leadership selection, and are rather dominated and directed by few self-motivated persons who use these bodies for their own vested interest instead of to encourage professional development. 3.4 Problems in social work literature flourishment Practicing social work a highly skilled activity that calls for an extensive knowledge base and considerable intellectual abilities. The knowledge base of social work has three interweaving features—theoretical knowledge, factual knowledge, and practice/personal 7|Page

knowledge—which demonstrates the extreme need for collaboration between academics and practitioners (Trevithick, 2008). Meanwhile most of the literature on the subject of social work knowledge tends to be written by academics, and there is very little cooperation between academics and practitioners, there is a great lack in creating social knowledge that can be adapted to different sociocultural contexts and to the needs of Bangladeshi people. Social work practitioners in Bangladesh have not been managed to play leading role in conducting high quality research. Many of the leading researches in the field of social development have been conducted by the graduates in the disciplines other than the social work. It is true that social development activities started in Bangladesh with successful research work carried out by the College of Social Welfare established in 1957 from the initiative of the United Nations. This initiative was later renamed as the Institute of Social Welfare and Research, but it lost its fame and has yet to achieve such a reputable status again. Another impediment to this direction is that efforts and achievements made by social workers remain unknown to all for lack of professional journals. Students and practitioners face a great difficulty in acquiring reference books and articles related to social work practice in Bangladesh.

4. Recommendations for combating these Problems Social work is a systematic way of helping individuals and groups towards better adaptation to work situation. This module determines the role of social work in industry as well as examines the role(s), which social workers can perform in industry, which will maximize the application of social work skills, knowledge and training. Social problems have become more complex and interconnected with many global issues. Social work practice is essential to deal effectively with the social issues that hinder social development in Bangladesh, but overcoming the limitation of social work practice is a prerequisite. Based on circumstantial experiences of the authors of working with many government and development organizations as a supervisor of apprentice social workers (students) and researches on this field, over two decades, a few suggestions are offered to combat the problem of social work practice in Bangladesh. First, social work curricula should be updated and standards should incorporate local and global issues, and recent development of social work knowledge across the world through international collaboration and scholars exchange program. Second, formation of a professional 8|Page

organization should be the top priority in Bangladesh. Social work not only intervenes at the individual level, but also is equally concerned about policy-level intervention. Social workers’ harmony is of supreme importance to influence policy in order to make it welfare friendly. The professional body can work together with the government, ministries, and other service departments to introduce social work knowledge and techniques in different service delivery systems, and put pressure for recruitment of professional workers in social service sectors in order to adopt social work principles and values in helping people. Third, coping strategies should be developed considering the specific social context while acknowledging the effect of external factors. Social work scholars and practitioners need to play an active and effective role in development and promotion of social work literature to attain the goal of social development. Professional publications (i.e. journals, periodicals, and newsletters) can do more to expand social work knowledge and help other professionals at the national and international levels to become familiar with it. Fourth, the future of the social work profession is dependent upon the role of social work scholars and practitioners.

5. Conclusion Braye and Preston-Shoot (2004) argue that social workers should not only be competent technicians who are fixers, but also critical thinkers–well-rounded professionals with knowledge and judgement to address strategy issues. Social work is currently an emerging profession throughout the world. It is not merely a profession that helps individuals to overcome problems. Rather it is an approach which intervenes in wider communities to create an enabling environment for whole communities so that people can function effectively. However, social work has not gained professional status in Bangladesh for a lack of powerlessness of social workers. Social work professionals and practitioners are responsible for the marginal role of social work for social development in Bangladesh. They have failed to convince bureaucrats and political decision makers about the importance of integrating social work knowledge in policy and practice for social development. The future growth and development of social work practice in Bangladesh is dependent on the commitment and performance of social workers. To carry out effective roles in addressing problems in the future, social workers need to be equipped with modern techniques and practice tools, as well as our own cultural context and nature of problems.

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References

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