Perspective Chapter: Interventional Base for Social Work Profession – Methods, Practices, Roles, and Approaches

Abstract

This chapter provides a comprehensive understanding about social work intervention and emphasizes the importance, types, theories, approaches, and processes of social work interventions. Generally, individuals, groups, and communities require intervention by professional social workers. Practitioners and social workers working at different levels are committed to providing professional services (social work services) and enhancing the capacity of their clients through social work intervention, where social workers play significant and improved roles, and relevant and appropriate techniques to deal with their clients. Timely and appropriate intervention not only ensures the solving of the problems of the client but also brings positive growth and development. Socio-economic, political, and ecological phenomena have brought new challenges and problems that cause under-development at the global level. Certain situations and circumstances emphasize the importance of social work intervention [SWI]. Effective social work interventions made by professional social workers can bring positive outcomes and solutions. This chapter also advocates how social workers provide appropriate social work intervention or social work services skillfully to individuals, groups, organizations, and communities. It also seeks new areas where social workers can test the interventional methods and skills.

1. Introduction

There is a diversity of life in this world. It includes animals, birds, plants, and many biological components, including human beings. As sages and saints say, where there is life, there is fear and problems. Problems do not come with non-living things, e.g. stones [Abiotic components]. Problems are common to everyone. But some of them have complexity in nature, while others may be simple. Man faces problems in social relations while living in society. Similarly, he is facing problems of physical, psychological, economic, social, political, and educational types. The development of human society can take place only when all these problems are successfully solved. Social work is an applied science and an important discipline of study. Social work may be defined as the applied science of helping people achieve an effective level of psychological functioning [1]. The social work profession aims to intervene at the point where people meet their environment, which requires social workers to have an understanding of the operations and complexities of working with and within these different systems, Barbara Theatre [2]. Social work around the world has its own historical steps. In India, especially, it is closely associated with social service, charity, and social movements, and since the twentieth century it has taken a number of steps and developed its own conceptual framework, but the contribution of many social workers, volunteers, and leaders cannot be ruled out. Even though the duality between service-welfare-development and social work still exists in contemporary society, these have remained as functions of professional social work. Throughout the history of Indian society, social work has expanded its horizons in the form of social service and social welfare. In those days, it was considered as welfare work. However, it has not received a formal status or professional status. Sir Dorabji Tata from the Graduate School of Social Work, established in Mumbai in 1936, wrote a milestone in the history of professional social work education. Today, in the twenty-first century, it is moving from informality to formality and professionalism. Space for professional social workers has received more demand and status globally than ever.

In the present context, social work is being practiced at various fields and levels, from the domestic to international level, such as families, schools, industries, hospitals and nursing homes, old age homes, adoption centers, counseling centers, remand homes, courts, prisons, military, government agencies/departments, other voluntary organizations, and humanitarian/charitable organizations. The basic aim and focus of social work is the welfare of people. The research writer’s objective in this chapter is to analyze the mediating bases and facts of the social work profession and present them to the reader community analytically.

2. Social workers

The twenty-first century has invited various arenas as we are moving toward our dreams and imaginary lives. Life is not the same for everyone. For some, it is easy and for some, it is very difficult. While I conducted the interview with the mass of social work students, amazingly, I found the meaning and concept of life and problems, i.e. what is life? and the perspective on the problems they have. There were different answers to these questions. This implies that social workers must become “mini” legal experts, “mini” educators, “mini” social engineers, “mini” managers, “mini” psychotherapists, or all of the above Staub Bernasconi [3].

We are always thinking about ourselves, but not about other people. This leads us to selfishness. In fact, there is no place for selfishness in social work because we social workers are less selfish people. Social workers are human engineers, social engineers, and change agents. We are making remarkable footprints toward the welfare of the world. For us, our client is very important. We are working for vulnerable groups, women and children, youth and youth offenders, child laborers, bonded laborers, individuals with disabilities and the list goes on..... Isn’t it amazing? Whatever it is, the main aim of social work practitioners is to achieve humane welfare.

While for the welfare and development of a nation, social workers are responsible for removing stressful problems in society; they are directly and indirectly involved in this process. Various departments of the government and various human welfare organizations engaged in the process of achieving the interests of individuals, groups, and communities are hiring social workers for their work. Here they provide conditional institutional and non-institutional services to the specified category. It is a very challenging task to measure and weigh the social dynamics intensively and to upgrade their skills and techniques accordingly. Maintaining equality amidst social dichotomies, because in today’s time when globalization, privatization, industrialization, and culturalization are taking place, our workplaces are seeking innovations.

3. Roles and responsibilities of professional social workers analyzed

Social workers bring about differences in the lives of people from individuals, families, and communities. They help them to live their lives more useful and successfully. They work with them in support, cooperation, and partnership to find suitable solutions to the problems that exist in the lives of the people. Those who have a degree in social work at the postgraduate level are eligible for various positions in the social work profession. Apart from these, there are diploma and degree courses in social work. However, postgraduate social work develops holistic knowledge, values, theories, methods, and techniques. Fieldwork, research, block placement, and internship are part of the social work education system. In most of the developed countries, social workers need a license to pursue their profession by entering the social work profession along with their graduation. Social workers have significant roles to play. In most countries, they play multiple roles according to the problems and situations of their particular client. Here clients may be considered as individuals, groups, families, and communities. The roles and responsibilities of social workers vary according to the problems and situations of their clients. Which role has to play? It is decided by the problem and situation. Through roles and responsibilities, social workers will try to give justice to their clients. Roles are very important for social workers. Through roles, they are able to enjoy the duties assigned in social work. Roles indicate the particular functions/duties to be performed. The responsibilities of social workers are to uphold the dignity and status of the social work profession.

Table 1 provides a comprehensive understanding of the roles and responsibilities of social workers in general and specific settings. Group A indicates the general roles of social workers, Group B indicates the specific areas of social work, and Group C indicates the specific roles related to specific settings/areas.

(A) General roles	(B) Specific settings/areas	(C) Specific roles/responsibilities
Facilitator	Community development; rural/urban/tribal	Community organizer/facilitator/educator/broker/enabler/community counseling/project coordinator/training officer/recourse mobilization/M&E officer/lobbyist/cluster manager/catalyst/peacemaker
Broker	School social work	School social worker/school counselor/caseworker/group worker
Counselor	Health/mental health/public health	Medical social worker/clinical social worker/case manager/therapist/psychological counseling
Educator	Health/mental health/public health	Psychiatric social worker/psychologist/case manager/clinical social worker/therapist/psychological counseling
Manager	Health/mental health/disaster management/disability social work	Rehabilitation officer/social worker/psychological counseling/grief counseling
Coordinator	De-addiction and substance abuse	Addiction counselor/teacher/social worker/case manager/group worker/psychological counseling
Case management/assessment	Geriatric social work	Counselor/coordinator/teacher/rehabilitation services/case worker
Mediator	Correctional setting/criminal justice	Probation officer/parole officer/counselor/adviser/legal advice/case manager/social worker/psychological counseling/rehabilitation services
Supervisor	Social development/developmental social work	Coordinator/training officer/project officer/project management/M&E officer
Enabler	Sustainable development	Developing alternative socio-economic models/application of ecological social work
Developmentalist	Immigration social work/migrant population refugee	Access to education, accommodation, and health care services/employee assistance/advocate/career development programs/legal assistance/mental health
Researcher	Child welfare/child care	Project officer/child welfare officer/coordinator/counselor/teacher/CDPO/case manager/social worker
Advocate	Feminist social work practice/women development/domestic violence	Women centered approaches/welfare officer/counselor/supervisor/group worker/case worker
Guide	Youth welfare/youth development	Youth welfare officer/counselor/youth development officer/facilitator/guider/organizer/educator/peacemaker
Negotiator	Family social work	Family counseling/HIV/marriage counselor
Planner	Military social work	Army social worker/counselor/crisis intervention
Organizer	Radical social work	Education and advocacy/anti oppressiveness/empathy/democracy
Catalyst	Occupational social work	Counselor/supervisor/organizer/facilitator/advocate/mediator/monitoring and evaluator/teacher
Lobbyist	Modern social work/advanced social work	Consultant/case management/community organization/psychological counseling/application of research and technologies
Promoter	Cultural social work	Multiculturalism/acceptance and promotion of culture/culture sensitivity/respect for cultural diversity
Guider	Human rights	Advocacy/protection and promotion of human rights/prevent discrimination/educator/formulating policy/addressing inequality and injustice
Analyzer	Disaster management	Risk management/assessment/prevention & mitigation/emergency planning/rehabilitation/preparedness/policy development/crisis intervention/psychological counseling
Recourse mobilizer	Gender-based social work	Promote gender equality/educator/protection of rights/enabler/training and capacity building/gender sensitivity
Change agent	Critical social work/social justice	To address social injustices, racism, and social exclusion/social democracy/crisis intervention
Caseworker	Disability social work	Disability social worker/facilitator/career guidance and support/rehabilitation/psychological counseling
Group worker	Green social work/ecological social work	Environment justice/developing alternative models/building awareness/environment-friendly policy making/protection and promotion of environment/people centric approaches/organizer/educator/recourse mobilization/negotiator/advocate/conflict management/evidence-based practices
Para-social worker	Clinical social work	Clinical social worker/case manager/therapist/psychological counseling/assessment and evaluation/diagnosis
Consultant	Public relation/corporate social work/CSR activities	Public relation officer/corporate social worker/fund riser
Administrator	Policy planning and development	Policymaker/researcher/adviser/monitoring and evaluation/executing the programs/social impact/analyzer
Collaborator	International social work (ISW)	Addressing international issues/assisting refugees/combating hunger/gender discrimination/organizing and advising
Leader/team leader	Industrial setting	General manager/HR manager/labor welfare officer/facilitator/counselor/arbitrator/conflict management/grievances officer/conciliation officer
Volunteer	Financial social work	Financial well-being and stability/micro level and macro level of practices/asset building/income generation activities/financial security
Expert	Perinatal social work	Perinatal social worker/research

Table 1.

General roles, specific areas, and specific roles.

4. Meaning and concept of intervention in social work

The term mediation or intervention is a very popular term commonly used by people in social life. It is the belief of all of us, the masses, that many obstacles, difficulties, or problems can be resolved through mediation, or the atmosphere of crisis can be defused, or a temporary solution can be desired. However the mediation of social work with a different perspective has gained its importance among social workers. Generally, professional social workers adopt, apply, or use the knowledge, understanding, art, skills, and professional values they have acquired. As we all know, social situations and problems are not so simple. They are always complex in nature. As a result, they have a negative impact on them and the family and social situation around them. According to a dictionary, it is the act or fact of coming or occurring between two people or times. According to the Collins dictionary, intervention is the act of intervening in a situation. The synonymous words for intervention are mediation and involvement. The word ‘intervention’ is derived from the Latin word “intervenire” which means “come between” or “interrupt”. Intervention in social work refers to purposeful and pre-planned systematic actions. These measures can focus on our clients, i.e. individuals, families, and communities with the desired changes. These are subject to the direction of professional social workers. As we all know, the problems and needs of our clients in social work are different, and the fulfillment of these is paramount in social work. Social work interventions are ways in which the individual, family, community, and society have found ways to solve problems and shape change. These are aimed at making the lives of individual family communities better and simpler than ever. Problems are common in social relationships. According to H.H. Perlmans’ social work perspective, “Problems are Unmet Needs.” So, when our needs are not met, they remain the same and those needs grow as problems [4]. Problems arise when a person fails to meet the arising needs and necessities or when there is a delay in meeting them in a timely manner. Social workers should always consider these according to the problems and needs of the clients and their own abilities when following social work interventions.

Assessment is an important stage in social work. Assessing means preparing a plan of help for the clients based on their collected information, and measuring comprehensive information about him or her. This will help clients to successfully tackle their problems, build a self-reliant life, and live in their environment with confidence. One of the later stages of the process is to provide treatment in accordance with the problems of the client, in which the interventions that can be applied and the steps that can be taken are combined and the prerequisite results can emerge as already mentioned.

5. Why are intervention strategies needed?

One way is for people to adjust to the environment or situation in solving their problems, while the other is to bring about a change in attitudes. The client makes their own life decisions or choices and becomes the charioteers of their own lives. Self-determination gives strength to their lives. The social worker can achieve this by encouraging the participation of the client throughout the process. Mediation strategies in this regard provide continuous encouragement and support in many ways to the client.

6. Basic elements

Writer Angy indicates these eight elements of social work intervention in his article “Ultimate social work intervention strategies”.

1. Measuring the needs and capabilities of clients.

2. Creating appropriate interventions.

3. Adoption of strategies.

4. Supporting our clients in critical times.

5. Monitoring progress.

6. Evaluation of outcomes.

7. Collaborating with professionals.

8. Upholding ethical standards.

7. Goal

Social workers try to solve problems in the lives of clients [individuals, groups, families, and communities] by applying mediating methods, techniques, and skills and bringing about changes in the environment in which they live. They are willing to get them out of the problematic situation and help them for their strong growth. In the intervention of social work, one of the best ways in which social workers have found it is to engage with the systems of their clients (problematic). It is necessary to prepare suitable plans for the positive development of the client through the mediation of social work interventions. The goal is to make the client’s life better by utilizing effective methods and techniques related to intervention, and finding effective intervention channels.

8. Methods

The writer and researcher Jeremy Sutton, suggests five important methods for social work intervention in his article “Social work methods and intervention for helping others”.

1. Care management.

2. Strength-based and solution-focused approaches.

3. Narrative social work.

4. Group work.

5. Task-centered approaches.

Writer Angy refers to the eight best social work interventions.

1. Counseling.

2. Crisis intervention.

3. Case management.

4. Community organization.

5. Advocacy.

6. Life-story work.

7. Active listening.

8. Miracle questions.

9. Levels

Social work covers a wide range of areas of work. Just as it is not possible to hold the whole water of the sea in the palm of your hand... Similarly, it is impossible to explain the fields of social work. However, new areas of work are being discovered. New areas are seeking relief, welfare, and development work from social work. As the fields of work expand, the roles of social workers are also changing accordingly. Social workers work at different levels to achieve their goals in social work. These are divided based on the scale of the problems according to the clients. Social workers are committed to doing justice to their clients in order to discharge their responsibilities to the fullest. These practices are used to provide different services to different people using systems.

1. Micro level [it indicates smaller in size]

2. Mezzo level [it indicates medium in size]

3. Macro level [it often refers to that larger in size]

10. Significance

Social work interventions have been formulated to address the needs of the socially marginalized and disadvantaged sections of society. These are designed to bring about change and power in individuals, groups, and communities. As a result, they will be able to bring about a positive change in the lives of clients. Sometimes it is very important to adjust to their environment. Through interventional methods, social workers can bring positive changes to clients as well as their environment.

11. Practices, processes, and approaches

Globally, employed professional social workers have the theories, approaches, and understanding of intervention of social work and are working on applying them in their field. The goal of social workers is the welfare and development of human society. These developed social work profession theories, principles, values, and path visions and interventions are the fruits of the tireless hard work, demonstration, and experience of social work educators, social work scientists, scholars, and working professional social workers globally, as well as social work people with vast work experience and knowledge of expertise in the field. Theoretical ideas and classical theories form the foundation of the profession of social work. These have demand-driven programs that serve people or individuals according to their needs, for the satisfaction of needs. A theory is an organized set of assumptions, beliefs, or ideas about particular phenomena in the world. The theory is synonymous with hypothesis, presumption, speculation, belief, idea, and philosophy and is used to help explain or predict situations, actions, and consequences [2]. Basically, social work intervention is at three levels: micro level, mezzo level macro level. The macro level aims to provide social services to the socially marginalized and in demand, to the community, through intervention, and to bring about change and development in the environment in which they live. Professional social workers must develop different understandings of interfering with the environment in which people live. One must have an awareness of the concepts, theories, ethics, and values of these different systems and the ingenuity to operate in the midst of these complexities. Social work intervention is most valuable when social work intervention comes together as part of an alliance between social workers and service users, such as counseling and therapy.

Social workers must maintain openness and transparency throughout the process, being able to provide supportive bases for appropriate decisions taken by social workers. A deeper understanding of the theories and the knowledge underlying or contained in the selected models is required. This will enable them to explain to their clients why these paths are appropriate and effective.

1. The effectiveness and success of interventions depend on the knowledge and understanding of working social workers.

2. Opting for appropriate methods and strategies.

3. Openness and lack of proper knowledge.

4. Consent interventions vs. asymmetric interventions.

The evaluation is first carried out by the social worker in order to formulate an intervention plan. There are specific ways of helping the client in society. Social workers need to formulate effective intervention plans and have a proper understanding and knowledge about them and strategies that can be used. Trying to understand the client from a different perspective and providing them with different services, e.g. social and mental.

12. Conclusion

Today, hundreds of interventions are in use in social work as a result of numerous research and experiments. But there is a difference in their effectiveness. Although the number of controlled trials on social work interventions is increasing, only a few interventions, based on research, have a high degree of certainty. It is difficult to know how and in what way these interventions will support the desired person for help [5]. Only specific interventions based on quality research and theories support the person in help. In the practice of social work, incomplete knowledge and unscientific practices of ideology can have an adverse effect on our cliental system i.e., individuals, groups, communities, and society. In this direction, professional social workers should emphasize the learning of research-based and practice-based formulated theories when working in their field of work, and attention should be paid to the positive and negative consequences that come from them.

13. Critical analysis based on the present chapter

1. Social work is applied knowledge formed by law, political science, economics, sociology, psychology, philosophy, education, and other social sciences. So its perspectives, ideologies, and principles help shape people’s lives at different levels. The learning of social workers in social work is continuous, and it helps in innovation and application in practice.

2. As social workers understand their clients from different perspectives and formulate interventions, the complexity of clients’ problems in social work and the difficulty and impact of inappropriate situations motivate social workers to learn scientific, innovative, and transformational theories. The reproduction of suitable parameters is also important here so that social workers can provide appropriate justice and solutions for their people.

3. The fact is, social workers should abandon their personal beliefs, assumptions, and vision-based practices in the profession.

14. Opportunities for future research

1. In today’s context of globalization, privatization, industrialization, modernization, and culturalization, various crises are emerging on a large scale in relationships and society. One of the needs and imperatives of the future is to delineate the conditions for their mitigation, designing modern, supported, evidence-based, multifaceted interventions.

2. The field of social work is expanding quickly in the coming years. Due to the issues and challenges that are surfacing in several spheres of society, there is a great need for social work intervention.

15. Possible future work and recommendations for the next chapter

1. In the present chapter, the research writer reviews what methods, practices, and roles should be used to apply to current situations faced by consumers in social work. In the next chapter, it is appropriate for researchers to study new theories and policies and formulate new approaches, keeping in mind those situations, problems, and people that are changing.

2. Interventions should not have a neutral stance in any case; they should always be dynamic and more flexible.

3. The goal of social work intervention is to focus on individuals concerned with collective intervention leading to social intervention.

4. To formulate ethical practices, guidelines, and attitudes that are most appropriate for the profession, social workers, and their clients.