Social Work Methods.

 

the social work practice covers a wide range of direct social work interventions with individuals, families, small groups, communities, policies, institutions and other humanitarian agencies. Farley, Smith and Boyle (2006: 7), describe social work as art, science, work that helps people solve personal, group (especially family), and social problems and to the personal, group and social satisfaction. relationships through social work ”. Social work is about helping people in need develop skills to help themselves. Social work is a scientific work that takes knowledge from other disciplines to direct its practice. Social workers do not pick and choose which problems and problems they would like to fix. They see the problem even more difficult, and they try to help people solve it. They must be prepared to help people with individual problems on the one hand and the broader issues that affect all organizations and communities on the other (Sinokki, 2011). As a profession, social work relies on long-tested methods or strategies (Uranta & Ogbanga, 2017). How a social worker is treated when working with clients. This is what you should do when faced with an event (Teater, 2010). These methods and functions have become the pillars of social work and their nomenclature emerged to define them as "social work methods", "social work practices", or "social work processes". These terms can be used interchangeably (Rao, 2011). They are used by social workers to help people of all ages and various stages of society to improve their social functioning and deal effectively with their problems (Okoye, 2013). In the field of Nigerian practice, these approaches have been adopted by social workers during interventions with clients. Many of these methods have been shown to be very effective in western countries, yet some aspects of economic and social well-being restrict the use of some of the principles and strategies they engage in. Social work is still the smallest job in the country. Although social problems are increasing, seeking help outside the family and other community structures to solve problems is still uncommon for many people in the country. Another problem is that there are many ethnic groups with different religious traditions and customs. So what works for one group may not work for another.

Methods of social work

There are six methods  of social work, the first three directly intervene with clients while the last three support  the  first  three by  dealing  with  the client’s problems. These  are broadly grouped into two:    The Primary and Secondary methods. They are presented in a diagrammatic form.

  

Primary Method.

The primary methods are also called direct helping methods. Here, the social worker intervenes directly with client(s) who need the professional services of a social worker at the individual, group and community level. Primary means basic to something, or before all others. These are: Social case work, Socialgroup work and Community organization.

Social Case Work:

The function of the case and its purpose is to develop resources to improve the performance of the community, to fix and prevent problems in the public service. In social work the working relationship with the client is characterized by acceptance - Communication. It has four basic components: person, problem, location and process (research, diagnosis, treatment, testing, elimination and follow-up). According to Perlman (1952), every social work model uses strategies and theories from psychosocial and social therapies, practical casework, problem-solving, short-term problem-oriented casework, work-focused casework, and behavioral transformation.

Social case work is basically a one on one interaction with clients. Activities in social case work practice in Nigeria, according to Iwarimie-Jaja (1995) include but are not limited to the following:

·         Counseling a runaway youth
·         Helping an unemployed person secure training or employment
·         Counseling someone who is suicidal
·         Placing a homeless and vulnerable child to adoptive or foster home
·         Counselling a teenage pregnant girl
·         Counselling someone with an alcohol or drug problem
·         Finding nursing home for a stroke victim who no longer needs hospitalization
·         Protective services to a person facing family violence/abuse

Social group work: 

A group is defined as ‘two or more individuals who are connected to one another by social relationships’. Groups are a fundamental part of human experience and social life. They allow people to develop more complex and larger-scale activities; are significant sites of socialization and education; and provide settings where relationships can form and grow, and where people can find help and support. Groups can be highly rewarding to their members and to society as a whole. “Social work practice with groups is founded on the premise that people are enriched by interpersonal experiences structured around collectively defined goals, satisfying peer relationships, and shared decisionmaking pertaining to the group’s life” (Uranta & Ogbanga, 2017). 

Community Organization.

Community organization is the process of mobilizing and empowering communities through their institutions, organizations, groups, leaders, advocates, and volunteers. It is a long-term process whereby people who are marginalized or living in poverty work together to identify their needs, create change, exert more influence in the decisions which affect their lives and work to improve the quality of their lives and the communities in which they live. 

Secondary Methods 

These are those methods which are intended to support the primary methods. Here, the social worker indirectly deals with the client’s problem. 

Social Action

Social action is a professional social work approach aimed at solving community problems through the redistribution of power and resources. Its purpose is to achieve social justice and empowerment. Social action mobilizes the general public to bring about structural changes in the social system. Social Action, a second-line approach that aims to change community illness. Public action is intended to empower more people through propaganda and legislation. It plays an important role in society to bring about change in society through the mass media. It also includes social, religious, political and reform organizations etc. Through the movement for social change, social justice, human rights, liberty and liberty. Creating awareness, combining resources to raise their voices in unpopular practices. So it is up to the social worker to create awareness programs, organize rallies, Dharana etc. to eradicate social ills from the community.

Social work research: 

The following highlight the importance of social work research: 

•  Helps in identifying the social problem, its intensity and extensiveness, its causal factors, its impact on the target population and its repercussions on the social life of the people.
•  Gives an understanding of the factual ground realities (not mere perceptions) of the social situations, which in turn aid in conceptualizing the pros and cons of possible intervention strategies.

•   Helps social workers gain in-depth knowledge about a social problem, factors contributing to it and its impact on the socio-cultural and economic life of clients. 
•  Helps to focus on social issues prevailing in organization through studying various aspects such as the team climate in order to understand factors that are affecting team effectiveness through proper understanding of group effectiveness (Bhattacharyya, 2008).

Social Welfare Administration
It has two perspectives on social welfare and administration. Social welfare means, a way that improves the whole community and management means working for or caring for people. It is the provision of effective social work services to the needy. Nowadays many social problems such as, poverty, illness, violence, disability, the poor etc. which are available in all public rooms. Social Welfare Administration is a non-governmental term where social ills disappear as a result of various programs, policies and programs etc. It brings everyone's well-being to a higher standard of living and health.

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