SW-skills, techniques, alttributes PDF

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SW 100 SKILLS IN BASIC HELPING 1. DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS – This is skill refers to the ability of the worker to understand the uniqueness of the person in his situation and to adapt his techniques to him. No person are completely alike in their identities, even twins.  this is skill is also important in working with people from varying cultural backgrounds whose ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving may be different from the worker’s own.  The social worker must be able to differentiate the individuals from each other instead of lumping them under one category in order to provide the correct treatment. 2. TIMING – interpreted in two (2) ways; a) Worker’s own tempo or pace – whether it is too fast or too slow for the person or people he is working with. A good rule for the worker to follow is for him to adjust to the client’s pace at the beginning but to work towards a reasonable pace which he and the client can follow. b) Worker’s ability to take action at some pertinent point in time when it would be most effective. (It depends on timing - meaning “correct” timing). This will depend on both his general knowledge of people and his specific knowledge of the situation with which he is dealing. 3. FOCUSING – refers to the ability of the worker to concentrate both his and the client’s efforts on the significant aspects of the situation that require work and retaining that focus until some conclusions or progress has been reached. It also means not losing sight of the client and his presenting problem in the midst of the overall problems being encountered by his family. Whether working with an individual, a family, a group, or a community council of concerned citizens the worker must keep the discussion focused on the immediate problem, the one causing the discomfort, rather than be distracted by any of this issues that may arise in the course of problem resolution. 4. PARTIALIZATION – refers to the worker’s ability to assess the totality of the problem, breaking it down into manageable parts, and helping the client think about it and decide where to start. 5. STRUCTURING – refers to the worker’s ability to determine the setting and the boundaries that will be most conducive to the work to be done. It includes the choice of: a. Physical setting – where, how often, under what circumstances, with whom a worker will meet whether with the individual alone or with the family, at what time and for how long; b. Delineation of rules – spoken and unspoken that will govern these contacts and agreement as to what resources and services will be involved. Structuring is better accomplished when there is a desire and a will on the part of the client to use help and he is certain that there are resources which he can use, and he knows the reason for every contact or referral. 6. CASE MANAGEMENT – it is briefly included here as the manner and timing in the delivery of social services. The worker should be wary about making promises to the client unless he is sure that the resource is available, it will be on time as needed, and delivered in an appropriate manner, not touch and go. 7. SKILLS IN ESTABLISHING PARTNERSHIP (Morales and Sheafer, 1989) They listed engagement, empathy, communication, and observation as necessary in a good working partnership. a. Engagement – period during which the worker begins to relate himself to the task at hand. The worker’s task in engagement is to ;

SW 100 i.

Involve himself in the situation

ii.

Establish communication with everyone concerned;

iii.

Begin to define parameters within which he will work; and

iv.

Create an initial working structure.

Engagement process should result in; i.

Worker being part of the situation

ii.

Initial communication channels being opened

iii.

The worker and the client linking arms (kapit bisig) his responsibilities and functions are;

iv.

Having agreed on the next step in the process.

b. Empathy – in social work, refers to the worker’s ability to put himself in the shoes of the client so that he can understand what the latter is thinking of and feeling about his problem or situation. Empathy includes the following components: the abilities to; i.

Distinguish among the label the thoughts and feelings of another;

ii.

To take mentally the role of another, and

iii.

To become emotionally responsive to another’s feelings.

Being emphatic makes the social worker more cognizant of the client and his social context.

THE USE OOF TECHNIQUES IN SOCIAL WORK TECHNIQUE – is a systematic procedure by which a complex of scientific tasks is accomplished. In social work it refers to the procedure by which a skill is implemented.

1. SMALL TALK – refers to inconsequential conversation. It is almost all contacts between the worker and the client. It is used by the social worker at the beginning of a contact, that is, the first interview or the first home visit to put the worker and the client, especially the latter, at ease. 2. SUPPORT – It means to sustain or keep steady, to give courage, to express faith and confidence and to give realistic approval to an individual or group. Supportive techniques sustain the motivation and capacity of people while they are using a service. a. VENTILATION – this techniques involves bringing to the surface the feelings and attitude that need to be brought out because these are affecting the psychosocial functioning of the person harboring them – the client. Ventilation eventually reduces the heightened feelings of the client. b. REASSURANCE – it is an indirect support of the client. This involves assuring the client that the situation with which he is struggling has an attainable solution and that he has the capacity to deal with his own problem. This can be also used with the respect to the client’s capacities, feelings and achievement. c.

INSTILLATION OF HOPE – support is given when the worker demonstrates interest in client’s efforts and progress, encouraging hos efforts, offering realistic assurance, and expressing hope that things will be better.

SW 100 3. EXPLORATION – is used to elicit necessary information; to bring out details about experiences and relationships as the clients perceives them; and to examine the feelings connected to the relationships and experiences. It is an aid to diagnostic assessment leading to an improvement in the individual or group’s psychosocial functioning. 4. CLARIFICATION – to clarify is to make understandable a point or two. It is often used in connection with exploration. Clarification should insure that the worker and the client are on the same thinking and understanding level. 5. EDUCATION AND ADVICE – formerly known as “advice- giving and counseling”. According to Schwartz one of the major tasks of the social worker is to contribute data, ideas, facts and value concepts which are not available to the clients and which may prove useful to him in attempting to cope with that part of social reality which is involved in the problem with which he is working. 6. UNIVERSALIZATION – is the utilization of a commonality of human experiences and the strengths of others to cope with situations similar to those which are troubling the client. To universalize is to pick up or choose a certain trait or pattern of behavior characteristics of all the members of a particular culture or of all human beings. Universalization is used to: i.

Soften the overwhelming impact of a situation with the realization that others have faced and dealt with similar problems;

ii.

Share and compare knowledge about the ways of dealing with them; and

iii.

Lend the strengths of others to the individual with the problem.

7. REWARD OR PUNISHMENT – one gets reward for good behavior or is punished for misbehavior. This techniques may be used when there is better understanding for the causes and greater ability to anticipate and control the consequences The worker who uses it needs specific learning, particularly regarding the behavior to be enforced and the methods or reinforcement. 8. ROLE REHEARSAL AND DEMONSTRATION – role rehearsal may be used extensively when learning new ways of behavior is required. It is done by discussion or actual setting up of role play situations or by demonstrations. 9. CONFRONTATION – in social work, it is to bring the client to face the reality of a feeling, behavior, or situation. It is a form of limiting behavior which faces a person with the fact that there is a contradiction between his own statements and that other sources and that his behavior is irrational, that it is destructive to self or to others. 10. CONFLICT – is a type of stress produced when a person is motivated by two or more needs in such a manner that the satisfaction of one need may mean the dissatisfaction of another one. The conflict may be in individual himself, between him and others, or between groups. Helping client resolve a conflict is another technique. Conflict by itself is not necessary a technique but it requires the use of other techniques such as confrontation. The goal may in itself create a conflict but once the end or the objective has been agreed upon, the conflict is likely to be about the means to achieve the end. 11. MANIPULATION – it means skillful management of events. Thus in social work there is such a thing as environment manipulation or the worker may manipulate a situation to give an insecure client success which will bolster his own ego or self-esteem, such as success I sports for a shy teenager. The worker must possess very sound values based on the integrity and rights of the individual and of society in order to manipulate constructively and positively and without exploiting others.

SW 100

12. ANDRAGOGY (Malcolm Knowles) – an authority on adult learning describes andragogy as the art and science of helping adults to learn. Andragogy reinforces the effort of direct service workers to enhance client’s social functioning. Social workers when using the techniques involved in andragogy use teaching aids and indigenous resources that enable the adults to assess their own needs, formulate their own goals, share responsibility in designing and carrying out learning experiences, and in evaluating their own program and progress. 13. CONSCIOUSNESS – RAISING (CONSCIENTIZATION, or CONSCIENTIZACAO) – it means the arousing of man’s positive self – concept in relation to the environment and society through a liberating education which treats learners as active agents rather than passive recipients of learning. In the Philippines, it is known as CONSCIOUSNESS – RAISING which it is more than creating a new awareness of self, of others, of the environment or community. Social workers working with disadvantages groups or communities integrate consciousnessraising in economically oriented projects and /or those having to do with community development.

5 GENERAL ATTRIBUTES OF A PROFESSION 1. SYSTEMATIC BODY OF KNOWLEDGE – all professions draw on a body of knowledge that serves as the basic foundation of its practice. Professional or social work theory on the other hand is a combination of knowledge of the social and behavioral sciences and knowledge gained through the years from practice experiences. 3 TYPES: a. Tested Knowledge b. Hypothetical Knowledge c. Assumptive Knowledge FOUR CURRICULAR AREAS SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION a. Human behavior and social environmental b. Social welfare and policy, programs and services c.

Social work methods of intervention (theory)

d. Field practice (fieldwork)

2. PROFESSIONAL AUTHORITY – A social work graduate who has successfully passed the licensure examination given by the Board for Social Workers of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) is considered professionally competent to use any of his repertoires (range) of social worker’s exercise of professional authority. He is prohibited from doing any of the following:  Prescribing guides for facts of the client’s life where his competence does not apply;  Using his position of authority to exploit the client for his own personal gratification;  Using he professional relationship for the satisfaction of the professional’s sexual need, the need to manipulate others, or to live vicariously.

3. SANCTION OF THE COMMUNITY – The passage of the Social Work Law in 1965 marked the formal acceptance of social work as a profession by the community.

SW 100 Society/community sanctions professional authority by granting the profession certain powers and privileges, e.g Control by the profession over training centers, admission requirements, and performance standards. THE SANCTION CARRIES WITH IT AT LEAST THREE PROFESSIONAL PRIVILEGES CONFIDENTIALITY The community is considered as privileged or confidential the information communicated by the client to the worker which may be released to other only for official reasons. IMMUNITY The social worker is relatively immune from the community judgment on professional, confidential matters. Only his peers may evaluate him. SPECIALIZED EDUCATION The community recognizes that the needs specialized education in order to acquire competence as a social worker. 4. REGULATIVE CODE OF ETHICS – Every profession must have a regulative code of ethics to guide the professional conduct of its members and insure for itself the continued confidence of the community. The code must be updated regularly to meet new challenges and emerging social situations for which there are no provisions. Charges against social worker brought before the Board of Social Workers. Professional Regulation Commission are based on the Philippine Code of Ethics for Social Workers. Violation of the Code are penalized (e.g. Suspension/cancellation of license to practice the profession). 5. PROFESSIONAL CULTURE – social work has its own professional culture. They use professional jargon and maintain more or less the same profile and professional image. Social workers have a system of beliefs and values and an accepted form of interaction and relationships. This professional culture is bolstered by the Philippine Association of Social Workers,incorporated (PASWI), which articulates and expresses the profession’s concerns and works for the maintenance of professional standards and the promotion of social work interests and aims....