Functions
of Social work
Function
of social work refers to the natural activity of social work or the statements
of how social work operates.
The
basic functions of social work are
- Restoration,
- Provision of resources, and
- Prevention
Restoration
This
function is the oldest and most commonly known function of social work
profession. Restoration of impaired social functioning may be subdivided into
curative and rehabilitative aspects. The curative aspects are to eliminate
environmental factors that have caused break down of social functioning of
individuals, groups or communities and the role of the rehabilitative aspects
is to recognize and rebuild interaction patterns in the society. The
environmental factors hindering the functioning of a person may be social,
economic, political or cultural. Therefore, if a person becomes dysfunctional
due to any of the above mentioned environmental factors, the first task at hand
will be to restore the person’s normal functioning. The second task will be to
assess the damage caused by the dysfunction and strategies are devised to
rehabilitate the person socially and bring him back to the normal mainstream
Provision
of resources
Provision
of resources is subdivided into developmental and educational. The developmental
aspects are designed to extend effectiveness of existing social, human and
material resources or to bring about full utilization personal capacity for
more social interaction. The educational
functions are designed to make the public aware about specific conditions and
needs for new and changing resources and approaches.
Prevention
of social dysfunction
Prevention
of social dysfunction, involves early discovery, control, and elimination of
conditions and situations that potentially could hamper effective social
functioning. The two main divisions are the prevention of problems in the area
of interaction between individuals and groups and, second, the prevention of
social ills. Although it is a very important function of social work, it is
neglected in most situations. Social work has generally concentrated on the
curative and rehabilitative function and has worked on the problem solving
model. The profession should ensure that problems are neither created nor
eliminated at the very beginning. For this function the social workers play a
crucial role of conscientization, capacity building and organizing people so
that they themselves can prevent social dysfunctions.
According
to Proff. P.D. Mishra
social work operates to assist individuals in adjusting to the institutional
frame work of the society and attempts to modify the institutional frame work
itself in appropriate areas. He classified the functions of social work into
the following 4 major categories:
- Curative Function
- Correctional Function
- Preventive function
- Developmental Function
- Curative Function
The
services provided under curative functions are–medical and health services,
services relating to psychiatry, child guidance, child welfare services,
services for the handicapped or disable in the form of protection and
rehabilitation. These kinds of services aim to cure the physical, social,
material, psychological sickness of individuals in the society.
- Correctional Function
The
correctional function of social work has three broad areas, such as:
- Individual reform service which includes prison reform, probation, parole and other related services.
- Services for improving social relationship which includes family welfare services, school social work, industrial social work etc.
- Services for social reform that includes employment services, prevention of commercial sex work, beggary prohibition services and removal of untouchability etc.
- Preventive Function:
It
includes life insurance services, public assistance, social legislation, adult
education and prevention of diseases etc. This type of function basically deals
with the services relating to the prevention of problems like insecurity,
unlawfulness, ignorance, sickness etc. It is directed towards the elimination
of those factors in the social environment or those deficiencies in the
development of personality that prevents the individual from achieving a
minimum desirable standard of socio-economic life.
- Developmental Function
Developmental function includes the tasks of socio-economic development activities such as: education, recreational services, urban and rural development programs and programs of integration etc which are primarily concerned with the development of individuals, families, groups and communities.
In
the present day context, social work has to emphasize on the aspects of change.
It is increasingly being realized that the main cause of dysfunction lies not
with the people but with the systems within which they operate. Either the
people do not get and environment or resources required for proper social
functioning or they do not have access to the resources to fulfill their needs.
Therefore, there is a need to challenge and change the system so that people
get a favorable environment to function.
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