Fieldwork Training in Social Work

Bishnu Mohan Dash, Sanjoy Roy, Bishnu Mohan Dash, Sanjoy Roy

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367276492
• eBook ISBN: 9781000044010
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Regional Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This volume is a definitive manual for students and practitioners involved in learning and developing essential theories and models for fieldwork practicum in social work education. It addresses various functional issues in field practicum, delineates proper guidelines for students and supervisors, discusses criteria of supervision and evaluation, and explores the concerns facing South Asian field practitioners.

The volume focuses on traditional and non-traditional components and aspects of fieldwork and training, such as:

• The value and use of educational camps and skill development workshops.

• The contemporary field-level needs and strategies in social work practicum.

• Formulating alternative practice theories that will allow social work practitioners to respond to the critical social problems unique to India and South Asia.

The book provides multiple frameworks for teaching and learning fieldwork that integrate theory and practice and create an environment where students can develop intervention strategies using their knowledge, skills, and techniques.

The volume will be indispensable reading for undergraduate and post-graduate students of social work. It will also be useful for scholars of sociology, anthropology, and development studies, and practitioners engaged in various non-governmental and international organizations.

1
Procedural aspects of fieldwork

Poonam Gulalia

Introduction

The International Federation of Social Workers (2013) in the Global Definition of social work defines it as

A practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing.

(p. 1)

This definition explains social work as a ‘practice-based profession’ as well as an ‘academic discipline.’ In other explanations of social work the two concepts of theory and practice appear. Professional social workers are required to develop and practice ongoing social work knowledge, values, and skills in order to be competent social workers. Along with a commitment to continue to learn and grow, the social work professional needs to be able to handle ambiguity. It is a reality that many situations do not fit into a neat package; “people making it somehow day to day, hour to hour, not without pain, struggle and suffering but with capabilities and resources that can be built upon and supported by our alliance with these possibilities” (Saleebey, 2013, p. 43).

In India, because there is no accreditation/licensing process for social workers and there are no regulatory mechanisms for screening ethical/unethical practices, there is no universal acceptance of social work ethics for the profession in the country. One of the major factors for this is the diversity of cultures and social realities, which make it difficult to implement one set of values for all. However, this does not mean that professional practice should not have guidelines. Two documents are used in social education in India that provide the value base for social work, and guidelines for ethical practice. These are the Declaration of Ethics for Professional Social Workers, accepted by the Bombay Association of Trained Social Workers (BATSW, 2002), Mumbai, and the principles stated in the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW, 2014).

Social Work started with charity-based orientation. After Independence, there was a shift towards welfare-oriented approach in Social Work, which later shifted to a development-oriented approach and then towards justice and empowerment (Desai, 1994). Over the years there has been paradigm shift to address social issues relevant to the Indian context. This has been emphasized by many social work educators since the mid-1980s, who have since advocated for a greater focus on macro-level social work practice rather than individualized social work practice (Desai, 1994; Nanavatty, 1997; Ramachandran, 1988).¹

Contemporary social work education in India, while drawing from the deep-rooted Western ideology of ‘social work’ has undergone a reorientation in terms of curriculum, structure, and pedagogy. It has positioned itself to train students with a knowledge base and skill set to be able to address the complex relevant issues and realities of Indian society. Literature on the social work profession lends support to this shift and states that the holistic focus of social work is universal, but the priorities of social work practice will vary from country to country and from time to time, depending on cultural, historical, and socio-economic conditions (International Federation of Social Workers, 2005).² In India, with a changing polity and shifts in focus from structure to culture and the emergence of subaltern positions and voices (of caste, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, and ability) social work education has visualized landmark moves towards empowerment developmental, radical anti-oppressive, and post-modern stances.³ The current social work education in India reflects priorities on globalization and is designed to address relevant social issues with an increased focus on the community context (Weiss-Gal and Welbourne, 2008).⁴

In India, there is very limited evidence or literature to review student learning trends; however, a wider literature search reveals empirical evidence that in the United States many students enrolling in social work programmes have a consumer-oriented approach to the educational experience and make known the outcomes that they expect (Lager & Robbins, 2004). Some present with a sense of entitlement that is not related to the level of performance they demonstrate either in the classroom or in the field, expecting a good grade because they have tried (Tsang, 2011). More and more students are entering the field with their own psycho-social histories such as mental illness, childhood trauma, and addiction histories, and although many are able to manage the academic rigours of the programme, problems emerge when vulnerable students are in the field (Bogo, Regehr, Power, & Regehr, 2007; Lager & Robbins, 2004; Pooler, Doolittle, Faul, Barbee, & Fuller, 2012).⁵

Social work: a generalist perspective

The social work profession provides opportunities to work in different practice settings and with people, individually and collectively, whose diverse problems, issues, and needs interfere with their personal and social functioning. Generalist practice is both a way of thinking and a way of doing. Social workers, as generalists, view problems through a wide-angle lens rather than a microscope to understand problems in the broadest context possible. This wide-angle lens stimulates the planning of multi-faceted interventions that address both the individual and societal dimensions of any given problem. Generalist practitioners work with many social system levels simultaneously: individuals, groups, families, organizations, and communities. Moreover, generalist social work practice is an art that involves a skill that results from experience and training. It also involves the knowledge of human behaviour and is based on client involvement in developing options designed to resolve problems. It emphasizes students learning to use the client’s resources (psychological and physical), as well as those extant in the community in the problem-solving process. It is based on an orderly helping process, on planned change efforts, and focuses on solutions (Heffernan, Shuttlesworth, & Ambrosino, 1998, pp. 275–276).

Generalist practitioners work in a variety of practice settings with diverse population groups that present an array of problems. Social workers focus their professional practice on working with a population, such as people with disabilities, the elderly, unemployed, marginalized, Dalits, or tribals. They may develop expertise in utilizing intervention techniques such as crisis intervention, family therapy, social planning, locality development, or social research. Social workers also develop specializations in a field of practice such as public health, mental health, community planning, gerontology, family and child equity, Dalit and tribal welfare, community organization, and development practice.

Additional specialties are grouped according to practice roles, such as direct service practitioners, community organizers, policy analysts, family life educators, and administrators, among others. Even when social workers develop specialties, the wide-angle lens of the generalist is applicable, as problems need to be understood in their context and interventions developed with an eye on the implications at all system levels. Social workers are described as professional ‘helpers’ – helping others resolve problems, assisting in obtaining resources, supporting in times of crisis, and facilitating social responses to needs.

Professionalism in social work

Professionalism in social work is reflected in the degree to which an individual has the requisite knowledge and skills and adheres to professional values and ethics when attending to clients and client populations. The helping profession values working with others in a partnership. Effective social work practice involves empowering persons and enabling change. It appreciates differences and celebrates diversity based on the ideal of social justice.

Problems, issues, and needs

Social workers have been described as ‘professional helpers’ designated by society to aid people who are distressed, disadvantaged, disabled, deviant, defeated, or dependent. They are in the process of enabling people to lessen the chances of being poor, inept, neglected, abused, divorced, delinquent, and criminal or alienated (Siporin, 1975, p. 4). Rather than applying labels that denote pathology, it is more appropriate to focus on the strengths of social systems, thereby promoting personal and societal competence. Problems, issues, and needs that arise result from the interaction between persons and their social environment. Problems are basically defined as difficulties in human conduct or in the performance of social relationships that require resolution. Additionally, when concern arises about a societal condition, it is defined as a social problem, which causes discomfort for individuals and malfunctioning in society. Issues are disputes, controversies, or disagreements that occur within or between social systems. When any of these occurs, it can precipitate a need or opportunity for change.

Failures or breakdowns in the social institutions of a society and gaps and barriers create needs for people of that community/society which need to be addressed through social change. Programmes and services are then developed in the social delivery system as residual supports.

Social work goals and service delivery

The goals and objectives of social work are achieved through the delivery of social service programmes. Four interrelated goals, which describe social work activities, reflect the profession’s purpose to better the human condition and to strengthen the relationships between people and the institutions of society (NASW, 1981a).⁶ These include:

• To enable adaptive social functioning, including the developmental capacity to solve problems and cope and deal with life tasks.
• To improve the operation of the social service delivery network.
• To link client systems with needed resources.
• To promote social justice through the development of social policy.

As far back as 1978, Baer and Federico established that entry-level social workers must be able to:

• Identify and assess situations where the relationship between people and social institutions needs to be initiated, enhanced, restored, protected, or terminated.
• Develop and implement a plan for improving the wellbeing of people based on problem assessment and the exploration of obtainable goals and available options.
• Enhance problem-solving, coping, and developmental capacities of people.
• Link people with systems that provide them with resources, services, and opportunities.
• Intervene effectively on behalf of populations that are most vulnerable and discriminated against.
• Promote the effective functioning and human orientation of the systems that provide people with services, resources, and opportunities.
• Actively participate with others in creating new, modified, and/or improved service, resource, and opportunity systems that are more equitable, just, responsive to consumers of services, and work with others to eliminate these systems that are unjust.
• Evaluate the extent to which the objectives of the interventions have been achieved.
• Continually evaluate one’s own professional growth and development through assessment of practice, behaviour, and skills.
• Contribute to the implementation of service delivery by adding to the knowledge base of the profession as appropriate and by supporting and upholding the standards and ethics of the profession.

What is fieldwork?

Fieldwork placement is a critical method and phase of social work instruction that provides the student with an opportunity to integrate classroom knowledge with experiential learning⁷ in a relevant social work setting. During placement, a student is supervised by professional social workers of the organization and/or by supervisors from the academic institution.

Social work as a practice-based professional discipline is anchored on a unified curriculum consisting of both theory and practice components. During fieldwork, students have the opportunity to link and test the acquired theory with the professional aspects of the workplace (Tsui, 2005). Field placement represents a laboratory where theories taught at the university level are tested and practised under the supervision⁸ of a qualified practitioner so the student can acquire skills. Fieldwork is therefore intended to help students translate theoretical content covered in the classroom to real-life situations as part of a student’s prep...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• Notes of contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Procedural aspects of fieldwork
• 2 Orientation programme to fieldwork: relevance and modalities
• 3 Fieldwork report: a pragmatic exercise
• 4 Transformative learning in social work education in India: role of social work camps
• 5 Essential guidelines for successful fieldwork supervision
• 6 Essential guidelines and techniques for assessment and evaluation in fieldwork
• 7 Contemporary field-level needs and essential strategies in social work practicum
• 8 Strengthening ‘field’ in field education: structural and functional issues in South Asian social work
• 9 Eight decades of fieldwork training in India: identifying the gaps and missing links
• 10 Learning social work practice skills: reflections from communities, NGOs, and universities
• 11 Non-institutional and community-based field placement in social work: experiments with inquiry-based learning and participatory action research
• 12 Developing social work practice theories: some alternative ideas and approaches
• 13 Essential skills for fieldwork practice in social work
• 14 Using the grounded theory approach in fieldwork education in India
• 15 Essence of communication skills in fieldwork
• Index