Helen Harris Perlman stated about the components of social case work;
“A person with a problem comes to a place where a professional representative helps him by a given process.” It is known as the 5Ps theory. According to this theory, there are five elements of social casework.
Person
An individual who has a problem and is unable to solve it on a personal basis in the existing situation is one of components of social case work. The person or client is an individual under stress. Because of the forces beyond his conscious control, he cannot make a personally or socially satisfactory adjustment to the situation. He may voluntarily come or be referred to the agency by another institution.
To study the person, the following points should be kept in mind:
- It is not necessary for the case worker to know the complete history and nature of the problem. It is the responsibility of his agency to provide useful knowledge and assistance.
- A person’s behavior has meaning and purpose: a caseworker must understand the client’s behavior and reactions to gain insight into his problems.
- Solving a person’s problem should have a purpose; everyone wants to spend his life satisfyingly. A caseworker must understand behavior and reaction before taking any step.
- Whether a person’s behavior is effective depends on the functioning of his personality structure. A person cannot adjust in all parts of his life due to a lack of good motivation and emotions.
- A person with the problem has the burden of two attacks; he would be mentally and physically disturbed due to the problem. The mental disturbance is worse than the real problem.
- A person’s behavior and strength in social functioning depend on his experience, present situation, and future expectations. His condition is due to the past and will be affected by the present and future.
Problem
A problem is a situation that arises from a man’s surroundings and attacks the adequacy of his efforts to work effectively. In social casework, a problem means a stressful situation that has threatened or disturbed the normal functioning of the client. It is one of the components of social case work.
These problems may be in the form of economic, medical, educational, recreational, psychological, or physical stress. They affect the social functioning of a person on a single or combined basis. So, it is important to understand the different aspects of a problem.
- The dynamic nature of the client’s problem requires the help of a client as a unit of work. If a caseworker can understand the nature of a problem as a whole, then it will be rare for him to work on it as a whole. Therefore, it is necessary to solve the problem based on these points.
- What does the client want and need?
- What does the case worker understand or indicate as a suitable and possible solution?
- What can the agency offer?
- Any client’s problem has a chain reaction, and it can affect different types of problems simultaneously. A physical problem may have psychological or social effects. Therefore, it is necessary to know the causes and effects of a problem.
- A problem that a person encounters has objective and subjective significance, and one may cause the other. This means that a problem caused by other problems affects different types of problems.
- The client may have a different conception of his/her problem due to psychological stress or social perception.
According to Grace Mathew, problems can be categorized as follows:
- Problems related to illness and disabilities
- Problems due to lack of material resources.
- School-related problems.
- Problems related to institutionalization.
- Behavior problems.
- Problems of marital discord.
- Clients are caught up in social problems like gambling, prostitution, alcoholism, and drug addiction.
Place
One of the components of social case work is Place. Place is the organization that the professional caseworker employs to assist the client with their social functioning. “A social agency is an organized institution that works for the development of a society and the welfare of its different groups of people.” A social welfare agency is classified into different types.
- Private or public agency.
- Primary or secondary agency.
- Local, provincial, or national agency.
- Closed or open agency.
According to Perlman, three major factors determine the classification of the agency. These are:
- Their source of support
- Their source of professional authority.
- Their special function and area of concern.
Each social welfare agency develops its programs for a specific area. Service effectiveness depends on the agency’s resources, staff, and community support. The social case worker is employed by the agency, and the range and nature of his functions are defined and limited by the agency.
Process
A process means a series of actions. However, in social casework practice, the process refers to a series of actions to help the clients and solve problems. In other words, “it is a method or skill by which a person is helped to get rid of his problem.”
Social casework is an art; like all other professional skills, only a specific part is studied. In social casework, the most highly trained and intelligent workers can perform their duties with limited skills. For this purpose, the case worker has to adopt the following strategies:
Rapport Development
In social casework, relationships between the case worker and client must be established, and this relationship should be maintained throughout the case. The caseworker can solve his client’s problems through this relationship and communication.
Sometimes, the client comes worriedly and, with anger, asks for help, showing a nervous attitude, and sometimes, he is confused by the pieces of advice of his friends; therefore, the first necessity is to enable him to explain what he wants.
Case History
By taking complete information from interviews and home visits, the case worker formulates a social history of the client. The client’s social history helps the case worker get a true picture of the information the client gives. This social history can show the different impressions that the client has shown, and it can also show different knowledge for the case worker.
The history is collected to solve the client’s problems; it is an essential basis for constructive help. It is not necessary that before helping any individual, the caseworker must take the history of the client and investigate completely; sometimes, the caseworker helps the individual by taking only one or two interviews.
The casework process has four different stages, namely,
- Study
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
- Evaluation
A case worker selects the problem-solving process by observing the client’s motions, emotions, desires, and abilities. If he cannot find out or select the process for the client, he can refer him to others.
Professional Representative
A professional representative is called a “case worker.” The professional representative in case work is the person whose services are hired by the social services agency. He is a person who has scientific skills and knowledge about human behavior and human psychology.
A case worker should be skilled in establishing relationships with clients and finding out the clients’ problems and solutions. He/she will have sound and enriching knowledge, skills, and techniques of social work practice and know how to use the tools to improve and what should be done in the future. In Pakistan and other countries, a Master’s in Social Work degree is required for professional workers.
A social case worker has an obligation to:
- His profession
- His agency
- His client
- His self
The designation of the case worker varies with the workplace, such as medical, psychiatric, or school caseworkers.
