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| This article appeared in The Edge Malaysia of Nov 11, 2019. Read here. |
SOCIAL WORK is an acknowledged activity of potential professional standing besides it being a study-subject of widespread academic interest. Its close relation “social care” is a broader and more generic activity representing a major lifeline for many. Both are mainstream occupational undertakings by practitioners and formal and informal care-givers, care workers, support workers, to name some common titles used elsewhere although social work is the more sophisticated form.
Their standing as a profession has not grabbed headlines as such, nor interest amongst the Malaysian rakyat or its major news media. For reasons not unsurprising, many are either unaware of what the professional activity (social work and social care) encapsulates – beyond general altruistic intent and interventions for and on behalf of individuals and families.
The campaigns over the years to advance social work as a practice-led profession, suitably “fit for purpose”, present to us an opportunity to significantly improve lives and protect the vulnerable. The social work fraternity collectively must redouble its efforts to promote its activities to increase public education and recognition, not forgetting the vital role social care plays too.
It is with great excitement and relief that I hear that “social work” will soon become a recognised profession following plans to table laws to upgrade the status of social workers. The Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said on October 9 in Parliament, the move is aimed at improving efficiency in case management of targeted groups while ensuring adequate qualified social workers for the country.
“The ministry is taking several steps to ensure that the Welfare Department will change its focus on social worker’s job scope so that they will conduct case management for the targeted groups. Among the changes is the introduction of the Social Workers Profession Act, which is expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat in December this year (2019).”
The recent budget 2020 does not allocate any specific funds towards the development of social work. There are, however, related themes towards creating inclusive and a more equitable society and general measures to address low wage, to raise income benefits for specified groups, to increase maternity leave and to improve access to housing.
In the light of this much awaited proposed legislation, the following is an illustration of the impact of the profession on the lives of the most vulnerable in our society. In other words, it is my “wish list” for a more comprehensive environment where social work is weaved meaningfully, usefully and inextricably, as it should, into various areas of need:
Child protection: The social work role in this area is enormous and significant – social workers would primarily be involved in assessments for eligibility for help and services, and they would be the front-line of child protection activity leading the prosecution, when working closely with enforcement agencies such as the police.
Courts dealing with children can also rely on reports from social workers and in many developed countries, social workers are regularly appointed as guardians’ ad litem to assist the courts in the determination of the child’s welfare and future. This happens, for example, in cases involving matrimonial disputes, in fostering and adoption cases. Social workers are often approached for their assessment with families, ranging from sentencing and disposal cases with offending juveniles to complex decisions on wardships (in the higher courts). They underpin the principle that the interest and welfare of the child is paramount.
Social workers would also intervene directly, with judicial powers to remove children from family households where the children’s safety and welfare appears compromised. They would seek suitable substitute families for abandoned babies, work with neglected children and assist those in long-term children’s homes in promoting their life chances.
Care for the children with disabilities: The social work task here is primarily to assess, support and enable care-givers and families to obtain assistance and respite in their care tasks. The government intervenes only to lessen the burden, not to assume care, unlike cases of child neglect and abuse where governmental bodies may assume parental duties or loco parentis.
In some instances, the professional social work task of assessment will end with the assignment of a care worker (care-giver) to assist the family coping with the severely disabled child as part of a time-limited support plan.
Women: Social workers are common in this area of activity because women play a vital and yet often “taken-for-granted” primary role in families with regards to safeguarding, protection and nurturing. The social work task would be offering advice and support, including assistance in prosecution in domestic violence cases and in measures to uphold both the children’s welfare and the interest of the main care-giver.
Social workers and care workers may work from community advice centres, women’s aid shelters and community homes to support the victims and their dependents.
Adults with disabilities, including HIV/Aids and drug dependency: Social workers will be “case managers” in this field to ensure that support, treatment and care is effectively targeted, followed-up and monitored, as current legislation provides. There is scope for joint approaches including shared supported housing placements in order for a streamlined service (including health and welfare services). Social workers in community-based drug rehabilitation centres as well as NGOs would perform outreach work as well as in public education. Many day-care staff or support workers would also perform duties which overlap the social work task.
Mental health: Social workers are a major occupational stakeholder in mental health. In developed countries, they hold powers which can over-ride an individual’s civil rights through involuntary admissions to a place of safety, e.g. a hospital, for observation and treatment. They also work within the judicial process, in matters such as the protection of property and, safeguarding and protecting individuals and the public.
Social workers are considered part of a multi-disciplinary team in specialised psychiatric facilities, including direct involvement in therapeutic programmes alongside other paramedics such as occupational and speech therapists, to name a few. The social worker’s main tasks are to undertake assessments of the individual’s living conditions and family circumstances and contribute to the medical team in drawing up individual treatment plans.
In mental health services for children, social workers have a crucial role in providing the link between the medical and psychological staff and the patient/family. In developed countries, children and adolescent mental health services are common and often jointly provided by the government health and welfare ministries.
Elderly: The social work role in the area of elderly support and care is again, enormous. Social workers often assist the medical team in providing social histories and provide on-going reports on rehabilitative treatment regimes. They can be pivotal in convincing elderly people on facing daily-living realities and in coping with the significant changes in their lives, including residential care and perhaps away from immediate family members. They can act independently to prevent forms of elder abuse, either within the family or outside, including matters related to inheritance and finance.
Crime and probation and after-care services: Suffice it to say that, within the constraints of this area, probation officers in my view are essentially social workers in a criminal justice setting. The social work aptitudes and skills share commonalities although “conservatively inclined” law makers would prefer to see probation officers move away from a social work welfare perspective and towards more of a criminal management one.
Working in partnership and inter-agency: As was referred to earlier, social workers play a key role in medical settings especially in severe terminally-ill cases or, where legal decisions rests on balancing risks as to complicated continuing care. Likewise, social workers are relied upon as a service to the courts and protection tribunals. In adoption panels, the social worker’s recommendations are part of the essential prerequisites for a successful permanent placement decision. Social workers are often also integral members of multi-agency disaster relief teams.
In many Western countries inter-agency working is the norm. Their joint activities range from basic information sharing to joint planning at the strategic organisational level. This is the established modus operandi in child protection work, i.e. social work, police, schools and health personnel work in tandem. There is considerable overlap in services among different departments and breaking down any barrier among them can only be positive for the consumer or service user.
- Jim Lim Teik Wah is former Director of Social Services (UK), CEO of a London-based mental health charity, UK judiciary member on protection and regulation and in academia. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (UK). Retired now, Jim spends his time within his beloved Penang, UK and Italy.
- Read more about him here.
- Word count: 1,440 words
