CO Info 2                                                                             

 

Summary lecture Willem Blok

Regional MATRA COP conference 18.11.1999 in Gdansk

 

Problems

From my position as "engaged outsider" I see bright sides and dark sides of the transformation process in Poland.

The growing economy goes along with a growing gap between rich and poor. The situation in Polish education, health care and social work is alarming. Teachers, nurses and social workers are underpaid and operate in poor material and organizational conditions.

From what I see, the housing situation is a hugh and severe social problem too. Many people live in small houses of poor quality in districts with little facilities and services. It's hard to escape, because there is a shortage of houses.

And, of course, Polish society is in a hugh learning process how to deal with democracy in every day life.

 

Solutions

To start solving these problems, concentrated efforts of all sides are needed. Efforts from political side of course, but also from institutions, workers and ordinary citizens.

In this lecture I will try to show that a system of modern, professional social work plays a vital role in problem solving and participation.

A modernizing society needs a modern system of social work that fits in as a piece in the societal puzzle.

I will answer four questions in my lecture:

1. What is modern social work?

2. How does it looks like in practice?

3. What are goals, tasks and approaches of the so called "Third specialization of social work,

namely: community work?.

4. How to operate from now?

 

Modern social work

Modern, professional social work started a century ago with the foundation of the first School of Social Work in 1899 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The work developed into a specialized and institutionalized system of help, care and support that is very much part of the modern Welfare State in the West.

 

A fine, well known definition of the purpose of modern social work is that of the Americans Allen Pincus and Anne Minahan. I consider their description of social work as clear and current.

According to Pincus and Minahan, the purpose of Social Work is to

     - enhance the problem solving and -coping capacities of people

     - link people with systems that provide them with resources, services and opportunities

     - promote the effective and humane operation of these sy­stems and

     - contribute to the development and improvement of social policy

 

This definition is focusing on the potential capacities of social work. It includes a wide range of (mutual connected) activities on micro, meso and macro level; from creating conditions for problem solving until the direct support of clients who want to change their situation.

 

Social Work has very much an international body of knowledge.

According to the Dutch scientist Lambert Mulder this joint frame of reference is formed by theories and methods of social work (USA, GB), social pedagogy & adult education (Germany, France) and group dynamics and planned change (USA). The first source of theories and methods is needed for problem solving, the second for increasing people's competence and the third source of knowledge for influencing the social environment.

 

Current Dutch social policy wants social work to contribute to the social quality in society, by:

stimulating participation and accessibility, preventing social exclusion and supporting local social policy.

Most social work in The Netherlands is locally organized by non governmental organizations on local, regional or provincial level. Social work is concentrating on immaterial help, support and development. In every council there is a social service (material help), general social work (immaterial help for all citizens) and forms of community organization. Further on there are many categorical and specialized institutions for elderly, disabled, children, immigrants and so on.

 

Community organization

In the American definition Community organization is the third major method of modern social work.

Community work is the practical work. In the MATRA COP project we concentrate on so called "territorial community work", operating in districts and neighborhoods of towns and in villages. There is also "categorical community work" supporting youngsters, elderly, unemployed, disabled people etc.

 

Community work contributes to durable solution of problems, experienced by people in deprived situations, in their everyday life circumstances. Community work supports groups willing to act and to organize activities to solve their problems and by developing structures and services.

According to the Dutch scientist Harry Broekman, community work has two main tasks, namely:

- supporting initiatives of vulnerable social groups, by offering social-organizational, strategical-, and educational support and by facilitation and

- SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION AND INNOVATION, by research, signalizing trends and problems and by development and renewal.

 

There are three well known approaches in community work, namely local development, social planning and social action (Cohen, 1978). All of them and in combination they can be very useful and effective in Polish circumstances.

 

Suggestions

I like to finish my lecture with six suggestions:

1) Develop local- and provincial social policy

2) including a policy for social work

3) Start appointing social workers as community workers in MOPS and GOPS

4) Change schools of social work into colleges of higher education for social work

5) Develop projects with the help of social workers from the West and financial support of the

     European Union.

6) Organize as social workers and initiate and support modernization of methods, approach

     and organization.

 

 

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