Historical Evolution of Welfare and Social Work

Early and Pre-Modern

• Religious charity and almsgiving, feudalism's reciprocal duties, guilds and mutual aid.
• The English poor laws (Eldanby 1601, 1834) distinguished the "deserving" from "undeserving" poor — shaping a residual model.

The Rise of State Welfare

• 19th-century social movements, settlement houses and the Charity Organisation Society.
• Post-WWII: the Beveridge model built a welfare state of universal entitlements — health, income and social services.
• Professionalisation and the emergence of modern social work (case work, group work, community organisation).

Global and African Perspectives

• Colonial welfare legacies and post-independence rebuilding.
• Indigenous mutual-aid and community and family care traditions of welfare.

Evolution of Professional Social Work

From voluntary charity to a profession grounded in values, theory, and method guided by professional codes.

Study Points

1. Compare residual and institutional views of welfare.
2. How did the 1834/1601 poor laws shape modern views of poverty?

Core Values, Ethical Frameworks and the Dual Mandate

Core Values

Service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, the importance of human relationships, integrity and competence — the global value base of social work (IFSW/IASSW).

Ethical Principles

• Self-determination, informed consent, confidentiality, non-harm.
• Ethical decision-making: identifying harms, weighing duties and rights.

Ethical Dilemmas

• Confidentiality vs protection (the duty to warn/protect).
• Client self-determination vs. professional capacity to judge.
• Resource scarcity (rationing) and dual loyalty (employer vs client).

The Dual Roles of Welfare Institutions

Welfare institutions both support (resilient capacities, justice) and control (surveillance, gatekeeping, conditionality). Professional social work exercises this dual mandate within ethical frameworks.

Study Points

1. Define social justice in a social-work value context.
2. Explain "dual role" of the welfare institution and how the practitioner manages it ethically.

Levels, Methods and Fields of Practice

Levels of Practice

• Micro (casework): individuals and families.
• Mezzo (group/family/community): group work, family intervention, small organisations.
• Macro (policy/community): community organisation, advocacy, policy and administration — macro-level policy practice.

Methods

• Casework, group work, community organisation, research, and administration.

Fields of Practice

• Child and family welfare, health and mental health, schools, ageing, corrections/criminal justice, substance use, disability and community development.

The Generalist framework

A generalist uses an integrated, multi-level, multi-method approach and the biopsychosocial framework with ecological assessment and strength-based practice.

Study Points

1. Distinguish micro, mezzo and macro practice.
2. On a case, name a micro, a mezzo and a macro strategy.

Contemporary Issues in Social Welfare

Welfare Retrenchment

• Privatisation, targeting, conditionality, activation/Workfare and austerity reshape welfare states.

Injustice Dimensions

• Inequality and poverty, structural racism and gender injustice, age and disability discrimination, and the welfare 'gatekeeper' role.

Digital and Global Issues

• Digitalisation (e-services, digital divides) and globalisation of welfare and care.
• Responses to displacement, academic, climate — and expanded mandates.

The Future of Practice

• Integration across digital, health/social and community sectors.
• Co-production and service-user involvement.
• Evidence-based practice and reflexive, anti-oppressive practice.

Conclusion

Social welfare and social work evolve together: professional values, ethics and skills remain the anchor as societies, systems and problems change.

Review

1. Describe two contemporary pressures on the welfare state.
2. How do anti-oppressive and strengths-based lenses guide the future of social work?