1

Social Welfare Administration:

Concept, Nature and Scope
* Ramesh Bharadwaj
Introduction
In early times, social welfare functions were
performed
by a few individuals or groups of individuals
motivated
by compassion and concern for the poor,
the needy
and the destitute. These people were
laymen, embodied
with the qualities of humanism and selfless
service
to the community. But in modern times,
most of
the countries have adopted the concept of a
welfare
state instead of a police state. The
Encyclopaedia
of Social Sciences describes a welfare state
as a
state which takes up the responsibility to
provide
a minimum standard of subsistence to its
citizens.
Prof. Kent remarked that by a welfare state
we
mean a state which provides extensive
services to
the people. Thus, in a welfare state, the
administration
enters into economic, political, social and
educational
life of individuals. And it provides services to
individuals, right from an individuals birth to
death.
The state is to serve the old, sick, orphans,
widows,
helpless, oppressed and the disabled
people whenever
they are in need of services.
In the context of the present day social
problems,
the size of welfare services provided by an
increasingly
large number of organisations make
administration
very important. Social welfare services,
schemes,
projects and programmes, are becoming
increasingly
complex. Since it is no longer accepted that
any
normally intelligent person with good
intentions can
* Dr. Ramesh Bharadwaj, Kurukshetra
University, Kurukshetra
Social Welfare Administration: Concept,
Nature and Scope 105
administer the welfare work, a sound
administration
is vital. It is increasingly realised that social
welfare
programmes require qualified and trained
social welfare

personnel to perform social welfare

functions efficiently.
So it is argued that for serving the people
effectively
it is necessary to professionalise, as
professionalisation
can increase the ability of social welfare
personnel
to solve the pressing social problems
confronting
our society.
Administration
Before discussing the meaning of social
welfare
administration, it is necessary to know the
meaning
of the term administration. Administration is
a cooperative
human effort towards achieving some
common
goals. Thus every group activity involves
administration,
whether in a family, factory, hospital,
university,
or a government department.
Whenever two or more
people cooperate in view of doing a
thing that cannot
be taken up alone, the concept of
administration
appear.
The word administration has been
derived from the
Latin words ad and ministrate which
means to
serve. In simple language, it means
the management
of affairs or looking after the people.
To administer
is to manage, direct and serve.
L.D. White (1948) views that the art
of administration
is the direction, coordination and
control of many
persons to achieve some purpose or
objective.
E.A. Nigro (1951) defines
administration as the
organisation and use of men and
materials to
accomplish a purpose.
According to Herbert A. Simon (1960)
In its broadest
sense, administration can be defined
as the activities
of groups co-operative to accomplish
common goals.
106 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

Pfiffner defines administration as the

organisation
and direction of human and material
resources to
achieve desired ends.
Thus, it is clear from above definitions
that

2
administration is concerned with
proper organisation
of men and material to achieve
desired ends. It
consists of doing the work or getting
the work done
by others.

Social Administration
To achieve the aims and objectives of
social welfare,
the government formulates social
policies and
programmes and in pursuance thereof
enacts social
legislation, allocates financial
assistance and provides
organisational and administrative
linkages in the
form of ministries and departments. It
also seeks
the partnership of non-governmental
organisations
for the effective implementation of
various social
welfare programmes. Administration of
all these
activities being undertaken in the
sphere of social
services and social welfare is
considered as falling
in the realm of social welfare
administration.
According to Richard M. Titmus, 1948,
Social
administration may broadly be defined
as the study
of social services whose object is the
improvement
of conditions of life of the individual in
the setting
of family and group relations.
D.V. Donnison, 1961 defines social
administration
as the study of development,
structure and practices
of social services.
According to Forder (1974) Social
administration is
concerned with study of the welfare
system, and
particularly the government sponsored
social services.
Thus, social administration is
concerned with the
study of welfare system of
governments sponsored
social services.
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 107

Definitional Issues: Social

Welfare
and Its Related Concepts
A number of terms are used in social
welfare with
subtle differences in their meanings.
Some of the

important terms are explained as

follows.
Social Service: Helping the helpless
is social service.
It is service rendered to any person on
the basis
of desire to serve which is inspired by
the feeling
of helping others. Thus the term
social service is
used to denote help given by a
volunteer to an
individual or group at the time of need
or to enhance
the welfare of individual or the
community through
personal efforts or by collective action.
Social service
does not require training in social work
or skill in
professional techniques.
In the Indian context social services
are those services,
which are provided on an extensive
scale to the
needy population; they serve to meet
the basic needs
of the people and include such
services as health,
education, housing etc. Providing
drinking water during
summer, helping the blind to cross a
road, rescuing
people from a house under fire,
donate blood etc.
are some of the examples of social
service.
Social Welfare Services: Thus social
services are
the services, meant for the normal
population.
Whereas, social welfare services are
designed for
the weaker sections of society or
services for particular
groups of people. The aim of social
services on the
other hand is to enhance human
quality of resources
in general. Social welfare services are
also enabling
services provided to the weaker
sections of the
community so as to help them to
reach the main
stream of society. Thus both these
services are
supplementary and complementary to
each other.
Social Security: Social security is the
security that
society furnishes through provision of
appropriate
108 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

services against violation of certain

rights to which

3
its members are exposed. These risks
are essentially
contingencies of life which the
individuals of small
means cannot effectively provide for
by their own
ability or foresight alone or even with
the helps of
their fellow human beings.
Thus, social security is an effort on the
part of the
state or the employer or any other
related agency,
to provide an individual all possible
help
during periods of physical distress or
illness or injury
and also at the time of economic
distress caused
due to reduction or loss of earning on
account of
sickness, disablement, maternity,
unemployment,
old age or death of the employee.
The work of social security is done
through social
assistance, social insurance, health
and social welfare
services etc. Thus social security is a
wider concept
of social welfare.
Social Work: Help the helpless to
help themselves.
Social work is a method or process
based on scientific
knowledge and skill to assist the
individuals, group
and communities, with the view to
enhance their
social functioning to grow in
accordance with their
knowledge, capacities and capabilities.
Therefore,
social welfare has been used as an
end and social
work, as a means for the provision of
social welfare.
Social Welfare: Social welfare is an
organised system
of social services and institutions,
designed to aid
individuals and groups, to attain
satisfying standards
of life and health. Social welfare
therefore, aims
at providing services to weaker
sections of the
population who because of various
handicaps such
as physical, mental, economic and
social, are unable
to make use of social services
provided by society
or have been traditionally deprived of
these services.
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 109

According to Wayne Vasey (1958)

social welfare
included two main characteristics:
_ The utilisation of welfare measures to
support
or strengthen the family as a basic
social institution
through which needs are met; and
_ The intent to strengthen the
individuals capacity
to cope with their life situation.
The provision of social welfare
includes services for
children, youth, women, aged,
scheduled castes,
scheduled tribes, other backward
classes, minorities,
disabled, drug addicts, and
economically underprivileged
such as destitute and unemployed.
Social
welfare programmes are, therefore,
directed to
ameliorate their conditions. Therefore,
it requires
proper administration.
Social Welfare Administration
Social welfare administration is a
process through
which social policy is transformed into
social services.
It involves the administration of public
and private
agencies. The following definitions are
given to
elaborate the meaning of social
welfare administration.
John C. Kidneigh (1950) defines social
welfare
administration as the process of
transforming social
policy into social services a two way
process: (i)
transforming policy into concrete
social services and
(ii) the use of experience in
recommending modification
of policy. This definition, of course,
encompasses
the idea that administration is the
process of
transforming policies into action
programmes.
According to Walter A. Friedlander
(1958)
administration of social agencies
translates the
provisions of social legislation of social
agencies
and the aims of private philanthropy
and religious
charities into the dynamics of services
and benefits
for humanity.
110 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

4
According to Arthur Dunham (1962),
administration
is the process of supporting or
facilitating activities
which are necessary and incidental to
services by
a social agency. Administrative
activities range from
the determination of function and
policies, and
executive leadership to routine
operations such as
keeping records and accounts and
carrying on
maintenance of services.
Harleigh Tracker (1971) interprets
social welfare
administration as a process of
working with people
in ways that release and relate their
energies so
that they use all available resources to
accomplish
the purpose of providing needed
community services
and programmes.
The American Council of Social Work
Education in
its curriculum study, has given a
comprehensive
definition of social welfare
administration. It contains,
Administration is the process of
transforming
community resources into a
programme of community
service, in accordance with goals,
policies and
standards which has been agreed by
those involved
in the enterprise. It is creative in that
it structures
roles and relationships in such a way
as to alter
and enhance the total product. It
involves the problem
solving process of study, diagnosis
and treatment.
Therefore, on the basis of above
definitions, we find
that it is a process which includes
definite knowledge,
understanding, principles and ways of
interaction.
Its main focus is on the suitability and
accessibility
of social services to the needy. Social
work enables
the process of administration through
guidance,
planning, stimulation, organisation,
creating structure,
coordinating and research. To fulfil the
well defined
main objectives of administration,
policies are suitably

amended; programmes are formulated

and budget,
finance, personnel and selection
procedures are made:
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 111

Rosemary Sarri (1971) has outlined

the activities
of social welfare administration as
follows:
i) Translation of social mandates into
operational
policies and goals to guide
organisational behaviour;
ii) Design of organisational structures
and processes
through which the goals can be
achieved;
iii) Securing of resources in the form of
materials,
staff, clients and societal legitimation
necessary
for goal attainment and organisational
survival;
iv) Selection and engineering of the
necessary
technology;
v) Optimizing organisational behaviour
directed
towards increased effectiveness and
efficiency;
and
vi) Evaluation of organisational
performance to
facilitate systematic and continuous
solution of
problems.

Features of Social Welfare

Administration
Although the concept of
administration is applicable
in a broader sense to areas including
social welfare,
business and government, there are
certain distinctive
features of social welfare
administration. A summary
of features highlighting distinctiveness
of social welfare
administration is given below:
_ It is concerned with social agencies
and helps
them to achieve their objectives within
target
community. It is specifically concerned
with
identification of social objectives and
formulation/
implementation of programmes.
_ From functional point of view, it
encompasses
three facets of social problems: (i)
Restoration
112 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

of impaired social functioning; (ii)

Provision of

5
resources, social and individual, for
more effective
social functioning; (iii) Prevention of
social
dysfunction.
_ Despite variations in size, scope,
structure and
type of programmes, every agency
has a governing
board as an apex body for final
decision making.
The board is generally represented by
the
community it intends to serve.
_ Social welfare administration requires
optimum
utilization of its available resources
together with
active community participation, so
that the ultimate
goal of programmes can be achieved
properly.
_ Social welfare agencies have to
earmark certain
portion of their resources for survival.
But this
should not limit their capacity to
achieve in
quantitative and qualitative terms.
_ Social welfare agencies generally
function in a
co-operative manner and ensure
participation of
all the members in administration of
their
activities.
_ There is a growing trend in these
agencies to
recruit professionally qualified
manpower. It has
helped in introducing professional
approach in
their functioning.

History of Social Welfare

Administration In India
Mutual aid has been part of every
society. The desire
to help ones fellowmen has been in
existence from
time immemorial but the forms and
methods of help
have been varying from society to
society, depending
upon the social, economic and political
factors.
Indian traditional view of social welfare
is based
on daya, dana, dakshina, bhiksha,
samya-bhava,
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 113

swadharma and tyaga, the essence of

which are selfdiscipline,
self-sacrifice and consideration for
others.

Well-being of all depend on these

values upheld by
people individually and through
community action.
All the religions enjoined upon their
devotees to
put aside a portion of their income to
be utilised
for charitable purposes as that would
grant them
happiness in this world and salvation
in the next
world. The rulers of those days
extended help to
the afflicted part of the population
during emergencies
like floods, earthquakes, fires,
droughts and other
natural calamities etc.
From the administrative angle, in
India, the reigns
of king Ashoka, Harsha, Chandra
Gupta Maurya,
Akbar, Sher Shah Suri and Feroze
Tuglak, are the
landmarks of administration who took
care of the
social needs of the people. The British
Government
also established an administrative setup intended
mainly for maintaining law and order.
Some social
reform measures were taken up by
banning Sati
and permitting widow remarriage by
Acts passed in
1829 and 1856 respectively.
After independence, the old
administrative pattern
was more or less continued with
necessary changes
to suit the social, political and
economic set-up evolved.
In the field of social welfare, during
the First Five
Year Plan, government of India created
a unique
administrative machinery consisting of
an autonomous
board named CSWB (Central Social
Welfare Board)
in August 1953. Similarly, Social
Welfare Advisory
Boards were established at state level.
The main
purpose of the Board (CSWB) has been
to provide
financial and technical assistance to
voluntary
organisations working in the field of
social welfare.
If we look at the history of
administrative organisation,
we find that before 1964 social welfare
programmes

6
were being managed by different
ministries such
114 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

as education, home, industries, health,

labour etc.
The Renuka Ray Committee in its
report submitted
in 1960, recommended the
establishment of the
Department of Social Security. Under
the Prime
Ministership of Lal Bahadur Shastri, a
Social Security
Department was established and
located in the Ministry
of Law on 14th June 1964. Subjects,
namely, social
security, social welfare, backward
classes and khadi
and handicrafts were allocated to the
Department
of Social Security. In 1966, it was
renamed as Social
Welfare Department. It was located in
the Ministry
of Education and Social Welfare
created in 1971.
Its status was raised to a ministry in
the year 1979.
Its name was further changed to the
Ministry of
Social and Women Welfare in 1984.
With the creation
of a separate Department of Women
and Child
Development in the Ministry of Human
Resource
Development, it was reorganised and
its nomenclature
was changed to the Ministry of Welfare
in 1985 and
subsequently it was renamed as the
Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment.
Thus, the Central government has set
up a fullfledged
ministry and organisations subordinate
to
it, like National Commission for
Scheduled Castes/
Tribes, Minorities Commission,
National Institute of
Social Defence, National Institute for
the Handicapped,
Department of Women and Child
Development, Central
Social Welfare Board, National Institute
of Public
Co-operation and Child Development
etc. under its
administrative control.
Besides the execution of social welfare
projects,
schemes and programmes sponsored
and financed

wholly or partly by the Central

government; the
state governments and union territory
administrations
formulate and implement welfare
service programmes
on their own in their respective
jurisdictions. The
state government/union territories
administrations
carry out their welfare obligations and
programmes
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 115

mainly through their Department of

Social Welfare
and voluntary organisations. In most
of the states
there is now either a full-time
Secretary for social
welfare or it is one of the main
portfolios of a secretary.
Thus social welfare schemes are still
spread over
more than one
department/directorate. The pattern
of implementation of some of the
schemes, like old
age pension, widow pension, and
supplementary
nutrition programmes also varies from
state to state.
Though most of the states now have
district social
welfare officers, there is no social
welfare functionary
at block level.

Nature of Social Welfare

Administration
The question whether social welfare
administration
is science or art, has assumed much
importance
with passage of time. There are
conflicting views
and opinions on this issue and each
appears to be
justified in its own way. Social welfare
lends itself
to two usages. It stands for the
process of administering
the social welfare programmes. It is
also an area
of intellectual enquiry. The first is
practice, the
second is study. As a practice social
welfare
administration is decidedly an art.
Social Welfare Administration as
an Art
The following arguments have been
given to support
that social welfare administration is an
art.
i) It can be acquired: No doubt art is
a natural

7
gift. Music, dance, drama or painting
are the
examples of this category of art. But
natural
gifts can find their best expression by
proper
training, without which even the best
artists
will die unknown. On the other hand a
carpenter
making furniture out of wood and a
goldsmith
shaping gold ornaments are also the
examples
of art. It is so because they possess
the following
elements:
116 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

a) personal skills;
b) practical know-how;
c) result orientation;
d) creativity; and
e) constant practice aimed at
perfection.
Similarly, the art of social welfare
administration
can be acquired. Talented persons
become the
best administrators under proper
training. Thus
so far acquisition is concerned social
welfare
administration is also like other arts.
ii) It is subjective in nature: A
painter contributes
to art by mixing colours. A sculptor
performs his
job with the aid chisel and hammer. A
social
welfare administrator with the
application of
knowledge and skill can make wonders
by
combining and bringing together
available human
and material resources to change the
very fate
of the nation. Today success of every
welfare
programme depends on how a social
welfare
administrator performs the job.
iii) Practical application of
knowledge: Art is the
practical application of systematic
knowledge. It
is not merely theory but putting that
into practice.
Similarly, social welfare administration
is not
merely theory but it is application also.
And the
best knowledge can be gained by
practice alone.
Social Welfare Administration as a
Science

Science is a systematic study of

knowledge. Those
who believe that social welfare
administration is a
science point out that there are
certain specific
and clear principles on which day to
day administration
of social welfare programmes is being
run and
managed. They also argue that these
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 117

principles are based on sound and

rational principles,
which are also considered universal.
The following arguments have been
put forward to
justify that social welfare
administration is a science:
_ Application of Scientific Method:
The claim of
a discipline to be called a science
depends on
whether the scientific method of study
is applicable
to it. Social welfare administration can
be called
a science, because the scientific
method of study
equally is applicable to it, as in the
case of
other social sciences.
_ Critical Examination: Critical
examination and
study of evidence is the prime
requisite of any
scientific study. This is possible in
social welfare
administration also.
_ Universal Guidelines: Universal
principles of social
welfare administration also provide
the colouring
of science. Even if we can not use all
the
guidelines in a similar manner, these
guidelines
certainly helps the administrator in
proper
implementation of social welfare
programmes.
However, the nature of social welfare
administration as a science has been
criticized
on the basis of lack of
experimentation, and
objectivity. Thus it is not an exact
science, but
is a science in its own way. It is also an
art,
because it is connected not only with
formulation
of general principles of social welfare
programmes
but also with the actual running of the

8
administration of social welfare
programmes.

Scope of Social Welfare

Administration
There are broadly two views about the
scope of social
welfare administration. These are:
118 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

i) The POSDCoRB view

ii) The Integral view.
The POSDCoRB View of Social
Welfare Administration
This is a narrow view of social welfare
administration
and takes into account mostly the
execution of the
governments sponsored programmes.
In other words
this view corresponds with the
managerial view.
Henri Fayol, L. Urwick, Fercey M.
Ovean and Luther
Gulick are advocates of this view.
According to Henry Fayol the main
categories of
administration are: (i) Organisation (ii)
Command,
(iii) Coordination, and (iv) Control. L.
Urwick also
agrees with Fayols views.
P.M. Queen says that the study of
administration
deals with men, material and
methods. L. Gulick
has given a magic formula in a word
POSDCoRB
with each letter describing one
technique. Gulicks
approach is technique-oriented
rather than subjectoriented.
These letters stand for:
P Planning
O Organising
S Staffing
D Directing
Co Coordinating
R Reporting
B Budgeting
Planning: Planning means working
out broad outline
of the things that need to be done and
the method
to be adopted to accomplish the
purpose set for the
enterprise.
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 119

Organisation: It is the establishment

of the formal
structure of authority through which
the work is
sub-divided, arranged, defined and
coordinated for
the defined objective.
Staffing: Staffing is the process of
filling all positions

in the organisation with adequate and

qualified
personnel. Thus it means whole
personnel, bringing
in and training the staff and
maintenance of favourable
condition of work.
Directing: It is the continuous task of
making decisions
and embodying them in specific and
general orders
and instructions and thus guiding the
enterprise.
Coordinating: It means integration of
several parts
into an orderly whole to achieve the
purpose of the
undertaking. In other words,
coordinating means
the all important duty of inter-relating
the work of
various divisions, sections and other
parts of the
undertaking.
Reporting: It is keeping those people
informed to
whom the executive is responsible
about what is
going on. In other words reporting
means keeping
both the supervisors and subordinates
informed of
what is going on and arranging for
collection of
such information through inspection,
research and
records.
Budgeting: It is all that goes with
budgeting in the
form of fiscal planning, accounting and
control.
POSDCoRB activities are common to
all large scale
organisations. They are the common
problems of
management found in the different
agencies,
regardless of the peculiar nature of the
work they
do. Like public administration, social
welfare
administration is also an instrument
with two blades
of a scissor. One blade is knowledge of
the subject
matter and the other is the techniques
that are
120 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

applied. Both blades must be good to

make it an
effective tool. Thus, the proper scope
of social welfare
administration should include both the
views i.e.
POSDCoRB and subject matter.

9
The Integral View of Social
Welfare Administration
Another view of the scope of social
welfare
administration has come into vogue
during the last
few years. Due to emergence of new
social problems,
the subject matter of Social Welfare
Administration
is expanding day by day. The already
overburdened
administrative machinery of the
government itself,
not being able to successfully tackle
these problems,
involves various non-governmental
organisations for
this purpose. Therefore, this view
incorporates not
only the subject matter of social
welfare administration
but the implementation aspect as well,
which is
primarily the focus of POSDCoRB view.
The scope of social welfare
administration is quite
diverse in nature. With the emergence
of new social
problems of entirely different nature, a
new strategy
needs to be evolved for their solution.
It may require
optimum utilisation of available
resources e.g. human,
institutional, financial, technological
etc. in a changing
context. The social welfare
administration incorporates
a number of factors that are
significant in the entire
process of successful solution of social
problems.
A brief description of these factors
(D.R. Sachdeva
1992) is given below:
Contents of social welfare
administration: Social
welfare is concerned with
* Social Problems : Assessment of its
causes,
prevention and treatment
through public participation
and effective
implementation of social
legislation.
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 121

* Social Services : Social services are

meant
for general public through
provision of health,
education, housing etc.
and make them more
effective for the upliftment
of disadvantaged and
vulnerable sections of

society.
* Social Security : To make and
implement
effective social assistance
and social insurance
provisions. It aims to
compensate for the loss of
income due to
unemployment, disability or
death caused by accident
and old age through social
insurance and social
assistance.
* Social Policy : To make effective
social
policy for the welfare of
underprivileged sections of
the society, to achieve
the goals of welfare state
through social action.
Interdisciplinary Nature
Social welfare administration requires
the
interdisciplinary knowledge and
constant interaction
with other social sciences to know the
human being
in totality, such as philosophy,
psychology, sociology,
political science and economics to
solve their problems
in appropriate manner.
Administrative Structure
Social welfare administrator needs to
understand
the organisational and administrative
structure of
122 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

social welfare programme at each and

every level
of implementing organisation.
Similarly, it is also
important to know the role and set up
of nongovernmental
organisations for effectively carrying
out their functions.
Financial Administration
Since the scope of social welfare and
social security
is increasing day by day and more and
more people
are coming under the coverage of
these programmes,
the need for additional financial
support increases.
In order to make out proper and
effective budgeting
of such programme, the knowledge of
financial
administration is highly essential.
Therefore,
professionals engaged in social
welfare administration
must be trained in the techniques and
principles
of financial administration.

10
Human Resource Management
In order to provide effective social
welfare services
to the needy and suffering, it is
essential to have
committed, trained and motivated
social welfare
functionaries at different levels.
Therefore social
welfare administration requires proper
knowledge
of human resource management
which includes
knowledge about recruitment policies,
job classification,
training and development, staff
evaluation,
advancement and transfer etc. for
effective
implementation of social services.
Public Relations and Participation
The social welfare administrators
needs to be cognizant
of the importance of public relations
with regard
to both their own agency and its
services, and the
community as a whole. The welfare
administrators
must be conversant to utilise mass
media, such as
TV, radio, newspaper, brochures,
books and personal
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 123

contacts, to interpret their agencies

programmes
to the public and reaching community
members. It
is also required to get associated with
the government
and non-governmental agencies
working in the field,
the people or the beneficiaries, whose
co-operation
and support will add to the effective
planning,
formulation and implementation of
policies and
programmes intended for their
welfare.
To Conduct Research and
Evaluation Studies
Effective research and evaluation
studies provide
useful feedback on the impact of ongoing projects
and about the different dimensions of
existing social
problems. Research also facilitates
effective planning,
policy formulation and implementation
of programmes.

Social Welfare
Administration As A
Profession

Before answering the question

whether social welfare
administration is a profession or not,
one must know
the essential features of a profession
and determine
how far these features are found in
social welfare
administration. In general, people do
not raise objection
when a doctor is called as medical
professional,
teaching as a profession or for that
matter law as
profession. The simple dictionary
meaning of profession
indicates one who has acquired
specialised knowledge
which is used for instructing, guiding
or advising
others. An operational definition of
profession may
be given as follows:
Profession is an occupation for which
specialised
knowledge, skills and training are
required and the
use of these skills is not meant for
self-satisfaction
but are used for larger interests of the
society and the
success of these skills is measured not
in terms of money
alone.
124 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

Thus all professions are occupations in

the sense
that they provide means of livelihood.
However, all
occupations are not professions
because some of
them lack certain characteristics of a
profession.
The various characteristics of a
profession can be
mentioned as:
_ Existence of an organised and
systematised body
of knowledge;
_ Formal method of acquisition of
knowledge;
_ Existence of an association with
professionalisation
as its goals;
_ Formulation of ethical goals; and
_ Service motto.
Let us discuss the extent to which all
these
characteristics are found in social
welfare
administration to determine whether it
is a profession
or not.
Existence of Knowledge
Social welfare administration has
developed a distinct

11
body of knowledge, in response to the
need for managing
the emergence of complex social
problems in a better
way. In India, almost all courses of
social work
offer a course on social welfare
administration to
the students. Thus, it satisfies the
requirement of
a profession in the form of existence of
knowledge.
However, the social welfare
administration is still
evolving and new guidelines are being
developed
though this does not affect its status
as being a
profession.
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 125

Acquisition of Knowledge
An individual can enter a profession
only after
acquiring knowledge and require skills
through formal
training. For example, only the
formally trained
persons can enter the professions of
law, engineering
or medicine. Thus social welfare
administration may
be called a profession because schools
of social work
and schools of public administration
provide training
in this discipline.
Professional Association
An occupation which claims to be a
profession should
have an association. Such a
representative body of
professionals regulate and develop the
professions
activities. The professional
associations may also
prescribe the standards for individuals
who want
to enter the profession. But we are still
struggling
for an apex body which would regulate
the terms
and conditions for Social Welfare
Administration like
Bar Council of India etc.
Ethical Code
Every profession have a code of
ethics. Codes provide
proper guidance when the situation at
hand is a
choice between a good and a bad
decision. Thus
code of ethics serves several functions
for a profession,
including guiding, decision making,
assessing

competence, regulating behaviour and

evaluating the
profession. In social welfare
administration, the code
of ethics provides a guide for
professional roles and
relationships at various levels of
responsibility in
relation to clients, colleagues,
employers, employing
organisations and the society.
Therefore, the social
welfare administration is a profession
and its code
of ethics is based on the fundamental
values of the
social work profession that includes
the worth, dignity
and uniqueness of all persons as well
as their rights
and opportunities.
126 Social Work Intervention with Communities
and Institutions

Service Motto
In modern times, all human activities
are concerned
with money. But in a profession, an
effort is made
to see that service motto should
prevail over monetary
considerations. Professionals should
keep social
interest in their mind while charging
fees for their
professional services. For example, a
doctor helps
the patient, not only to charge fee, but
also to serve
humanity in the process. A lawyer
helps the client,
not to charge the fee only but to
provide justice
to the client. Similarly, a social welfare
administrator
administers the social welfare
programmes, not only
for money and personal satisfaction
but use his/
her knowledge and skills to serve the
larger interest
of the society.
Thus, on the basis of the above
discussion, it can
be said summarized that social welfare
administration
is yet to achieve the status of a
profession. To become
an independent profession, it requires
to attain social
sanction, professional commitment,
governmental
approval, a professional association to
regulate the
profession and involvement of trained
personnel in
the field of welfare administration,
instead of

12
bureaucrats.

Conclusion
This chapter has been designed to
provide a basic
understanding of social welfare
administration:
concept, nature and scope. We have
presented a
number of definitions of
administration, social
administration, social welfare and its
related concepts
for basic understanding. We have
analysed the meaning
and features of social welfare
administration. We

have discussed nature and scope of

social welfare
administration in a comprehensive
manner and
examined whether social welfare
administration is
a profession or not? We have also
examined the
Social Welfare Administration: Concept, Nature
and Scope 127

need of professionals/trained
administrators in the
implementation of social welfare
programmes.