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Relationship with Other Disciplines
By John Jireh Padpad

Social work is like a toolbox that uses ideas from different
subjects like sociology, psychology, and economics to help
people facing problems in society. It's like a mix of these
subjects but focused on helping others.
While it borrows a lot from these fields, it picks and
chooses what works best for its goal of making society
better. Over time, social work has also come up with its own
ideas through research and experience. So, it's both a mix
of other sciences and its own thing.
Sociology - the study of human social behavior, especially
the study of the origins, organizations, institutions, and
development of human society.
Psychology - the study of mental processes and behavior.

Psychiatry - the study of the diagnosis, treatment, and
prevention of mental illness.
Political science - the study of the processes, principles,
and structures of government and
of political institutions.
Economics - the study of the production, distribution, and

consumption of commodities.
Cultural anthropology - the study of human culture based on
archeological, ethnographic, linguistic, social, and
psychological data and methods of analysis.
Goals of the Discipline
The primary goal of social welfare is "to fulfill the social,
financial, health, and recreational requirements of all
individuals in a society" (Zastrow, 1996). And according to
the United States National Association of Social Workers,
this can be further broken down into four major goals:
1. Enhance the problem-solving, coping, and developmental
capacities of people. The focus of the goal is on the
individual where the social worker "serves primarily as an
enabler- a counselor, teacher, caregiver, and behavior
changer."
2. Link people with systems that provide them with
resources, services, and opportunities. The focus of this
goal is on the relationship between individuals and the
systems they interact with. The social worker "serves
primarily as a broker."
3. Promote the effectiveness and humane operation of
systems that provide people with resources and services.
This goal focuses on the systems which individuals interact
with, specifically on the available resources for serving the
people. The social worker is an advocate and may take the
following specific roles:
a. Program developer, where the social worker needs to
promote or design programs or technologies to meet social
needs;
b. Supervisor, where the social worker seeks to increase

the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery through
supervising other staff;
c. Coordinator, where the social worker seeks to improve a
delivery system by increasing communications and
coordinating with human service resources; and
d. Consultant, where the social worker seeks to provide

guidance to agencies and organizations by suggesting
ways on how to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of
services.
4. Develop and improve social policy. This goal centers on
the systems people interact with, specifically on the
laws/statutes and social policies that underlie such
resources. "Social workers are planners and policy
developers [whereby they] develop and seek adoption of
new statutes or policies and propose elimination of
ineffective or inappropriate statutes and policies."
The Core Values
In the Philippines, society values strong family bonds,
community support, resilience, and religion. Social work in
the country focuses on strengthening families, engaging
communities, respecting cultural values, collaborating with
other institutions like education and religion, and taking a
holistic approach to well-being.
Social workers work closely with families and
communities, respecting cultural traditions, and addressing
social problems in partnership with local leaders and
organizations.
Social work scholar Alfred Kahn (as cited in Zastrow,
1996) enumerated four categories of social services which
people can avail:
• Personal services (casework, counseling, recreation,

rehabilitation, religion, therapy)
• Protection services (consumer protection, corrections,

courts, fire prevention/ firefighting, housing-code
enforcement, law enforcement, public health services)
• Information/advising services (consulting, consumer
information, education, financial counseling, hotlines, and
library services)
• Maintenance services (childcare, institutional services,

public welfare programs, etc.)
Social workers have the power to help people, but they
must follow ethical principles. These include values like
service, social justice, integrity, and competence. These
principles guide social workers to act responsibly and
professionally in their work.
The Philippine Association of Social Workers, Inc.
explicitly provided in its Social Workers' Code of Ethics the
following principles and values:
• inherent dignity and worth of all persons

• natural and social rights, capacities, and responsibilities
• value of unity in diversity, individual differences, and
pluralism in society
• free society
• growth and development of the individual, the family
system, and the community
• social justice and political, economic, and social well-
being of all people
• social workers as agents and advocates of change
• promotion of professionalism, responsibility, and
accountability
• professional practice deeply rooted in cultural values

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Relationship with Other Disciplines

By John Jireh Padpad

Psychology - the study of mental processes and behavior.

Economics - the study of the production, distribution, and

b. Supervisor, where the social worker seeks to increase

d. Consultant, where the social worker seeks to provide

• Personal services (casework, counseling, recreation,

• Protection services (consumer protection, corrections,

• Maintenance services (childcare, institutional services,

• inherent dignity and worth of all persons

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