Social work Nepal

Conflict Theory and Social Work Practice Subesh Raj Panta Numerous social theories are applied in social work practice at both micro, mezzo and macro level focussing mainly on human growth and development, psychological and social functioning, social and economic justice. Social work practitioners, in general conceptualize framework according to social theories developed from historical perspective to crack a problem for enhancing and creating a change. Social theories are just set of ideas developed consequently in philosophy, psychology, sociology discipline according to human responses towards different situations. Let us take conflict theory as a social work practice model.Since the early 1990s, bulk of civil conflicts have occurred. The nature of armed conflict has changed since the conclusion of the Cold War. Mark Duffield argues that new wars can also be called ‘network wars’ or ‘complex political emergencies’ by those in the humanitarian sector, as these con

Social capital Generally social capital can be understand as a bounding a social relationship on the basis of culture, finance, norms, values…which have productive benefits. Like sociology, social capital has numerous definitions.  Social capital is about the value of social networks, bonding similar peoples and bridging between diverse people, with norms of reciprocity (Dekker and Uslaner 2011) ‘the process by which social actors create and mobilize their networks connection within and between organizations to gain access to other social actors’(Knoke 1999) ‘A culture of trust and tolerance, in which extensive networks of voluntary associations emerge’ (Inglehart 1997) Types of social capital on the basis of network perspective Bonding (exclusive)                                       Strong social bonds and trust (Homogeneous group, strong ties, that connects neighbors friends and colleagues) Bridging Cross organization partnership (Ties tha

CHALLENGES FOR SOCIAL WORK TRAINEES IN FIELD WORK AND CLASSROOM Social Work is a developing profession in Nepal. Even though it is an internationally recognized profession it has not yet established itself as a Profession in Nepal. Efforts are being made to gain reorganization of social work as a profession in Nepal. Doctors, engineers, and other professions are well known in Nepal but not social work. Some social workers themselves believe that Social work is just a discipline.  Highly trained and experienced professionals should teach the students to get qualitative education. Only those who have earned social work degrees at the bachelor’s, masters’ or doctoral levels, and completed a minimum number of hours in supervised fieldwork, are “professional social workers.” But unfortunately, there are hardly any lecturers who completed their doctoral degree in Social Work. There is lack of experienced lecturers and supervisors. In addition, earlier a BSW holder used to teach for BASW and

SOCIAL WORK THEORY IN NEPAL AND CREDIBILITY OF THE PROFESSION Theories are taught in class room and trainees practice or implement those theories in field work. Theory helps to enhance knowledge to a great extent and field work helps to develop skills to a great extent. There are many disciplines in Nepal; but now-a- days students are attracted to social work field because of such unique characteristics of social work education. Till yesterday, students first studied the subjects, they wrote the exam and when they tried to apply those theories they failed to implement those theories in practice. But s ocial work provides opportunity to concurrently use the theory in Practice. Most of the Nepalese Colleges and universities have four days of theory classes (including Individual conference, Group conference) and two days of field work. Social work helps to build networking with other professionals and enhance social interaction. There are approximately 40 colleges and four universities, w

------------- SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION IN NEPAL Social workers are highly trained and experienced professionals. Only those who have earned social work degrees at the bachelor’s, masters’ or doctoral levels, and completed a minimum number of hours in supervised fieldwork, are “professional social workers.” Social Work is a young profession in Nepal. Social work as an academic discipline started in 1996 at St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu. There is a broader scope of Social work in Nepal. Nepalese Social Workers can work in schools, hospitals, mental health clinics, senior citizens’ centers, private practice, prisons, military, corporations, and in numerous public and private agencies that serve individuals, families, groups and communities in need. Social work is a misunderstood profession in Nepal. It is known and taught as a discipline rather than profession. The Government has taken it as a discipline and most of the people do not know about social work in Nepal. They think social work

------------ SIGNIFICANCE OF TRAINING IN ENHANCING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT “Learning to think and thinking to Learn”. Social work makes people to think about social issues and their own surroundings and through their own environment, it forces them to involve in Social Work activities. According to Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives, the Classification of Educational Goals is: Diagram 1.2.1 Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Diagram 1.1.1 a)      Knowledge Knowledge is defined as remembering of previously learned materials. This may involve the recall of wide range of materials, from facts to complete theories, but all that is required is bringing to mind the appropriate information. Knowledge represents the lowest level of learning outcomes in the cognitive domain. The main objectives of knowledge are: know common terms, specific facts, methods, procedures, basic concepts, principles Verbs for expressing learning outco

------------- 1.1 SOCIAL WORK AS A PROFESSION Social Workers support individuals, groups, or communities to enhance or improve their capacity for social functioning and create favorable societal conditions for them. For this, social workers require the knowledge of human behavior and development, and interaction process among/between social, economic and cultural institutions. Social Work is a helping profession which helps individual/group/community through the six instrumentalities used by social workers to help the clients. Those are: 1.       Social Case work : According to Sanford “Social case work is a method employed by social workers to help individuals find a solution to problems of social adjustment which they are not able to handle in a satisfactory way by their own effort.” (cited from Social Work an integrated approach Bhattacharya, 2012) 2.       Social Group work : According to Trecker “Social group work is a method through which individuals in groups in

This study titled “ Opportunities and challenges for Social Work Trainees in Nepal ” is the bonafide research carried out by me (Amit Kumar Yadav) at School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya, Mangalore, as a partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Master of Social Work.  ·         A large majority of 92 per cent of the respondents are placed in Non governmental agencies for field work . ·         All of the respondents are involved in administrative work. A large majority of 82 per cent of the respondents are practicing social group work regularly in field work and a vast majority of 60 per cent respondents are also practicing social case work regularly during field work. ·     A relative majority of 48 per cent of the respondents never practiced social action method during field work. ·         All the respondents said that their field supervisors have Social work background. ·      A majority of 56 per cent of the respondents rated excellent/good for the individual confer