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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA
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An Introduction
Third Edition
Chapter 1: The Canadian Welfare State Today
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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The Canadian Welfare State Today
 Social Work and the New Economy
 What Is Social Welfare?
 The Provision of Social Welfare
 What Do Social Workers Do?
 Approaches to Practice
 Defining Social Work
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Social Work and the New Economy
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Keep ultimate goal in mind
Acknowledge reality you are working in
Recognize that you work in a “bureaucracy”
Rely on strength & resilience of individuals
Don’t get discouraged
Keep a sense of humour
Be patient, genuine, and open-hearted
Remember, your profession is noblest of all
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
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What Is Social Welfare?
Income Security
Social Services
 Child care
 Child protection
services
 Women’s shelters
 Counselling
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
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Employment Insurance
Social Assistance
Old Age Security
Workers’ Compensation
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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The Welfare State
 The Welfare State is the range of programs and
services available to Canadian citizens
 The key elements are:
 Use of state power to provide essential social
services to citizens
 Use of grants, taxes, pensions, and minimumincome programs to provide income security
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Social Policies and Social Programs
Social Policies
The overall rules and regulations, laws, and
other administrative directives that set the
framework for state social welfare activity.
Social Programs
Specific initiatives that implement social
welfare policies.
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The Canadian Welfare State Today
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The Provision of Social Welfare
There are three types of service providers in
Canada:
 Public Welfare
 Private Welfare – Non-Profit
 Private Welfare – For-Profit
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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The Provision of Social Welfare
Public Welfare
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Occurs at three levels of government:
 Federal/National
 Provincial/Territorial
 Regional/Municipal
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Public non-government agencies:
 Advisory and appeal boards
 Members appointed from public by government
 Independent/Semi-independent
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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The Provision of Social Welfare
Private Welfare
 Non-profit organizations
 Mandated to provide a service but not create profit
 Registered by law
 Receive funds from government and private sources
 Earn money by providing services for other organizations
 Governments are moving more and more towards this
model to save money
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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The Provision of Social Welfare
Private Welfare
 For-profit organizations
 Provide services on a fee basis
 May often be purchased by government on behalf of
individuals
 Purpose is to generate a profit for the owner of the
organization
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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The Provision of Social Welfare
Debating Social Welfare
There are two key approaches to social welfare:
 The Residual View
 The Institutional View
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Social Work In Canada
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The Provision of Social Welfare
Residual View
 Social welfare is temporary response to human need
 Implemented only when all else fails
 Individual’s needs are met through family and market
economy
 Government plays limited role
 Provides benefits at low level to discourage use
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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The Provision of Social Welfare
Institutional View
 Social welfare is necessary public response
 Helps people attain reasonable standard of life and
health
 People cannot always meet needs through family and
work
 Helps people by means of a publicly funded system of
programs and institutions
 Evens out economic stratification
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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The Provision of Social Welfare
New approach: The Structural Approach
 Society’s underlying problems linked to private concentrations of
wealth and power
 Welfare state is a contradiction of capitalism
 Provides benefits for people in need, but does not address
exploitative nature of capitalist markets
 Social problems and inequalities as a built-in feature of society
 Society itself needs to change
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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What Do Social Workers Do?
Canadian Association of Social Workers
www.casw-acts.ca
 A federation of provincial and territorial social work
organizations
 Works to advance the social work profession in Canada
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
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Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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What Do Social Workers Do?
There are two types of social work:
 Direct social work
 Indirect social work
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
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What Do Social Workers Do?
Direct social work:
 Involves providing services (individual counselling,
group work, and community development)
 Social workers work for public/publicly funded social
service agencies and institutions
 Some social workers work in private practice
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
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What Do Social Workers Do?
Indirect social work:
 Concerned with governments and non-governmental
agencies
 Formulate, analyze, develop, and evaluate social
policies and programs
 Work with social service agencies, advocacy or
research groups
 Examples: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives,
National Anti-Poverty Organization
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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What Do Social Workers Do?
There are three types of social work practice:
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Micro:
direct practice with individuals
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Mezzo:
working with groups and communities
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Macro:
working with organizations and communities to
improve or change laws or policies
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Approaches to Practice
There are two approaches to practice:
Emphasize the personal (or internal)
Emphasize the structural (or external)
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Approaches to Practice
Locating the problems in the individual
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Wide variety of approaches
Some locate problem in the body
Others locate problem in the mind
Purpose is to enhance the coping and problem solving
abilities of the client
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Approaches to Practice
Locating the problems in social structures
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Approach gives emphasis to wider social factors
Includes structural or critical social work practice
Varies according to clientele
Based on belief that structural factors have significance
for many types of social work problems
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Defining Social Work
New definition of social work:
The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human
relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance
well-being.
Utilizing theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work
intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments.
Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.
International Federation of Social Workers, July 2000
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
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Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Defining Social Work
Definition of social work emphasizes four key
concepts:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social change/social justice mandate
Problem solving
Person-in-the-environment
Empowerment
Social Work In Canada
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Defining Social Work
Social Change/Social Justice Mandate
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Means working in solidarity with disadvantaged
Forefront of promoting policies and legislation
Promote equal opportunity for all
Seek ways to redress social imbalances
Reduce need for welfare services
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Defining Social Work
Problem Solving
 Use problem-solving techniques to identify problem
 Explores person’s concerns to identify needs, barriers
to needs, and plan of action
 Inclusion of client at each stage
 Teach client problem-solving skills
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Defining Social Work
Person-In-The-Environment
 Examines relationship between individuals and their
environments
 Environments include interactions with friends,
neighborhoods, schools, religious groups, laws and
legislation, agencies/organizations, places of
employment, and economic system
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Defining Social Work
Empowerment
 Increasing power to improve one’s situation
 Client must believe efforts of practitioner make a
difference
 Social workers seek to empower their clients by:
 Making power explicit
 Giving clients experiences in which they are in
control
 Supporting client’s own efforts to gain greater
control over their lives
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
Summarize the key points of the residual,
institutional, and structural approaches to social
welfare. Are there similarities? In what ways do
they differ?
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
Think about the provision of social welfare
services in your province. Do you see elements
of the residual, institutional, or structural
approaches in the provision of service? If yes,
in what ways?
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
Do you think individual and structural
approaches to practice are mutually exclusive?
Do you think that these approaches can be
integrated? Discuss your position.
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
In addition to Canada, which other countries are
considered “welfare states”? How might one’s
socioeconomic status intersect with one’s
position on social welfare?
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
In what ways might social welfare programs
facilitate a greater sense of belonging in Canadian
society?
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Websites
 Social Work Glossary
www.socialpolicy.ca
 Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)
www.ccsd.ca
 Canadian Social Research Links
www.canadiansocialresearch.net
Chapter 1:
The Canadian Welfare State Today
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.