SOCIAL WORK: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

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This question often occurs to them who have chosen social work to be their professional occupation (though, it may be argued that "chance" is better word than "choice" to describe professional commencement of these fellows). Dima, Olga, Lena, Ivan and Mikhail are students in their second year at the Department of Social Work, Moscow State Social University. Sergei and Boris are post-graduate students there.

Social work, what does it mean?

Ivan: It means activities to help people adjust themselves to modern living.

Dima: Supporting those in need. Not only financially, I mean, but in every possible way.

Mikhail: Social work is essentially some integrative efforts of professionals in various fields (lawyers, economists and others) aimed at solving people's problems as they arise.

Lena: Social worker is a third party between individuals who need help and organizations providing help to such individuals.

Sergei: For me, social work means, first of all, certain type of activities rooted in national culture and history of mostly developed countries; and now our efforts are to plant it here in Russia.

Boris: Social work means efforts to change society, to make it improve through providing assistance to those in its weakest links.

What do you call a "social problem"?

Olga: I think, it is problem that lies within society and directly affects people's lives.

Lena: They include individual problems on personal level.

Mikhail: Social problems result from disharmony and disbalance in society leading to diverse social abnormalities and concussions caused by economic and political reasons. Social problems are not personal problems; they are problems of entire society.

Sergei: Wherever a social problem appears, it means, like with any other problem, that a gap exists between what we expect and what we actually have. So, a social problem means a gap in society.

How do you evaluate any given social problem? By what criteria?

Olga: First, we have to find out what the problem is and then search for reasons causing the problem.

Lena: First, we analize causes, then we design some plans.

Mikhail: If I were solving some problem, my first consideration would be those of public use. Sometimes problems are better unsolved, because they are rather helpful than harmful. That's why criteria for problem evaluation must be set so they would meet interests of society first.

Lena: A person who comes up with a problem must be evaluated first. Some people tend to invent problems. So, first of all, we have to find out where is the problem's origin.

Sergei: Problem evaluation includes analysis of social forces involved: who are parties to the problem, who are interested in its removal. Next step is to analyze what are expectations of those involved and wether expected changes may be helpful to other members of society. And third, we must evaluate what are tools and implements at disposal of the interested social group.

What goals do social workers pursue?

Dima: The goal of social work is to help people adjust to their surroundings. A social worker should act as an advocate for his client at court of government as the latter is obviously imperfect. Social workers should compose a societal stratum serving as a buffer protecting individuals from government inequities. For social workers it means not only flattening the injustice, but sometimes covering it.

Mikhail: The ultimate goal is to restore balance in society. Social workers serve the ruling regime. If there are social groups unsatisfied with the government, social workers' task is to flatten conflicts.

Lena: Social worker's task is to help people find their grounds, show them right directions, teach them live on their own and solve their problems themselves.

Sergei: The major goal of social work is to guarantee everyone some minimum of public benefits, some conventional living standards, regardless of person's social or economic status.

What had you known about social work before you started at the university?

Olga: Before the university I hadn't had a foggiest idea that social work existed at all. I happened to miss one point to qualify for Law Department, so I had to enroll here.

Lena: My great interest in social work arose from the fact that nobody could ever explain to me what it was.

Mikhail: Enrolling here, I knew nothing of matter. I thought it was the same old "sobes"1 renamed. Now it attracts me as incorporating multiple disciplines: economics, law, and so on.

Dima: To say the truth, I applied for sociology first, missed few points and enrolled here. Now I never regret it.

Ivan: I come from small rural community. When I arrived in town to pass exams, they told me I might go to Moscow and become a student at the department of social work. They gave me lots of booklets so I could learn what it was. I rather liked it. Moscow looked attractive to me, too. Soon I'll become the first professional social worker in Buryatia. In future, I may become republican minister of social security. So I rather like it.

Sergei: Honestly, I knew nothing of social work before.

What problems do social workers face today?

Ivan: The same true for everyone working with people, social workers must like what they do, they must feel it's their calling. We must learn communicate, but never overload ourselves with clients' problems -- we must keep distance. Our profession is one of most difficult, it requires some promotion efforts to enhance its public prestige.

Mikhail: Today many social workers have not been specially trained. I don't think they are going to be happy when time comes for trained professionals to take their jobs from them. The second problem is of psychological balance. Clients' problems should be always be given thought, and never -- emotions.

Lena: The first problem is lack of demand. Even public organizations are not informed about the fact that first professional social workers have already graduated the university, to say nothing about wide public. We shall work on public communication, people sometime have no idea of where they can turn to. Social workers today have no application for their skills. Probably, many of us will face a situation when we'll have to change profession.

Olga: We have no placement for our knowledge and skills. No incentives to apply them.

Sergei: Finding job is problematic. We have developed neither organizational structure for ample social activities nor any institutional network providing social services. From this standpoint, for a social worker to make professional career, it takes luck. The problem is very grave because of copious political and cultural complications inherent to Russia. Models of social work need be properly adapted before they can be introduced to our historic and cultural backgrounds. Frameworking will take more than a year or even a decade, because along with human it requires plentiful economic resources.

What would you prefer for on-site training?

Olga: I'd like to work at some government of large scale to see its operation. I dream of opportunity to work in Moscow City Administration. Professors told us we might work in the City Administration, though they say nothing specific of what we might do there. In general, I believe, it's rather prestigious to work in the City Administration. I would be happy to go there for some practice and to look myself for whatever job opportunities they have.

Lena: I would like to have some training at many different places, to learn how they work with elders, with children, with migrants -- to learn everything. But most of all, I want to see how they do it in family planning centers.

Mikhail: One has to get acquainted with different sites' operations before choosing one's future specialty. And once you've chosen something definitely, you take your straight course and go on training to whatever organization you plan to work at after graduation.

Ivan: I would like to work at some real place. I want to see and understand the dark side of our legislation, the way it is implemented.

Interview by Snezhana Bondar