Republic of the Philippines

Leyte Normal University

College of Arts and Science

Social Work Department

REFLECTION PAPER
(SWP1 Major Output)

Submitted by:

Zyrell Mae Berida

BSSW AS1-2

Submitted to:

Ms. Sheela Dela Cruz, RSW

December 15, 2023

 I remember one time when I was young, I saw a woman gave money to a mother beggar
carrying her sleeping baby in the corner of the streets in the city. That made me wonder, what
exactly is the true meaning behind “helping people”. Is giving food and money to those who
asked for it considered to be a truthful act of helping people? Do people who does this act
really intended to help the people despite not having any eyes to witness these acts they just
did, or are there more reasons inside of them as to why they help others? I use to think that by
doing these kinds of acts really helps the people in need but as I grew up, I realized that a real
meaning behind helping people is to help them learn how to live and stand up for themselves.
Just as the famous quote saying, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; Teach a man
to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". I saw my cousin help a lot of people especially the
children in this type of way. He was a Social Worker and he inspired me into digging deeper
towards finding the answers that lies beyond helping people, that it is simply not a dole out,
which I had now learnt in studying the program. Now that I am taking the path as an aspiring
Social Worker, there were a lot of lessons discussed to us. So let me share what I have learnt
this first year of our school year as an aspiring Social Worker all together with my
classmates.

In the Purpose and Purview of Social Work, we were taught about the meaning of need.
Need is something a person must have in order to live, succeed and be happy and it becomes
a problem if our basic needs are not met. It is true because, in our family we do need money
and there are a lot of problems surging just because of financial problems. My mother would
often complain to herself how hard it is to live in this world when you have nothing in your
hands. How hard it is to move freely when everything in this world no longer have free things
nor free payments. But despite all these problems, she still manages to make sure we, her
family always gets to live a life experiencing far from poverty. This makes me motivated to
study hard and finish my studies so that in the future I will finally be able to help provide the
'needs' that my family wants. However, this is quite different when other people and clients
are already involved. Of course, with our desires to help not just ourselves but to others as
well, we must understand that we aren't the only one who has problems in our lives but there
are also those especially the poor that really needs a hand to help them step out of the dark
poverty life they are living with. So, when an unmet need becomes a problem to many
people, the society has its own ways in responding to it such as the Individual and Group
Effects, Major Societal Institutions and Social Agencies. This is also why there is Social
Welfare that encompasses the well-being of the people physically, mentally, socially and so
on. As well as Social Services to help people who have needs and problems beyond their
coping capacities and of course importantly, having a Social Worker that can do the job. It’s
amazing how people are able to find ways to help others. These only states that at least there
are still so many people who cares about others not just for themselves because nowadays, a
lot of people would only just think about for themselves. I want to be like these people who
can sacrifice their time in learning various lessons and skills that would benefit and help other
people as well. But would it be impossible if I say that I want to be able to help others satisfy
not just our own but importantly their ‘needs’ as well?
 Base on the learnings I have learned from Unit I, I’ve learnt that there are so many
processes in being able to help others satisfy their ‘needs’. There are different views and
conceptions for Social Welfare which I’ve realized that helping others is not as simple and
easy as it sounds like. But when we’ve got the passion to do it, nothing will be as complicated
as it is. There are different kinds of needs that we must consider in helping people. This
might actually be one reason why a need and want will always be having different meanings.
There is the Residual where the needs are considered temporary and Institutional where needs
are considered normal. There are also categories of Social Welfare that helps protect the
individual against unavoidable consequences, helping them cope up with their stresses and
giving concrete aids which is thus then for it to be generally called with the term “welfare”.
Then there is the Social Services which are programs and services provided under various
auspices to concretely answer the needs and problems of the people in the society. However,
it could be meaningless unless there would be a concrete demonstration of its “concern for
the well-being of human society” through social services. Helping people is not just simply
handing over to them their specific needs, again it is not a dole out. The people should be able
to have an insight and reflection development to realize for themselves their potentials and
their own capacities to help them learn how to provide resources for their lives. Like what
I’ve always believe in, life is not like a kid being feed with a spoon by his mom forever, for a
child must learn how to eat on its own as he/she grows up. Then here comes a very important
discussion in class, the Social Worker. It is what we aspire to be and it has always been
mentioned to us that the main goal of a social worker is to enhance the individual’s social-
functioning. This is a word I am certain that I will never forget in my entire life. We have to
help the clients with their problems and so that they will be able to solve these problems on
their own now. The primary concern for social-functioning is to see how people are
interacting with their social environment whether or not they are coping, adjusting or
managing. We see how people are accomplishing their tasks, distresses and as they realize
their own aspirations and values. I’ve also learnt that if a person is strong capacitated, they
will not be affected too much with things, that’s why we must help them have a strong
capacity to cope up with their problems because people are easily influenced with their
personalities. The success in helping people will determine in the results when they are
finally able to learn how to cope up with their environment.

From studying what Social Work is, it is also important to study its history. I have
previously mentioned in my last reflection paper that human life isn’t the only thing that
undergoes challenges but even professions like Social Work does as well. I have learnt in the
history of Social Work that it had undergone so many things and processes before it could
have become the profession that we are now studying in this generation. Social Work has
evolved from charity work in the 18 th and 19th centuries through voluntary associations. The
religious foundation of social work was influenced by both Christian and Jewish churches,
with some focusing on helping the needy as a moral duty. However, there is also what is
being called as the “salvation of the soul” where people help other people because they
believe that if they would not commit good acts such as these, their souls might not be saved
by God and that they might not ascend to heaven. Going back to what I have saw in my
younger years where a woman was giving money to the mother beggar, I wonder how she felt
during that time? This is also the same where usually nowadays, each time you scroll in
social media, all of these acts of helping others are good but I still find it quite bothering why
they have to be portrayed in the media. I do not judge their ‘acts of helping’ but it still bugs
me why I feel like that what they are showing in the media is not as what their hearts are
really feeling. But it is good because at least, the people in need were able to acquire some
resources for their living. Perhaps just like with love, when someone loves you purely, the
material gifts they give would not matter too much but it’s their actions that they will do
everything they can to shape you into becoming a beautiful person by the heart. So, in
helping, I want to believe there would also be “pure helping” where one would help a person
by not just handing out their needs but to become a beautiful person that can realize their
potentials to make their lives worth living. I wish I could be able to do that purely as well
because I know pure things are quite hard to find nowadays. Then after, social work emerged
as a method for providing aid to the needy through settlement house movements founded by
James Addams and Ellen Gates Starr in 1889. They provided shelter, mental sanitation, and
basic social services to people with different needs. The founding of social work as a formal
education faced doubts about whether it should be a bachelor's degree or a master's level, but
it eventually became a profession that gained respect. What they did was astonishing because
everyone deserves to live under a roof to shelter them from the rain and the pains of their
lives. During the Spanish period, social work improved the well-being of the Philippines by
building roads and bridges, and teachings about love for the poor and the unfortunate.
However, the evolution of social work began with different influences due to colonization,
particularly the influence of the Americans. Filipinos and Americans were able to organize
charity organizations in their beloved country, and many people studied abroad for social
work, demonstrating determination to serve and help others, especially the needy. Then after
World War II, the term "home visitor" was dropped, and the name "social worker" was
introduced. The history of social work is fascinating and interesting, as it provides insight
into the origins and shape of the profession. As we study the program, we aspire to be like
these amazing individuals who create plans and form organizations to help those in need.

In the Philosophical Base of Social Work, philosophy means the foundation of beliefs
that serves as implementation of services and it should ensure and protect man. With this, we
don’t just give the people what they need, but we capacitate them to make them become
independent persons. There are three Filipino perspectives such as looking at themselves
conscious of their dignity, does not espouse flight from this world and with Christianity
concerned with practical solutions for daily problems in life but generally we have all started
equal but because of societal issues, we have differences on how we are being viewed. In the
process of conscientization, the clients should be the hero to their self – not us. It has to start
with the person himself, with his own awareness and recognition of self as human being,
deserving of respect and honor, and worthy of being saved when he cannot make it by
himself unaided. We help people by starting with the people, from bottom to top. In the Basic
Major Values of Social Work, I have learnt that regardless of a person’s beliefs, race and
ethnicity, we must respect him for who he is. We cannot also compare one person to another
because we are all uniquely different. If there’s someone we would have to compare, then
compare ourselves to our old selves only for “you are your own person.” Lastly, we are
mandated with people. So, when we are helping a person with previous cases and crimes, we
would not judge the person easily that just because this is what they have done, we do not
have the right to help them. Our instructor told us that we do not accept the act or sin that the
person had done but that doesn’t mean we would not accept the person as he is. We accept
the person but we do not accept their sins. When a person has the will to change, we can
always give them a chance. After all, as stated, “Judging is an immortal sin in the Social
Work profession.” For the Dominant Values of Filipino, what struck me the most was the
“Personalism” and “Utang na Loob”. In this world, you will be benefited when you know a
lot of people. These are always seen in jobs where one can get hired because they know
someone from that line of work. This makes it unfair and hard for the others who does not
know anyone in a job they are looking for. No matter how great the skills you have, when
there is someone with a bigger privilege in being hired due to personalism, then that job
might have never been yours to begin with. That’s just how the world works. It’s sad, cruel
but true. In Utang na Loob, this used to be a positive trait but since a lot of people are treating
it as a dept, then this is where toxicity starts between people. Next in the Philippine Code of
Ethics for Social Work, I had learnt that there are people having the willingness to change,
also if everyone is being given with the proper resources, everyone can live a good life
regardless of their background and lastly, social justice or equality for everyone and it doesn’t
mean that when a person is poor, they’ll be poor forever. Now regardless of ethics, there will
always be certain dilemmas such as the Manipulation. There were lessons discussed to us that
I never knew were already an act of manipulation. If our instructor did not explain it to us, I
fear that I might have been able to do these kinds of things without prior knowing it was a
form of manipulation. But it was clearly stated that Social Workers does not advice, but they
would give alternatives for the client. Lastly, there is the Transference where the client would
be seeing you as someone they know or vice-versa to the social worker’s view to the client. I
know to myself that I would always think that someone looks just like someone else that I
know. However, I do not treat them as if they are the person I know. As an aspiring social
worker, it is important for us to be able to learn that working with clients will be a
professional setting.

Social Work, is a planned-change and it will not be realized when there is no

determination coming from us. Thus, when helping the client, it is important to give them the
chance and willingness to change. Sometimes there are people who could not change because
they believe that it might already be too late for them to do so. Nothing is too late once you’re
still alive. There are still so many days one can make it up from their past acts and make sure
these would not be repeated. Anyone can always make their mistakes not happen twice. I will
not forget what our instructor told us that, “mistakes continuously happen because the lesson
or learning from that mistake is not yet learned.” But when a person eagerly wants to change,
he or she can reflect to themselves what was the lesson from those mistakes and previous acts
that they had done and what can they do to make sure it would not be repeated. Then when
they were able to do so, it’s a good start to help the person finally step into a life worth living
for them. Just like H.H Perlman’s nucleus in the social work practice, “a person with a
problem comes to a place where a professional representative helps him by a given process.”
In Unit IV, there are four major components of Social Work according to Helen Harris
Perlman. She refers it as the 4ps: person, problem, place and process. The person or the
client is the specific individual that is being helped. Again, regardless of who they are as a
person, it’s important to accept them for who they are. Whatever personality lies behind a
person does not automatically mean this was who they were from the beginning. We never
knew what experiences they had experienced with their lives so far that might have actually
changed them into becoming this kind of person. That’s why we can never judge because
everyone has different stories to tell. In the problem, there are different kinds of problems
whether it be Intra or Interpersonal, lack of economic and social resources, lack of education,
skills, knowledge and experience and lack of love, care and protection. If everyone has
different life stories to tell, then everyone has different problems to face as well. Even to your
simpliest problem of what should one eat for dinner is different with others. Problems are
always the first to ruin a person’s life that’s why we learn various of ways on how to solve
them and help others solve them for themselves. As for the Agency, there are three types:
Governmental, Nongovernmental and Semi-governmental. Lastly, in the Helping process, it
is the phase through which treatment is applied to attain a change in behavior or in the
environment.

According to Joyce Meyer, “We can improve our relationships with others by leaps and
bounds if we become encouragers instead of critics.” It is related as well to Unit V’s The
Helping Process because the helping process is the bridge, the channel through which help is
extended to the client and it will be successful when the client and the worker have good
relationship with each other. By good relationship, meaning good interaction with each other.
But when we are talking about client-worker relationship, it means a professional
relationship. The helping relationship in social work has a professional purpose. It is to help
another person using one’s professional knowledge, values and skills. Afterall, knowledge
ensures informed decision-making, values guide ethical practice, and skills enable practical
support, fostering a holistic and empathetic approach to client. The social worker must have
the skill to remain his or her relationship to his or her client as a professional one and must
clearly explain it at the very start. However, having a professional relationship does not just
entirely means being serious but it is important as well to learn how to form a comfortable
atmospheric vibe or a rapport so that the client will not be anxious in sharing their thoughts. It
is also important for the social worker to have self-awareness, objectivity and great
discipline. There are different characteristics of having a positive and effective relationship
with the clients. The social worker accepts the individual or client by recognizing his right to
existence, importance and value. Like what is always being mentioned, whatever beliefs, race
and spirituality a person has, we must accept them for who they are. We must accept them
not only for what they are but for what they are capable of becoming. Also there has to be an
active participation of both the client and worker for change must be integrated in both
participants in order for their relationship to grow. There is also a limited time to the client-
worker relationship because once their goal has been achieved, the relationship will be
terminated. A story in a novel has so many chapters and plots but despite everything, it will
always lead to an end whether it be a tragic or happy ending. Just like in the helping
relationship, everything will always come to an end. But this isn’t something to be sad about.
In dreams, when you found your dream to have already been fulfilled, then the best part next
is that you would get to find a new dream. No matter how they have started their interaction
from the beginning to middle up until to the ending phase, the client or person will surely
leave and will be able to start again a new but worth living life already.

If there is a helping relationship then there is the helping process as well. The difference
between the two would be that in the helping relationship, it focuses on the connection and
the quality of the client and worker interaction with each other. It is also the supportive and
compassionate context within which the helping process unfolds while the helping process
refers to the systematic series of steps and activities involved in assisting the clients and it
focuses more on the attainment of the goal. Of course, in starting the helping process, it is
important for the client and worker to first have a rapport or comfortable interaction with
each other. From introductions to asking questions. This is where the social worker would
also begin to encourage the client to seek out proper services. In the Assessment, it is the
process of gathering information about the client’s information such as their background,
relationships, family, situation, strengths and challenges by using various resources as well.
This is also where data collection, problem identification, formulation of goals and
objectives, documentations and various approaches are being used. Then Planning involves
having a collaboratively developing strategy to address the client’s needs, achieve goals and
promote positive change. This is where goal settings basing on what are the identified needs
and strengths are being discovered during in the assessment process. Planning also includes
having an active participation from the client also making sure that their preferences, values
and perspectives are being considered in developing the plan for intervention. Of course,
there shouldn’t be only a single plan because we never know what life suddenly hits us. It’s
important as well to be able to create plan B to Z but just as what was discussed to us, it’s
okay to have several plans but it’s still important to make sure that the Plan A gets to be the
plan to be implemented. In Intervention, it now involves the planned and purposeful actions
taken by the social workers to be able to address the needs, concerns and goals that are
identified during the assessment and planning stages. The social workers have to execute
specific strategies such as advocacies, skill-building and counseling. However, when social
workers do counseling, it is not to the point that one counsels like a professional
psychologists and psychiatrist. Social workers do give counseling but they do not give
advices. Intervention also includes enhancing the client’s capacity to cope up with challenges,
make informed decisions and learn how to access resources. In Evaluation, this is where the
worker assesses and evaluates the outcomes of the interventions that were implemented
during the whole helping process. This is where the worker will be able to see if the goal has
been attainted. But I remember hearing from class that the real success is when the client
after the helping process and the termination is finally able to live a fulfilled and functioning
life where he or she will no longer run from agencies to agencies in order to help solve his or
her problems in life. Lastly, as what have been previously mentioned, the Termination.

In the Methods of Social Work Intervention or Social Work practice, there are three
primary methods: casework, groupwork and social action. The primary methods are also
called to as direct methods because they involve direct help and interaction between the
social worker and the client or in a group or community. According to de Guzman’s book,
social casework focuses on the problems of the individuals and social work efforts are
directed chiefly at helping them and the immediate members of their families who are
affected. Social casework helps the social workers understand their client’s different and
unique situations in life in order for them to be able to develop personalized strategies and
provide necessary support which contributes to an overall effective social work practice. It is
important for us students to learn more about casework because this is a very important
method that each social worker must do. It was after all as well the very first method in social
work practice. When we are going to be faced with clients in the future, we must learn the
proper process in casework. Case management on the other hand focuses on the worker’s
clients. The worker manages the intervention of the client even if they would refer them to
others, their relationship would not easily be cut as well. However, their relationship will be
totally terminated or cut when the client has been referred to a different agency. In Social
Group Work, it focuses more on the dynamics and interaction within groups. It enhances
social-functioning through a purposeful group experience and to cope more effectively with
their personal, group or community problems. It is important to be able to interact and
socialize with others for man cannot live alone by himself, “no man is an island”. Surviving
and being able to experience so many things in life can only be made possible by becoming a
part of a group. Community Organization is important in social work practice for it involves
mobilizing and empowering communities in order to address social issues collectively.
Through community organization, it can foster collaboration, advocacies and development of
sustainable solutions. Lastly, there are three in the secondary methods: administration,
research and social action. It is called as indirect because unlike the primary method, they are
indirectly helping the individuals or community. They are like the props or the helpers behind
the curtains of a theatrical stage in order to make the performance shine brighter. In
administration, the workers have to be an expert for they are the professionals who supervises
the social workers. The administration on simpler terms is the lookout for the social workers.
The Social research on the other hand ensures that the program and project become
successful. Lastly, the social action. It is essentially about creating a positive change in the
society. When I was in high school, I was still confused why am I seeing people in the streets
with banners and megaphones shouting for something, but then I realize they were fighting
for something and reasons why people engage in social action is to be able for their voice to
be heard and to be able to raise awareness to the others not included in the action about the
certain issue they are portraying. I never knew at first that social workers are included in
social action, but now basing on the third to sixth Philippine Code of Ethics for Social
Worker, it states there that the social workers would raise their voice in order to provide what
would be best for the people especially their clients. Just as what we have all been saying in
our interview for admissions, “to become the voice of the voiceless.”

For the last Unit, there are various tools, skills and techniques of Social Work. First is
the Interviewing wherein it is the main tool used in social work practice. Its main purpose is
to gather information in order to decide on a course of action. Interviewing is an important
tool in social work practice because this is an efficient way in gathering the information of a
client that could not be achieved or gathered in written document form. Thus, when
interviewing, it is important for the worker to be able to possess the skills in order to conduct
a smooth and good interview. The worker or interviewee have to be observant and alert on
the nonverbal cues that the client may give. Sometimes, the words that the client is telling the
worker are not all true, that’s why it’s important to know how to observe a client’s gesture
when he or she is anxious when sharing to the worker their information or story. Of course,
interviewing also consists of beginning, middle and ending for a proper flow of the
conversation. It is also important to not add any more unnecessary topics during the
interview. There are some people who are not used into talking face to face with others
especially when its their first time seeing them, so interviewing with these kinds of people
could also be a bit challenging because instances are there were the person might already be
too shy to even speak a single word. Even as I am, there was one time where I would want to
go to a free therapy check-up but I somehow did not want to express my feelings towards a
person I don’t know yet, so there’s no doubt that there are others having the same case as
well. Then the Discussion talks about the type of verbal interaction consisting of informal
conversation among group of people. This tool is being used during learning, therapy,
socialization, problem-solving and recreations. When people are being engaged in
discussions and conversations, the individuals are able to contribute what they are thinking
and participates in decision-makings. Aside from these two tools having importance in social
work practice, there are also other similarities between interviewing and discussion which
includes having a give-and-take between participants, may be both informal and formal and
having verbal and nonverbal communication. Then there is the purpose of case recording
according to de Guzman’s book, aids the worker in formulation of a hypothesis and to
appraise movement, change and growth or the reason for failure to achieve treatment or
intervention goals. There is a difference between case recording and case study. Case
recording focuses more on writing the progress of a client from beginning of problem-solving
up until termination while case study focuses more on data collection for an examination of a
‘single’ case. Either way, both of them are still important in social work practice. Thus, a
social worker must also learn how to use effective techniques in social work such as small
talks, support through ventilation, reassurance and instillation of hope, exploration,
clarification and advice but social workers again only give alternatives, universalization,
reward and punishment, role rehearsal and demonstration, confrontation, conflict,
manipulation, andragogy and conscientization. All of these have different kinds of
approaches, each can even often lead to a negative result when the worker fails to use the
technique to the client properly.

As an aspiring social worker, I can see that the process towards becoming one will not be
as easy as it is. Even after learning so many discussions in school, I can see base on these
lessons as well that being a social worker can also be challenging. But I believe that if one
has the passion for helping people in need, then nothing is impossible to achieve. I salute
social workers for their work in our society and I want to be someone useful as well for the
society. However, I could say that learning all these lessons was not easy as well, but I’m
glad that there were many terms that had stayed in my mind. There were also a lot of
realizations that I had learnt that I can use in my reality life. Going back to when I first saw
the woman helping the mother beggar, I would be honest to say that even after learning and
looking back from all the eight units, I’m still quite confused as to understanding the ‘real’
meaning behind helping people. But I would whole heartedly say that after learning from the
eight units in my first year of studying Social Work program, there are so many things that I
had learned in relation towards helping other people. I am happy to have been able to be a
part of this class, that I was able to learn useful knowledge for my life and my future life. I
wish that for the next months and years of my life, I would still be able to learn lessons like
these. I do not want people to be an enemy for themselves just because of problems they can
no longer face for themselves. Everyone deserves to live in a world free from these dark
monsters eating away their hearts losing their will to live.