Scientific Writing and Publishing In Social Work

Scientific Writing and Publishing in Social Work

Edited By: Ilango Ponnuswami, Abraham P. Francis, Nonie Harris

Published by: Niruta Publications, Bangalore.

ISBN :  978-81-923326-2-8

Copyright : Authors

Pages                           : XIV+226=240

First Impression          : 1000 copies

First Edition                : 2013

Paper                           : NS Maplitho 70 GSM

Price                            : Rs. 850/-

                                      ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preface

Ilango Ponnuswami1

Abraham Francis2

Nonie Harris3

The context

As a visiting scholar of The Cairns Institute, Professor Ilango Ponnuswami from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India had the opportunity in 2012 to work and collaborate with staff of Cairns Institute as well as social work academics of James Cook University(JCU) in North Queensland, Australia. These collaborations led to recognition that many of the challenges and dilemmas of scientific writing and publicationwere relevant to both the Indian and Australian contexts and that a meaningful cross-national collaboration would potentially enrich the learning experiences of students and staff in both locations. Subsequently the editors of this book, Professor Ponnuswami, and Dr Francis and Dr Harris from JCU, conducted a three day residential Scientific Writing and Publication Workshop (in January 2013), for social work faculty members and research scholars, at the Karl Kubel Institute of Development Education (KKID) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. This book is a tangible outcome of this international, academic collaboration and, most importantly, is the result of the KKID participants’ scientific writing endeavors begunat the 2013 workshop in Coimbatore.

This international collaboration directly aligns with James Cook University’s Faculty of Arts Education and Social Sciences’ (FAESS) Faculty Plan. The Plan specifically commits the Faculty to activities and endeavors that “increase links with other Universities in the tropics and encourage staff and student collaboration and exchange” (PC2.3). The international collaborative activity and publication outcome also align with the JCU’s commitment to creating a brighter future for life in the tropics through a project that contributes to “the experience of new cultures, particularly … a new educational culture, [and] is also an opportunity for some creative thinking about how new knowledges are formed and generated” (McGinty, Koo and Saedi, 2010, p. 518).

Research and Writing in Social Work

As social work educators we, the editors, shared a common belief that the activities of research, writing and publication are fundamental to who we are as social work practitioners and that it is an incredible privilege to be involved in the process of creating knowledge – which is what the research and writing processes allow us to do. We recognize that social work practice is changing and that research is now an integral part of practice. The need for practitioners to be able to engage in researchis becoming more important both for clients, organizations and communities. We should assume that research and practice are not mutually exclusive and that as practitioners committed to social justice and human rights, we are also researchers (and writers and publishers) who embrace these same commitments.The Australian Association of Social Workers states that: ‘Research is key to the continued development of the theory and knowledge base of social work practice’ (2008, p. 6). This professional practice standard emphasises the importance of the creation of an evidence base to inform our practice; that as social work practitioners we continue to monitor and evaluate what we do in a structured way; and that through these processes we are accountable for the quality and effectiveness of our practice. Practitioners also need to undertake research to determine the needs of clients, to test new ideas and to confirm practice wisdom. Research underlies the accomplishment of all of these expectations. However, as McMahon (2008) reminds us, undertaking research although important, is not sufficient- “doing research is a process of self-empowerment for the individual researcher but empowerment can begin and end with the individual unless the message gets published and broadcast to the wider context” (McMahon, 2008, p. 49). Giving written voice to our knowledge should be our priority.

     

References

1.   Australian Association of Social Workers.(2008). AASW practice standards for social workers.
            Canberra: AASW.

2.   Faculty of Arts Education and Social Sciences.(2012). Faculty triennium plan 2013 – 2015.
            Townsville, Australia: James Cook University.

3.   McGinty, S., Koo, Y. and Saeidi, M. (2010).A Cross-country Study on Research Students’
            Perceptions of the Role of Supervision and Cultural Knowledge in Thesis
            Development. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14: 5, 517-531.

4.   McMahon, A. (2008). From Consumers to Creators: The Importance of Getting Your Work
            Published. Ngoonjook: A Journal of Australian IndigenousIssues.32, 37-50.

1.   Professor and Head, Department of Social Work, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli,
            Tamil Nadu, India.

2.   Lecturer, Department of Social Work and Human Services, James Cook University,
            Queensland, Australia.

3.   Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work and Human Services, James Cook University, 

            Queensland, Australia. 

Contents

         

Acknowledgement                                                                                   - VII

Foreword                                                                                                   - IX

          Prof. Vimla Nadkarni

Preface                                                                                                      - X

          Ilango Ponnuswami, Abraham Francis and Nonie Harris

Section 1    Introduction to Writing and Publishing in Social Work   

1.  Scientific Writing and Publication in Social Work –

     Issues and Concerns                                                                            - 3

          Ilango Ponnuswami, Abraham Francis and Nonie Harris     

2.  Mentoring Research Scholars for Publication                                          - 13

          Anthony McMahon, Sue McGinty and Felecia Watkin Lui

3.  The Time is Now: Aboriginalising Social Work Practice                    - 23

          Karen Woodley

Section 2    Health Research

4.  The Need of the Social Worker in Primary Health Care Centres             - 33

          A.K. Praveenbabu

5.  Mental Health of Suicide Attempters                                                  - 38

          Esther Kala and J. O. Jeryda Gnanajane Eljo

6.  Older Persons Wellbeing and The Spiritual Imperative                           - 54

          P. Udhayakumar, Ilango Ponnuswami and Abraham Francis

Section 3    Child and Adolescent Research

7.  Life Skills Education for Adolescents Living in Save Our

     Soul (SOS) Village - An Intervention Study                                         - 73

          L. Vini, V.  Indiramma and M. Vranda

8.  A Study on Adolescents Emotional Adjustment in

     Perambalur District                                                                              - 83

          T. Thangadurai and A. Praveenbabu

9.  Social Work Practice in the Correction of Children in

     Conflict with Law                                                                                     - 100

          M. Xavier and R. Arjunan

10.  Academic Motivation of Secondary School Students-                         - 115

       An Empirical Study

            T. Amirtha Mary  and J. Florence Shalini

11.  Does Resilience Originate From Life Dilemmas?

       With Special Reference to Institutionalized Adolescents                    - 122

            Jasmine George and Ilango Ponnuswami

12.  Behaviour Deviance Among Adolescent School Students in Slums        - 130

               K. Shanthi and J.O. Jeryda Gnanajane Eljo     

Section 4    Research on Women’s Issues, Education and Social Policy    

13.  The Living Conditions of Women Domestic Workers in

       Tiruchirappalli District                                                                         - 141

            S. Srinivasan and Ilango Ponnuswami   

14.  Young Motherhood: The Lived Experiences of Mothers

       Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Five – An Australian Context                    - 152

            Zalia Powell and Nonie Harris

15.  Emotional Intelligence of a School Teacher -

       A Case Study Analysis                                                                         - 168

            R.Mercinah and D.Nirmala

16.  Issues and Challenges of Education in India                                        - 177

            Mohana and Ilango Ponnuswami

17.  Prisons And Rehabilitation                                                                       - 198

            Juliet

18.  Domestic Violence, Human Rights and Mental Health of

     Women - An Agenda for Social Work in India                                   - 213

          Bhavna Mehta

Contact for the book

Niruta Publications,

#244, 3rd Main, Poornachandra Road,

MPM Layout, Mallathahalli, Bangalore-560056.

Ph: 080-23212309, Mob: 9980066890

Email: ramesha.mh@gmail.com,  nirutapublications@gmail.com

http://nirutapublications.blogspot.in/

Making Resilience Possible: From Theory to Practice

Making Resilience Possible: From Theory to Practice

http://youtu.be/qurJOnIq31E

Global stressors that are impacting on the rural community life such as energy stress as a result of scarcity of conventional oil; economic stress as a result of global economic instability and widening income gaps between rich and poor; demographic stress from differentials in population growth rates between rich and poor societies and from expansion of mega-cities in poor societies; environmental stress from worsening damage to land, water forests, and fisheries; and, finally the climate stress from changes in the composition of Earth's atmosphere. The cumulative effect of the above variables contributes t the growing risk of a cascading collapse of systems vital to our human wellbeing - a phenomenon Thomas Homer-Dixon calls as "synchronous failure" (2011). Consequently communities are expected to do everything in order to avoid such outcomes, today. In sequence, this paper addresses three areas:

• Our ability to cope, become resilient and build home without hurricanes, storm surges, excess rainfall and winds that ignite fresh fires;
• Undertake a re-visit of the context of rural and remote stranded-ness and the 'ecological adaptive cycle metaphor' and finally address
• The social processes that facilitate the recovery and promote resilience identified in recent research in Australia.

Run time: 37 mins

SUSTAINING SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION AND PRACTICE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL (A PROPOSAL AND AN APPEAL)

I express my gratitude to the organizers of the 26th Annual National Conference of the Professional Social Workers for inviting me to participate in the conference at Mangaluru, 2008. I have come here, in spite of my failing health, with a definite purpose of placing  before you certain of my thoughts and plans for maintaining highest possible standards of imparting professional social work education and guiding social work practitioners in various fields. I may sound to be parochial in my proposal as I confine in my talk to the pressing issues concerning Karnataka. I am, of course, discussing the issues not unrelated to the theme of the conference , namely, `Challenges for Social Work Education and Practice : the Changing Social Scenario'.

The problems and the challenges :

            I consider that the following are the major challenges faced in Karnataka, and I feel these could be almost the same in other parts of our country :  1) Mushrooming of Departments / Schools of Social Work with no or insufficient infra-structural facilities and with not qualified faculty  (till the end of the 20th century there were only four University departments and only one private school of social work affiliated to a University and there are now more than 70 schools of social work imparting professional education at graduate as also at post-graduate level in Karnataka).

            2)  A stiff competition from the MBAs, Home Science, Law and other Social Science graduates even where only the trained social workers are required to be employed.

            3) The social work educators, the social work students as also the trained social workers in the field are either not organised or ill-organised.

            4) Lack of production of social work literature based on original researchs on theory, social policy, etc., particularly in the regional languages. There are no social work dictionaries and encyclopedias in Kannada ( And it is the same situation with other Indian languages, I feel .)

            5) No suitable field work agencies are available in required number, and the trainees do not have, by and large, supervised field work facilities.

            6) The training institutions do not have extension services needed for promoting professionalism.

            I am sure you agree with me that there is a need to devise suitable strategies to meet these challenges  squarely. I am therefore placing before you a proposal with a request to ponder over it seriously and to take appropriate resolve and necessary step in that direction. And I specially appeal to the social work teachers, the students of social work and the social workers in Karnataka to take keen interest in the matter. 

KASWE- ( Karnataka Association of Social Work Education )

            Karnataka has right now at least 70 schools of social work including the post graduate Departments under the Universities. All the teachers need to form an association called Karnataka Association of Social Work Education ( KASWE) by becoming the members of the Association.

            The following could be the functions of the Association :

            1) The Association may devide the state into certain zones and allot the zones to the schools for undertaking surveys and researches in the allotted zones on social problems, resources, development programmes taken up by both the government  and the voluntary organizations to prepare status reports to be shared with the other schools.

            2) Biannual seminars on Karnataka Social Work situation in different places, namely, Bengaluru, Belagavi, Bijapura, Davanagere, Dharwada, Glubarga ( Kalburgi ), Mangaluru, Mysuru, Shivamogga as also, if possible, in the headquarters of the post-graduate centers of Universities, to deliberate on conditions prevalent in Karnataka in general and on the conditions prevalent in the zone where the seminar is being held in particular. The seminar may discuss the developmental programmes based on the research data collected by the schools.

            3) Undertake sponsored policy and exploratory as also experimental researches, and prepare policy-statements related to major social work areas. The policy-statements are to be submitted to the Karnataka Government  for necessary action, and take up the follow-up action to assess the action taken up by the Govt. ( Even when we fully-well know that the social work educators and social workers have no role to play in formulating policies and designing development plans we have to do something in this area )

            4) Bring out a periodical News-Bulletin and a Research Journal both in Kannada and English languages to keep the social work teachers, students, workers, administrators, policy-makers and general public informed about the developments in social work  situation in Karnataka and to provide a forum for social work researchers to share their findings through the Journal.

            5) KASWE may set up a Vigilance  Committee and divide it into certain subcommittees to do the following concerning the schools of social work in Karnataka : i) Curricula; 

ii) Conditions related to the infrastructural facilities of the training  institutions  

iii)  Field practice- both concurrent and block placement, and relationship with the field work agencies;

iv) Camps, educational tours

v) Teaching and other personnel-qualification, service condition, etc., ;  vi) Extramural (Extension) services such as development and counseling centers;

vii) Placement or employment guidance to the trained workers;

viii) Maintaining public relations

ix) Research and publication;

x) Relation with the University Administration, State and  Central Governments, UGC, ICSSR, CAPART, and such other bodies;

xi) Problems faced by trained

social workers in their fields;

xii) Any other matters related to social work education and practice.

           

CONCLUSION

            I may sound too idealistic in presenting this proposal. But I feel strongly that there is a need to ponder over this proposal. I learn that Maharashtra Social Work Educators have been carrying on activities related to certain of the areas  I have placed with a view to strengthening social work profession in that state.

            For your kind information, I mooted this strategy in the 80's itself and had discussion with Dr.Olinda Pereria ( who was then principal of Roshini Nilay School of Social Service, Mangaluru) and requested her to take up the leadership to give an appropriate shape to KASWE. She showed some interest in the proposal but due to our `legendary' apathy we could not take positive steps in the matter. When I had discussion with her there were only four University,  departments and one private school of social work where (i.e.,Mangaluru) we are holding this Conference. Now it is time for us to act.

            I once again thank all of you for giving me the opportunity to place this proposal for your serious consideration and follow-up action.

Dr.H.M. Marulasiddhaiah

Rtd. Prof. Deptt of Social Work

Bangalore University

Solved NET Question Paper-2008

Social Work Paper-II

1.         Which one of the following most  adequately defines the nature of social work ?

            (a) Social propaganda

            (b) Administering psychological testing

            (c) Enforcing Social Legislations

            (d) Problem solving by applying specific     techniques

2.         Family is a :

            (a) Reference group

            (b) Primary group

            (c) Secondary group

            (d) Recreational group

3.         Concept made measurable is ;

            (a) Definition

            (b) Variable

            (c) Symbol

            (d) None of the above

4.         The father of the Indian renaissance is:

            (a) Devendranath Tagore

            (b) Dayananda Saraswati

            (c) Vivekananda

            (d)Raja Ram Mohan Roy

5.         Directive principle of state policies can  not be enforced:

            (a) by public

            (b) by NGO

            (c) by bureaucrat

            (d) none of the above

6.         A closely related technique to role  reversal is :

            (a) The expression of empathy

            (b) The expression of sympathy

            (c) The expression of apathy

            (d) The expression of antipathy

7.         The report of the National Commission  on self employed women and women  in the unorganized sector is titled  as:

            (a) Towards equality

            (b) Daughters of India

            (c) Shram Shakti

            (d) Invisible women

8.         Who has propounded the theory of   'Class struggle':

            (a) Fedreic Engles      (b) Karl Pearson

            (c) Karl Marx              (d) Max Weber

9.         An educated guess about the nature of the relationship between two or more   variables is termed as:

            (a) Antithesis                  (b) Hypothesis

            (c) Generalisation          (d) Prognosis

10.       Mary Richmond's `Social Diagnosis'  can be considered as the first book of:

            (a) Social Group Work

            (b) Social and Preventive Medicine

            (c) Social Case Work

            (d) Social Action

11.        The ultimate goal of a women's self help group is :

            (a) Savings                                         (b) Loans

            (c) Insurance                      (d) Empowerment

12.       One of the following is not a factor of internal validity of a research design:

            (a) History                                                         (b) Maturation

            (c) Stastistical regression          (d) Correlation

13.       The agency that estimates the National Income of India is :

            (a) Reserve bank of India

            (b) Planning Commission

            (c) Finance Ministry

            (d)Central Stastistical Organisation

14.        The study team on Social Welfare and welfare of Backward Classess was  constituted in the year..............:

            (a) 1948  (b) 1950   (c) 1958   (d)1960          

15.       Which among the following is associated with `Token Economics' ?

            (a) Transactional Analysis

            (b) Behaviour Therapy

            (c) Clint Centered Therapy

            (d) Short term case work

16.       Human Poverty Index(HPI) by :

            (a)WHO    (b) WTO   (c)FAO   (d)UNDP

17.       " The integration of all functions and processes within an organization in order to achieve continues  conyinues improvement of quality of goods and services". Which among the following terms is described by above definition given by  Omachonu and Ross:

            (a) TQM                      (b) HRM                     

            (c) Theory Z                 (d) Collegial Model

18.       The number of the classes to which the values can be assigned arbitrarily or at will without violating restrictions or limitationa placed, is:

            (a) Mean value          

            (b) Chi-square

            (c) Degree of Freedom

            (d) Type 1 error

19.       Arrange the sequence of following in context of social work profession:

            1. Charity        2. empowerment

            3. welfare        4. religious reform and

            5. development

            (a)        1         2          3          5          4

            (b)        4         1          3          5          2

            (c)        1         4          3          2          5

            (d)        1         4          3          5          2

20.       Match list-1 with list-2 in relation to commonly used genogram symbols:

            1. Deseaced male, died at age of 21years

            2. Male 21 years old

            3. Female 21 years old

            4. Identified female client 21 years old

            A)  1     2          3          4

            B)  2     3          1          4

            C) 3      2          4          1

            D) 1     4          3          2

21.       The Ecological framework for understanding person-environment relations relations operate with the person in centre and systems around Persons. These systems are :

            1. Micro system      2. Macro system

            3. Exo system         4. Meso system

            Arrange these system in ascending order :

            1          2          3          4         

            2          1          3          4         

            1          4          3          2

            3          2          4          1

22.       An irrational fear and negative emotional reaction to homosexuality,   their life style and identity is called :

            (a)Homophobia                                  

            (b) Homo Sexphobia

            (c) Both (A) and (B)                

            (d) None of the above

23.       Handicapism refers to:

            (a) Prejudice and discrimination directed  against disabled person

            (b) Favoured attitude towards disabled persons

            (c) Social movement for handicap welfare

            (d) None of the above

24.       Consider the following statements and select your answer according to the codes below :

Assertion (A): Gender Aware social work means provision of services with sensitivity to the impact of gender

Reason  (R) : Gender is a social construct which place men and women in different position in terms of power, privileges and resources.

            (a) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)

            (b) Both (A) and (R) are not true

            (c)( A) is true but (R) is false

            (d) (A) is not true but (R) is true

25.       The technique of Dream Analysis is associated with :

            (a) Sigmund Freud      (b) Eric Berne

            (c) Pavlov                    (d) William Glasser

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL WELFARE

Two models of social welfare are usually mentioned in historical reviews of social welfare and also in the contemporary literature on the subject. The dominant and popular model is usually referred to as the remedial or residual model which is contrasted with the other model described variously as the institutional/institutional-redistributive or developmental model of social welfare. It is frequently argued by some wellknown Western and Indian writers that the latter model is more suited to the countries of the third world which includes India.

            Professional social work as evolved in the west, particularly in the U.S.A., and U.K., has been greatly influenced by the remedial model of social welfare for a variety of historical reasons. This in turn has moulded the nature of social work education which has the objective of preparing professional manpower for employment in the field of social welfare. We in India are completing seventy five years of social work education. It is an appropriate time for an overview of both the profession and the social work education. While it is not possible to do justice to such an assessment in this paper, a few observations would be made before taking up one or two features for discussion.

            Some manpower studies carried out in a few major states in the country indicate that during this period of seventy five years the growth of the profession has been very slow. Even highly developed states do not have more than 25 per cent of the employed social welfare personnel with professional education. For most jobs in the field, professional education is not a required qualification. Salary scales are unattractive and promotional avenues are very limited, both vertically and horizontally. While official pronouncements of plans and policy, especially from the 5th Five Year Plan onwards, emphasize developmental aspects of social welfare, the financial allocations in the subsequent plans and the programmes included in them retain, with one or two exceptions, the traditional model of social welfare. The Integrated Child Development Services ( ICDS ) is one of these exceptions. But the employment potential for professionally trained social workers is practically nil because at the level of project supervisors, home science graduates are preferred and the field level jobs are not attractive or suitable to professional social workers. The other exception is the programmes of integrated rural development, though politically important and with substantial financial allocations, the employment potential for professional social workers is not any better than in the ICDS.

            Social Work Education in India has been based on the traditional model of social welfare and social work practice with some modifications to suit the Indian situation. At the beginning of the decade of 1970's a few social work educators in India (including this writer) began to advocate developmental orientation to social welfare and social work education which was also the emerging new trend, both regionally and internationally. The factors responsible for this have been discussed elsewhere. An official committee endorsed this new orientation to social work practice and education by recommending that social work education should be in tune with social reality and it should have a rural bias in contrast to the prevalent urban-industrial-metropolis model (UGC 1980). While almost all social work educators publicly seem to be committed to the developmental model of social welfare and social work education, there is very little evidence of the implementation of this commitment either in social work practice or social work education. We need not go into the reasons for this here.

            A brief explanation of developmental social welfare, a convenient shorthand term for the new model, will be made, before illustrating some of its features in a few selected areas of social work practice. The term 'development' and 'social development' are frequently used in the literature dealing with this model. There are no widely accepted definitions of these concepts in the disciplines concerned such as economics, sociology and social welfare.** The economist's perception of development is based on his own discipline's bias and expansiveness which has been described as economism by Nieuwenhuize, a well known Dutch sociologist. Conceptually the economists have moved from economic growth and later economic development as the central objective of planned nation-building by the newly independent countries of the third world to a broader but not significantly different concept of development. They include in it some non-economic variables which together are referred to in a residual meaning of the term 'social' as social development. It may mean either or both of the following: social prerequisites to (economic) development and social consequences of development (considered as undesirable). In U.N. literature it tends to be stated as economic development plus institutional change without clearly defining institutional change, but with occasional references to family planning and land reforms as programmes or to the objective of social justice, sometimes also referred to as redistribution or distributive justice. Gradual elimination of the mass problems of illiteracy, unemployment and poverty are included in this view of development.

            The sociologists tend to take a holistic view of the term social development which includes economic development as one of the many components rather than as the dominant feature of it. In a recent major treatise on development a western sociologist defines social development as social-culturally relevant development (Van Nieuwenhuiz 1982). To conclude, while at the level of conceptual description this is done very elegantly by some, its operational discussions tend to remain vague if not quite impractical and thus vulnerable to the critical attacks by the economists (Sovani,1975). Social development, in the words of Myrdal, “is the movement upward of the entire social system” ( Myrdal 1975 ). The goal of planned social development in India is to create a secular, democratic, egalitarian society, which ensures welfare of all the members of the society. The Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya with its emphasis on the welfare of the weakest and the poorest            (Antyodaya) would be a relevant goal for this country.

            The developmental functions of social welfare have been discussed by some Indian and western authors (Druckers, 1972, Gore, 1973, Kendall, 1974, Kulkarni 1974, Pathak 1981). Promotion of values necessary for social development like secularism, equality, social justice; to advocate the rights and interests of the disadvantaged; to promote social change as part of social development; to anticipate dysfunctional changes which are the inevitable part of the developmental process and to provide for the protection of vulnerable sections of the population who are affected by these; to initiate macro-level prevention of major social problems; and to participate in the formulation of social policy and social planning are stated to be the developmental tasks or functions.

            In what way developmental social welfare differs in practice from the traditional remedial model? One or two illustrations are presented. It is, methodologically speaking, community oriented social work practice with the members of the family/extended family as the smallest micro-level unit of attention at one end and the change-orientated macro-level social action/social policy planning at the other end. This approach discards, to a great extent, the philosophy of individualism and the adjustment of deviant individuals and marginal, alienated groups to the existing social structure which is taken as given, unchangeable and generally beneficial to the people. Its emphasis is more on prevention from the level of the community leading to the state and national levels, of social conditions considered as harmful.

            A recent survey of a slum community in Baroda revealed that most of the handicapped children suffered this physical handicap due to polio. Instead of referring them as cases to the few health agencies in the city for individualized treatment and rehabilitation, a community based programme of rehabilitation would be organized by organizations like the Baroda Citizen's Council or some other organization with the collaboration of trained health and welfare personnel. It attempts to include all the cases of children identified by the survey. Simultaneously, a community wide health education campaign would be launched with audio-visual aids to reach out to every family in the community, supported by a selective face-to-face group discussion, to prevent other children from being victims of polio or other crippling disease. This would entail vigorous immunization programme in the community by mobile teams which could be linked up with the recently launched universal national immunization programme for children below the age of 3 years. This is qualitatively and quantitatively different from the traditional medical social work practiced through institutional medical and allied services like hospitals or rehabilitation centers, whether independently operating or attached to medical institutions. The social worker works in and through the community with the support of the medical institutions. The social worker works in and through the community with the support of the medical institutions as and when necessary to deal with severe and complicated cases. It should be obvious that the traditional service infrastructures and practice approaches will not be totally irrelevant but the emphasis is markedly different.

Shankar Pathak

Rtd. Professor

Deptt. of Social Work,

Delhi University