Section I. READING MATERIAL




 

Text A. FIELDS OF SOCIAL WORK

 

Task: read the text and do the exercises that follow.

There are five major fields of social work: (1) family and child welfare, (2) health, (3) mental health, (4) corrections, and (5) schools.

Family and child welfare includes services to families during an emergency, such as the absence of one or both parents from the home. Other critical situations requiring family service include unemployment of the principal wage earner and the illness of one or more members of a family.

Social workers in this field also help families adjust to long-term changes in home life. For example, a counselor may provide guidance to children whose parents are separated or divorced.

Child welfare programs provide such services as adoption, day care, foster child care, and care for handicapped children. Child welfare workers also help physically or emotionally abused children.

Health. Medical social workers help patients and their families in clinics, hospitals, and other health care facilities. These workers assist doctors by providing information about the social and economic background of patients. For example, such problems as inadequate housing and lack of money for medicine may cause or aggravate illness. Social workers also offer counseling to patients who have been discharged to help them return to everyday life.

Social work in mental health includes aid to people suffering from mental and emotional stress.

Corrections include programs concerned with the prevention of crime and the rehabilitation of criminals. Social workers in the field of corrections also counsel people who are on probation or parole. Workers in this field give priority to preventive services, such as tutoring and recreation.

Schools. Social work is part of the program in schools at all levels, from nursery school to university-level education. It includes services to students in special schools for the emotionally disturbed and the handicapped. Social workers in schools provide vocational counseling and help with personal problems. They also assist students who have learning difficulties and help them to fulfil their maximum potential.

Other fields of social work offer assistance in a wide variety of situations. Many social workers help elderly people obtain such services as financial assistance and medical care, which enable them to live as independently as possible. Social workers in clinics and community treatment centers provide counseling to alcoholics and drug abusers.

Some social workers aid people in public housing projects and help find dwellings for families made homeless by urban crises. Social workers employed by companies and trade unions provide a variety of work-related services, including health counseling and preretirement and retirement planning.

 

EXERCISES

Ex. 1. Pronounce these international words.

 

′critical (adj) ′service (n)
fi′nancial (adj) ′reha͵bili′tation (n)
pre′ventive (adj) poten′tial (n)
e′motional (adj) ͵alco′holic (n)
′clinic (n) ′crisis (n)
′personal (adj) ′public (adj)
′patient (n) ´maximum (n)

 

Ex. 2. Memorize the following pairs of derivatives.

 

N → Adj   V → N
economy – economic emotion – emotional prevention – preventive vocation – vocational medicine – medical finance – financial earn – earner guide – guidance assist – assistance counsel – counselor retire – retirement fulfil – fulfilement

 

Ex. 3. Transform as in the models.

Model 1: to resolve problems – resolution of problems

provide guidance, aggravate illness, fulfill potential, obtain services, adjust to changes, return to everyday life.

 

Model 2: benefit of humanity – humanity’s benefit

the economic background of patients; the rehabilitation of criminals

 

Model 3: needs of community – community needs

the prevention of crime, fields of social work, the social background of social work, the development of education, the importance of the goal.

 

Ex. 4. Match English and Russian equivalents.

  1. preretirement and retirement planning a. отсутствие денег на лекарство  
  2. help patients and their families in clinics b. люди, страдающие от психического или эмоционального стресса  
  3. lack of money for medicine c. предпенсионное и пенсионное планирование  
  4. to help them return to everyday life d. обострить заболевание  
  5. people suffering from mental or emotional stress e. помогают пациентам и их семьям в клиниках  
  6. the rehabilitation of criminals f. финансовая и медицинская помощь  
  7. aggravate illness g. реабилитация преступников  
  8. financial assistance and medical care h. помочь им возвратиться к повседневной жизни  
   
         

Ex. 5. Choose the right word or word-combination.

(mental and emotional, critical, vocational, preventive, social and economic)

 

1. Other... situations requiring family service include unemployment of the principal wage earner. 2. Medical social workers assist doctors by providing information about... background of patients. 3. Social work in mental health includes aid to people suffering from... stress. 4. Social workers in the field of corrections give priority to... services, such as tutoring and recreations. 5. Social workers in schools provide... counseling.

Ex. 6. Complete the sentences.

1. There are five major fields of social work... 2. A counselor may provide guidance to children whose parents are... 3. These workers assist doctors by providing information about... 4. Social workers in schools provide... 5. Social workers in clinics and community treatment centres provide counseling to...

 

Ex. 7. Insert the necessary preposition if it is necessary:

(from, on, to (2), with, from, at, for).

 

1. Family and child welfare includes services … families during an emergency. 2. Social workers in this field also help families adjust … long-term changes in home life. 3. Social work in mental health includes aid to people suffering … mental and emotional stress. 4. Corrections include programs concerned … the prevention of crime. 5. Social workers in the field of corrections also counsel people who are … probation or parole. 6. Social work is part of the program in schools … all levels. 7. Social work includes services to students in special schools … the emotionally disturbed and the handicapped.

 

Ex. 8. Mark the statements below as true or false.

1. Many social workers help elderly people obtain such services as financial assistance and medical care. 2. Social workers in schools don't assist students who have learning difficulties. 3. Corrections includes programs concerned with the prevention of crime and the rehabilitation of criminals. 4. Child welfare workers help only emotionally abused children. 5. Child welfare programs provide such services as adoption, day care, foster child care, and care for handicapped children.

 

Ex. 9. Answer the questions on the text.

1. What services does family and child welfare include? 2. In what way do medical social workers help doctors? 3. What services do workers in corrections give priority to? 4. How do social workers help students? 5. What other fields of social work do you know?

 

Ex. 10. Give a brief summary of the text.

Text B. Problems of Homeless Children

Task: scan the text for getting the main idea of homeless children and their problems.

In the US the term "homeless children" often implies children living with their mothers in shelters. In the countries of the developing world the most frequent term used is street children with the related concerns of child labor, begging and child prostitution. In Eastern Europe, the reference is usually to children who have been abandoned and are living in institutions. In various parts of the world the term homeless youthmost often means children living on their own, outside of institutions.

Homeless children tend to gravitate to other children to gain the nurturing and support from one another that is ideally provided by the family. However these bonds cannot erase the street child's vulnerability to violence.

It is difficult for street children to support themselves that is why they survive only by working in the informal economy, begging and through "survival sex" (child prostitution). Homeless children experience serious health problems. A child who is trying to survive in the street may not have access to clean water, sanitary facilities, adequate nutrition and rest.

The growing concern for street children has produced a growing body of recommendations for dealing with their problems. A type of a person working with homeless children is the street educator. The street educator respects the values of the child and educates him or her through example and interest.

There are many complicated issues involved in working with girls in the street. Young women may have been or are still in danger of being sexually exploited. Girls involved in prostitution are severely condemned, and those who do not want to prostitute themselves are at a disadvantage because there are fewer alternative work situations for girls than for boys. Furthermore, girls in the street are not well thought of even by the agencies and organizations working with street children.

Street children, deprived of the care and protection of adults, are left to survive on their own. There is a sense of urgency about the problem of homeless children that challenges the creativity and resourcefulness of the rest of society.

 

Text C. OLD AGE

Task: go through the text and get ready to speak according to the following items.

1. The definition of old age.

2. Gerontology. Geriatrics.

3. Position of the elderly in industrial and non-industrial societies.

4. Ageism.

 

Old age cannot be defined exactly because it does not have the same meaning in all societies. In many parts of the world, people are considered old because of certain changes in their activities or social roles. For example, people may be considered old when they become grandparents or when they begin to do less or different work. In the United States, people are often con­sidered old if they have lived a certain number of years. Many Americans think of 65 as the beginning of old age because United States workers be­come eligible to retire with full social security benefits at age 65. People in the 65-and-over age group are often called senior citizens.

Worldwide, the number of people 65 or older is increasing faster than ever before. Most of this increase is occurring in developing countries. The number of elderly people is growing around the world chiefly be­cause more children reach adulthood.

The study of ageing and old age is called gerontology. Many universities and colleges offer courses in gerontology for people who wish to provide services for the elderly. Geriatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with old age and its diseases. Most medical schools offer courses in geriatrics.

In all societies, old people are generally more respected if they control important resources, such as information, money, or land. In many countries, for example, the ability of the elderly to provide information based on their extensive experience gives them a respected position in society. This is particularly true in non-industrial countries, which have few books or computers to store information. In modern industrial nations, however, many people do not regard the elderly as wiser or more knowledgeable. Also in industrial nations, where income from work is a major resource and where having a job earns a person respect, people may lose status when they retire.

Many beliefs about older people are untrue. Some employers, for example, think that younger workers are more efficient and reliable than older ones. But in many types of jobs, older people are better workers than younger people are. The ideas that people become less intelligent as they age and that old people cannot learn new skills are also not true. Some researchers have called the many incorrect ideas about old people ageism.

 

 

Text D: CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM. SPECIAL TRAINING

 

Task: skim the text for particular information about why work with the disabled requires specially trained and cared-for social workers.

Work with this highly vulnerable population requires specially trained and cared-for social workers.

There is an increased need for competent, knowledgeable professionals who can advocate for children and adolescents with disabilities and their families. Trained social workers will understand the challenges that face families of children/adolescents with special needs and assist them in securing resources and in communicating their needs.

Additional training in the areas of mental retardation, medical social work, developmental delay, and early intervention will better assist the child welfare worker who has the responsibility of finding and supporting appropriate placements for children/adolescents with disabilities. Training and networking with medical, mental health/retardation, and community resources is necessary for effectively caring for children with disabilities within the child welfare system.

Child welfare workers carrying caseloads of children/adolescents with special needs should have training in areas of medical interventions and need additional training in specific areas, such as the use of wheelchairs, lifts, ventilators, and oxygen.

The social worker’s knowledge of such equipment and interventions will enable the worker to have a more secure level of competence and comfort in working with the child/adolescent, as well as be more credible and accepting to foster parents and birth parents who are already required to have such expertise to care for the child on a daily basis. Child welfare social workers benefit from training in the area of family systems and the dynamic the child/adolescent with special needs creates among the parent(s), siblings, and extended family members. Working with the child/adolescent with special needs involves the understanding, sensitivity, and interventions with the “whole” family.

 

 



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