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Unit 1: Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare (10 Hours)
1.1 Meaning, Concept and Importance
The social-work: the practice-profession (the persons-helped (the individuals, families, groups and communities empowered (the problem-solving-and-the-capacity-building (the casework + the group-work + the community-work — the methods’-trio)))); The social-welfare: the society’s-organised-response (the needs-met (the wellbeing-pursued (the institutions + the programmes + the services (the law’s-frames + the state’s-budgets + the community’s-guthis — the broadest-umbrella)))); The importance: the human-dignity’s-floor (no-one-left-below) + the social-peace’s-glue (the inequality’s-anger-defused (the welfare-as-stability)) + the development’s-base (the healthy-and-educated-population (the human-capital’s-investment)) + the rights’-realisation (the socio-economic-rights-made-practical (the Art-43’s-social-security (the Constitution’s-promise-turned-programme)))).
1.2 Social Service, Social Work and Social Welfare — the Relationship
The three-concepts’-ladder: (1) The social-service: the helping-acts (the charity + the relief + the volunteer’s-kindness — the informal-and-occasional); (2) The social-work: the trained-profession (the methods-applied (the education + the ethics + the supervision — the service-PROFESSIONALISED)); (3) The social-welfare: the societal-system (the goals + the policies + the institutions (the service-and-the-work-housed-within — the broadest-frame)); The Venn: the service = the act; the work = the profession; the welfare = the order (the three-overlapping (the law-the-welfare’s-skeleton (this-course’s-focus))).
1.3 People Entitled to Social Welfare
The entitlement’s-basis: (1) the universal-floor (the every-citizen’s-basic-needs (the Art-51’s-basic-needs-policy)) + (2) the categorical-priority (the vulnerable-and-marginalised (the syllabus’s-own-groups: the children (U2), the women (U3), the elderly (U4), the PWD (U5), the indigenous + the sexual-minorities + the marginalized (U6))); The constitutional-map (the verified-articles): the Art-38 (women), the Art-39 (children), the Art-40 (Dalits), the Art-41 (senior-citizens), the Art-42 (the social-justice-communities: the disabled, the gender-and-sexual-minorities, the marginalized, the backward) + the Art-43 (the social-security’s-universal-right); The law-student’s-eye: the welfare-not-the-charity (the entitlement-claimed (the rights-language (the citizen-the-claimant (the state-the-duty-bearer)))).
1.4 Development of the Social Work/Welfare System
1.4.1 The US and the UK
The UK’s-line: the Elizabethan-Poor-Laws (the 1601-relief-legalised (the parish’s-duty (the deterrence-mixed (the workhouse’s-stigma)))) → the charity-organisation-societies + the settlement-houses (the 19th-century’s-organised-charity (the COS’s-casework-roots (the Mary-Richmond’s-professionalisation-lore — the names-only))) → the Beveridge-Report (the 1942-war’s-blueprint (the “want” attacked (the post-war-welfare-state-born (the NHS-era))); The US’s-line: the private-charity-first → the Great-Depression’s-crisis → the New-Deal’s-turn (the Social-Security-Act-1935 (the federal-welfare’s-foundation (the social-work-federalised))); The shared-arc: the charity → the profession → the state (the informal → the organised → the right).
1.4.2 Nepal
The traditional-layer: the guthi + the parma + the dhikuri (the community’s-own-welfare (the mutual-aid-institutions (the state-absent))); the dharma’s-alms (the dan + the bhumi (the religious-welfare-ethos)); The state’s-entry: the Panchayat-era’s-services (the state-extends (the modest-beginnings)); the 1990-Constitution’s-directive-turn (the principles-pledged); The modern-architecture: the 2007-Interim + the 2015-Constitution’s-rights-boom (the Arts-33-43’s-socio-economic-chapter (the welfare-constitutionalised)) + the programme-growth (the old-age-allowance (the mid-1990s’ modest beginning — the flagship’s-origin (the amounts-and-coverage-grown-over-the-decades — the honest-hedged-description))) + the Social-Security-Act-2075 (the contribution-based-fund (the formal-sector’s-scheme)) + the federal-turn (the local-governments’ welfare-role (the LGOA-2074’s-social-protection-functions (the wards’-reach))); The honest-gap: the coverage-vs-the-need (the informal-economy’s-exclusion (the allowance’s-modesty (the implementation’s-battle (the law-in-books-vs-the-welfare-in-life)))).
1.5 Social Welfare Policies, Measures and Models
The policies: the distributive (the benefits-spread (the public-goods-all (the growth-then-the-trickle)) vs. the redistributive (the taken-and-given (the progressive-tax’s-take (the transfer’s-give (the inequality-attacked-directly)))); The measures: the family-centric (the family-the-first-welfare-institution (the state-supports-the-family (the care-within))) + the mixed-economy (the state + the market + the voluntary (the welfare’s-blended-delivery (the NGOs’-role))) + the institutional (the built-into-the-system (the universal-services (the welfare-as-the-society’s-normal-organ-not-the-emergency’s-crutch))); The models (the Esping-Andersen’s-three-worlds — the name-level): the corporatist (the state-market-occupational-mix (the contribution-linked (the status-preserving (the conservative-continental-style))) + the universal (the everyone-covered (the tax-funded (the decommodification-maximum (the social-democratic-style))) + the residual (the safety-net-only (the market-first (the welfare-the-exception (the liberal-style (the means-tested-remainder)))); Nepal’s-position: the mixed-and-emerging (the residual-elements + the targeted-expansion (the universal-allowance-growth (the honest-description: no-pure-model — the hybrid))) — the exam’s-apply-question-ready.
1.6 Relationship between State and Social Welfare
1.6.1 State as a Social Welfare Institution
The state’s-welfare-functions: the regulator (the standards-set) + the funder (the budget-allocated) + the provider (the services-delivered) + the guarantor (the rights-enforced (the court’s-remedy (the writ’s-role (the U2-U6’s-cases’-engine)))); The modern-state’s-welfare-face: the constitution’s-socio-economic-chapter (the Nepal’s-own: the employment (33), the labour (34), the health (35), the food (36), the housing (37), the social-security (43)) — the welfare-state-written-in.
1.6.2 Nepal as a Welfare State
The case-FOR: the constitutional-pledges (the Arts-33-43 + the 51(9)-(10) (the social-justice-and-inclusion-policies)) + the programmes’ breadth (the allowances (the elderly, the widows, the Dalits, the disabled, the children) + the social-security-fund + the health-and-education-expansion); The case-AGAINST (the honest-audit): the low-coverage (the informal-majority-outside) + the modest-amounts (the adequacy-question) + the implementation-gaps (the targeting-errors (the leakage (the federal-capacity-building))); The verdict (the exam’s-balanced-answer): the welfare-state-aspiring (the architecture-present (the practice-catching-up (the “welfare state in the making” — the honest-frame))).
1.7 Social Welfare and Social Security
1.7.1 Meaning and Concept of Social Security
The definition: the life-risks-covered (the ILO’s-classic-nines — the sickness, maternity, employment-injury, unemployment, invalidity, old-age, survivors’ + the health + the family (the contingencies-catalogue)) by the organised-protection (the benefits-cash + the services-kind); The mechanisms: the social-insurance (the contribution-based (the Social-Security-Act-2075’s-fund)) + the social-assistance (the tax-funded (the allowances’ family)) + the universal-services (the health-education-floor).
1.7.2 Relationship between Social Welfare and Social Security
The nested-circle: the security-within-the-welfare (the welfare-the-whole (the security-the-core-machinery ( the income-maintenance’s-specific (the broader-wellbeing’s-general)))); The law’s-angles: the welfare-the-policy-frame (the security-the-entitlement-scheme ( the justiciable-core (the Art-43’s-right (the U2-U6’s-groups’ floor)))).
1.7.3 Social Security and Social Welfare as Human Rights
The international-anchor: the UDHR’s-Art-22 (the social-security’s-declaration (the dignity’s-economic-floor)) + the Art-25 (the adequate-standard-of-living (the wellbeing’s-umbrella)) + the ICESCR’s-Art-9 (the binding-social-security-right (the ratified-1966-treaty (the Nepal’s-party))); The rights-architecture: the obligation-levels (the respect + the protect + the fulfil ( the progressive-realisation (the available-resources (the immediately-non-discriminatory)))); The Nepal’s-own: the Art-43 (the social-security (the constitutional-right)) + the group-rights (the 38-42) — the security-the-right-not-the-favour (the claimant-citizen (the duty-bearer-state (the remedy-seeking-court — the course’s-cases’-foundation)))).
Exam Focus
- The three-concepts’-distinction (service vs. work vs. welfare — the definitional-favourite).
- The three-models (corporatist/universal/residual) + the distributive-vs-redistributive — apply-to-Nepal.
- Nepal’s-welfare-state-debate (the pledges-vs-the-practice — the balanced-answer).
- The security-as-human-right (UDHR-22 + ICESCR-9 + Art-43 — the three-layer anchor).
Model Questions
- Define social work and social welfare. How do they differ from social service? (10)
- Explain the corporatist, universal and residual models of social welfare. Which model best describes Nepal’s approach? (10)
- “Nepal is a welfare state in the making.” Discuss with reference to the Constitution’s socio-economic rights and the honest implementation gaps. (15)
- Explain social security as a human right with reference to the UDHR, the ICESCR and the Constitution of Nepal. (10)
📚 Get the complete notes: Download the full Social Work and Social Welfare Law PDF (all units) — Law Info Nepal Original Notes Series.