 Hello learners, I welcome you all to this video session which where I will be talking about introduction to social work. So in this session I would like to discuss the concept of social work and introduce you to this discipline of study and also the profession. So I am Dr. Mridushmita Dwarah, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Pujya Kumar Bhia School of Social Sciences under KK Handik State Open University. So let us start by understanding what is social work. Therefore social work is here defined as a discipline as well as a profession. It involves the application of various social theories for a better understanding of the society. And here we will learn how to apply these therapeutic processes and methods to deal with social and individual problems. So here we come to know that social work is not only a discipline of study, it is also an applied profession. And to learn the particular profession here in this BSW program you will be taught the various methods, skills and the understanding of society through various social theories that will be discussed in the course of this study. Social work has drawn various perspectives of understanding the basic units of the society and what are those units? Those are individuals, groups, cultures, communities that exist in the society. Also there are various socio-economic and political aspects. So to have a better understanding about the society, social work as a discipline of study draws its basic understanding from other social sciences like sociology, psychology, political science, economics and others. Therefore social work is concerned with the causes of social problems that we see all around its impact on individuals, groups, communities and society at large. Here we will learn how to deploy or use the social work methods for its solution. As you can see in this image here there are various concepts that are being shown as theory, relationships, social relationship, empathy, education and it's a profession where dignity of social work has to be uphold. So let us see what are the objectives of social work here. The Indian Conference of Social Work defines social work as a welfare activity based on humanitarian philosophy plus scientific knowledge and technical skills for helping the units like individual, group or community to live a rich and fulfilled life. So here we see that social work profession is considered to be a noble profession. This is a welfare activity based on humanitarian philosophy and also when we say humanitarian philosophy it not only concentrates on the concept of charity like giving or welfare but also involves a scientific knowledge as to how to deal with those particular problems. So let us see the most important objectives of social work are to solve psychosocial problems of an individual or a group or maybe a community. So as we know the community consists of individuals, a group consists of individuals therefore focusing on the psychosocial problems of an individual is important here. Psychosocial means psycho means of the mind and social means the surrounding the social environment in which an individual lives. So therefore solving that problem is one of the main objectives of social work. The other objectives are to fight for social justice and development and we have to keep in mind it is a profession that will help you to apply various skills and methods to reach these objectives. Thirdly to fulfill humanitarian needs of the society to solve a just mental problem of an individual and to enhance the growth of the particular individual. We as an individual face various problems from different aspects may be economical may be social may be problem related to our mind our personality. So therefore this profession helps in adjusting with the particular problems then to create self-sufficiency that is empowerment. Empowering the client to help himself is very important here. And lastly to provide socio-legal help, socio-legal means societal help as well as the legal help that a client may require. The client will be the individual who will come to you for a particular help. So we have to keep in mind that this is a service-based profession and it is a professional course of study it is a profession and therefore when a client comes to you seeking help, legal help then advocacy or connecting the person to any kind of legal help is utmost necessary here. The main motto of social work is helping people to help themselves that is how this motto says that how it is different from charity in charity what you do or in social service what you do is you just help the person for the time being but social work is a profession that involves scientific knowledge and techniques and it helps people to empower themselves. Now when we say helping people to help themselves when you help an individual to decide for his own to make decisions on his or her own to help to connect to certain resources that means what you are helping the person for future also so that the person is empowered to look after him that is the main difference between social work charity and social service thank you so much.