Kerala Plus Two Social Work (DHSE) key terms

A practice-based profession and academic discipline that promotes social change, problem-solving in human relationships, and the empowerment and liberation of people, using theories of human behaviour and social systems.

A method of helping an individual, face to face, to adjust to personal or social difficulties, using a planned relationship in which the worker assesses needs, mobilises the person's strengths and links them to resources.

A method that uses small group interaction and planned group activities to help members meet personal needs, learn social skills, and change attitudes or behaviour through shared experience under a trained worker's guidance.

A method of social work that helps people in a locality identify common needs, plan collectively, build local leadership and link with resources, so that the community itself acts to solve its problems.

A method in which a worker organises affected people to press for changes in policies, laws or institutions, using campaigns, negotiation, advocacy or protest to redistribute power and resources toward the disadvantaged.

The process of planning, organising, staffing, directing, coordinating and budgeting a welfare agency's resources so that services reach people effectively and accountably, within legal and policy frameworks.

The principles and courses of action adopted by a government or institution to shape welfare, health, education, housing and income support, guiding how resources are distributed and which needs are recognised as public responsibilities.

Laws enacted to protect and promote the welfare of particular groups, such as laws on child marriage, domestic violence, dowry, disability rights or minimum wages, which social workers use to secure entitlements.

The systematic study of physical, cognitive, emotional, social and moral changes in people from conception to death, including the stages, tasks and influences that shape behaviour at each age.

Recognisable periods in the life span, such as infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age, each marked by typical capacities, needs and tasks that guide assessment and intervention planning.

A theory describing eight stages from infancy to old age, each posing a crisis such as trust versus mistrust, whose resolution shapes identity and later adjustment; widely used to understand clients' current concerns.

A view that development continues throughout life, is influenced by biological, psychological and social factors, and remains changeable, so helping is never limited to early childhood.

Conditions widely regarded as harmful and needing collective action, such as poverty, unemployment, substance misuse, domestic violence or caste discrimination, whose definition depends on public values and power.

A matter of public concern arising from social arrangements and debated in policy and public life; it may not yet be accepted as a problem requiring intervention, so workers often help to raise awareness.

A threshold of income or consumption used to count people as poor; in India official estimates rely on calorie-based and multidimensional measures, which affect who qualifies for welfare schemes.

A heightened likelihood of harm because of factors such as age, disability, gender, poverty, migration or disaster, which reduces a person's capacity to protect themselves and calls for extra safeguards.

The capacity of a person or community to withstand, adapt to and recover from adversity, drawing on personal strengths, supportive relationships and available resources; a focus for strengths-based practice.

The process of enabling people to gain control over decisions and resources affecting their lives, through information, skills, confidence and collective action, rather than doing things for them.

An approach that assesses clients' abilities, resources and hopes rather than only deficits, and builds helping plans on what people and their networks can already do well.

A purposeful, time-bound and boundaried connection between worker and client, based on acceptance, empathy, confidentiality and clear purpose, which is the vehicle through which helping occurs.

The worker's ability to understand a client's feelings and situation from the client's own frame of reference and to communicate that understanding, without becoming emotionally merged with the client.

Attending closely to a client's words, feelings and non-verbal cues, and reflecting them back accurately, so the client feels heard and the worker gathers reliable information for assessment.

Deliberate techniques such as open questions, paraphrasing, summarising, probing and silence, used to gather information, build rapport and help clients clarify their situation within a planned purpose.

The organised process of gathering and interpreting information about a person, family or community, identifying needs, strengths and risk, in order to plan and later review intervention.

A written agreement between worker and client stating agreed goals, planned actions, responsibilities and time frames, which guides intervention and provides a basis for review.

The planned linking of a client to another service or professional better suited to a need, done with the client's consent and followed up so that the client is not lost between agencies.

The ethical duty to keep client information private and share it only with consent or where law and safety require, such as risk of serious harm, with disclosure limited to what is necessary.

A client's voluntary agreement to a service or research participation, given after receiving clear information about purpose, procedures, risks, benefits and the right to withdraw at any time.

The ethical principle that clients have the right to make their own choices, even ones a worker disagrees with, provided they are competent and others are not seriously harmed.

Core standards guiding practice, including acceptance, individualisation, non-judgemental attitude, confidentiality, self-determination and social justice, which help workers resolve dilemmas and remain accountable.

The worker's willingness to relate to a client as a person of worth, acknowledging feelings and behaviour without approval or condemnation, so that the client can be honest and engage in help.

Acting with or on behalf of a client or group to secure rights, services or policy change, ranging from helping someone speak for themselves to representing them before authorities.

Practice grounded in entitlements set out in law and human rights standards, such as the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, which treats clients as claim-holders rather than passive recipients of charity.

A planned process of strengthening local people's skills, organisations and infrastructure so they can identify needs, manage resources and improve living conditions on a continuing basis.

The genuine involvement of community members in diagnosing problems, planning, implementing and evaluating programmes, which builds ownership and makes interventions more relevant and sustainable.

The forces arising from interaction among group members, including roles, norms, cohesion, communication patterns and conflict, which the worker observes and uses to guide the group.

Building and maintaining links with other agencies, professionals and community groups so that clients receive coordinated help and resources are shared rather than duplicated.

The ongoing tracking of programme activities and the periodic judgement of whether objectives were achieved, using indicators and data to improve services and report to funders and the public.

Supervised practice placement in an agency where a student applies social work knowledge and methods with real clients, learns agency procedures and reflects on practice with a supervisor.

A regular, structured relationship in which an experienced worker guides a student or junior through discussion of cases, professional development and accountability, supporting learning and quality of service.

Systematic inquiry using quantitative or qualitative methods to describe needs, test interventions and inform policy, conducted with ethical safeguards and often involving service users and practitioners.

A systematic study of the gaps between what people require and what services provide, used to set priorities, design programmes and allocate resources in a community or agency.

Public measures such as pensions, insurance, maternity benefits and disability allowances that protect people against loss of income and common life risks, reducing poverty and insecurity.