Social workers undervalued

Social workers undervalued

By Lea Jellinek

JAKARTA (JP): Social workers have been undervalued in
Indonesia. Under Soeharto the ministry of social affairs was
viewed as incompetent and unimportant. Social workers were given
"Band-Aid" work -- they nursed the symptoms of poverty rather
than treating its causes.

They were placed in "institutes" where they tried to work out
what to do with prostitutes, street sleepers and homeless
children, rather than dealing with what caused these people to
become who and what they are.

Alternatively, social workers implemented government poverty
alleviation programs (such as Inpres Desa Tertinggal or the
program of presidential funds for poor villages) -- delivering
goods and services to the lower levels of society. These programs
were top-down, largely infrastructure projects, not addressing
the fundamental needs of the poor.

Under the rule of former president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur)
from 1999 to 2001, the ministry of social affairs suffered its
greatest humiliation as it was virtually abolished. Eventually
the ministry was absorbed into the ministry of health under the
control of doctors who misunderstood the nature of social work
and who believed that social workers had a minimal role and no
special skills.

In the field, the role of the social worker continued to be
unclear and poorly paid -- positions were often given to
technical people or government officials who were without social
work training or skills.

Up to 15,000 social workers who have had five years of
training in social work and community development, have found
themselves without work or a clear organization to belong to.

Development leads to social fragmentation. Much so-called
"development" has caused increased specialization, competition,
and social isolation with individuals and groups becoming
fragmented and less able to understand or relate to others.

The poor -- without contacts, resources or skills -- are
imprisoned in the limited world of the urban or rural kampung.
The rich are entrapped by their insatiable appetite for more
wealth, their fear of losing what they have, and their need to
keep ahead in the race for status and material success. The poor
and the rich do not communicate with each other.

Because of their battles for survival, and/or for success,
people are becoming increasingly isolated from each other.
Competition rather than cooperation among all sectors of society
is increasing.

How would we create a web of interconnections between two
worlds? Social workers have a critical role, which has largely
gone unrecognized in Indonesia for the past 32 years. The role
involves bridging the world of the poor and the world of the
elite.

The social worker can help to break barriers, build bridges
and weave networks of communication, cooperation, and
understanding between different people and their different
realities.

The role of social workers is not just to create a network of
cooperative relationships within the kampung, but also to weave a
web of functional interconnections between the kampung and the
rest of society. This networking and community development is
very time-consuming and difficult. It involves many skills and a
general knowledge of many disciplines -- a holistic understanding
of society, human nature and the environment.

First, the social worker needs to gain the trust of the
community in which she or he works. To do this, she or he needs
to live in the community for extended periods of time observing
and interacting with as many people as possible.

The social worker needs to be located at the village or
subdistrict, not at the district as in the past or as currently
proposed by the Ministry of Social Affairs under President
Megawati Soekarnoputri. The district or kecamatan is too far away
from the community for effective communication and action.

The social worker (PSK, or pekerja sosial masyarakat) needs
to identify and motivate local leadership and select community
development assistants (PSM, or pekerja sosial masyarakat) who
can function at the level of the neighborhoods (RW/RT) and the
hamlets (dusun). Both the social workers at the village or
subdistrict level and the assistant social worker at the hamlet
level facilitate communication, cooperation and communal action.

Another crucial issue is the mapping of groups,individuals and
their interconnections. Existing groups in the community are
often building blocks for community decision making and
constructive action. The social worker needs to identify these
groups and help them to coordinate with other groups. In
addition, the social worker aims to identify the most
constructive and committed community leaders, especially women.

Government (mostly men) in the past has profoundly
underestimated the commitment, ability and influence of women,
especially at the local level.

The social worker can help the community identify its key
problems and set priorities. The recurring problems and needs
usually involve the following:
o Income-earning, saving, financial and family planning;
o Education and training, e.g., skills/knowledge/information, and
especially communication and confidence;
o Health, e.g. nutrition, water supply, waste management,
pollution;
o Housing and land, e.g., tenure, functional housing and
facilities.

Social workers can also help in networking with the outside
world. Many of the resources needed to address the problems of
the urban and rural kampongs must come from the world outside --
a world that most kampung dwellers do not have access to. The
social worker can help them to access that world. Most social
workers in Indonesia are currently not performing this role. But
many of the resources needed by the poor must be found among the
elite and unless these two worlds are brought together little
constructive change can occur.

The poor need contacts with government, business, donors, non
government organizations and professionals such as teachers,
lawyers, engineers and doctors -- all of whom can help with
necessary skills and resources needed by poor communities. Some
of these elites have the will to help but do not know the way.

A key problem is that resource-rich individuals and groups do
not have adequate access or knowledge of where the problems are,
and where their resources and skills are desperately needed. The
social worker can act as a channel connecting these two worlds.

Unfortunately, government and donors are reluctant to resource
social workers because their skills and the urgency of their work
goes unrecognized. Cash and technology are the panaceas most
promoted by government and donor programs, although most are
misused and do not reach the poor.

Often private contractors are used to deliver these goods but
they do not have the right motivation, training or experience.

Governments often prefer to contribute in the form of physical
structures that are visible monuments to their generosity, rather
than fund social workers and teachers to skill and empower people
so that they can stand up and help themselves. Private donors
are also typically unwilling to fund realistic salaries for
social workers , seemingly expecting them to work as volunteers!

If social workers are paid too little they have to seek other
jobs to provide for basic daily needs and cannot focus fully on
the work at hand. Social workers are usually idealistic and that
is what attracts them to the five years of social work training,
but like other people, they need money to survive.

The poor need much more than cash and goods -- they need
skills, education, and mentoring -- provided by adequately
resourced and salaried social workers and teachers. Neglect of
education and social work is a major cause of continuing poverty.

Lea Jellinek PhD, MSc is a Fellow at the Melbourne Institute of
Asian Languages and Societies at the University of Melbourne,
currently in Jakarta. She wrote The wheel of fortune: The history
of a poor community in Jakarta (1991).