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).