Social workers play an important role in post-disaster reconstruction

Post-disaster reconstruction requires various professional forces. Among them, social work covers a wider scope and the intervention time is longer. Social workers are the implementers of social policies and can play an important role in various stages such as emergency relief, short-term resettlement, and post-disaster reconstruction. At an expert symposium on post-earthquake psychological assistance jointly organized by the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ Social Work Talent Team Building Leading Group Office and the China Social Newspaper, the inclusion of social workers in the national disaster relief system became common knowledge among the participants.

In the face of disasters, social work intervention areas are more comprehensive

Tong Xiaojun

The disaster relief work of the Wenchuan earthquake, both in terms of timely rescue by the country and the efforts of all parties The performance of strength is outstanding. In the face of such a huge disaster, our government's performance is very good.

From a professional perspective, we also do a lot of social work, but we are not labeled as social workers. What can professional social workers do after a disaster? How much to make? This requires us to think.

In the entire disaster relief process, from a macro perspective, whether social workers can be included in the disaster relief system requires government recognition and professional recognition. Without government recognition, it is impossible for social workers to intervene on their own. Only with government support can the strengths of professionals be better utilized. This requires the government to introduce relevant policies to support social workers in the initial post-disaster reconstruction planning.

Post-disaster reconstruction requires various professional forces. Psychological rescue is more targeted at a certain type of people with psychological trauma, while social work has a wider scope and more comprehensive areas of intervention. Psychological rescue and social work have certain similarities in needs assessment and psychological intervention, but social work also includes resource allocation and integration, human management and social management. Therefore, social workers work closely with the government throughout the entire disaster relief process. Cooperation is very important. Social workers must participate in the entire process from the earliest post-disaster reconstruction planning to the final policy implementation. Here, social workers are not just listeners and companions, they play a greater role.

From a micro level, the role of social workers in disaster relief is different from that of other professional forces. In this process, social workers need to cooperate and cooperate with psychologists, public health, community workers, grassroots civil affairs cadres, etc. Cooperation with psychologists has two aspects: on the one hand, it is the cooperation of clinical social workers in early comfort, treatment, intervention and psychological rescue. Social workers and psychologists serve the same people from different professional perspectives. On the other hand, social workers and psychologists have a mutually supportive relationship. Social work and psychological rescue meet the psychological needs of disaster victims from different perspectives.

Professional teams must cooperate to provide all-round services to people in disaster areas

Sun Ying

We went to the Sichuan disaster area from May 27th to June 1st , where, in addition to providing direct services, it is more important to conduct a needs assessment, and finally form a research report.

In this research report, first, from the perspective of demand, social workers are more concerned about comprehensive economic and social development. In terms of the living arrangements of ordinary people affected by the disaster, we hope that the people affected by the disaster will move into prefabricated housing areas as soon as possible. Second, basic living supplies can meet the special needs of groups. Third, residents hope to be employed quickly, especially those in cities, who hope to find jobs quickly.

During their service in disaster areas, some people lacked confidence in life and were confused about their future. In particular, children's conditions are relatively diverse. External intervention has played a positive role in children's psychological recovery, but secondary trauma has also occurred. Farmers living in disaster areas have a high degree of trust in the government. They believe that the government can give them very good help and very good support.

The rural mutual aid system is very good. Several families work together to cook. Families without bereaved and bereaved families stay together and support each other. This kind of mutual assistance is the simplest traditional cultural content and plays an important role in disasters. As for residents living in cities, they basically come from different communities and are unfamiliar with each other. They lack communication and recognition of the community. They need to remind the government to pay attention and communicate effectively on resettlement policies.

As for special groups, the care of the "three orphans" is basically undertaken by welfare institutions, and policies for the "three orphans" were introduced very early.

In terms of placement methods, the government has fully considered the problems caused by institutional care, and therefore adopted foster families, adoptive families, quasi-families, etc., which is in line with the basic concepts of psychologists and social workers. That is to say, children should return to family life as much as possible, and returning to the family will help solve their mental health.

The lives of disabled people require case management, because it is not only related to their mental health, but also to the installation of prosthetics, vocational rehabilitation, and social rehabilitation. Social workers can serve as case managers, bringing together psychologists, prosthetic installation technicians, vocational rehabilitation practitioners, and social rehabilitation practitioners to provide case services.

There are also many special groups in the resettlement sites, such as children and teenagers. The prefabricated house area only provides a place to sleep, but does not provide basic places for self-study and activities. However, when the growth of teenagers, especially adolescent children, their turbulent period and the instability of their residences and other factors come together, problems will arise. Very outstanding. We hope to set up a house specifically as a self-study space for children, and provide social workers in this self-study space to provide homework guidance, mental health services, etc.

This is some demand survey on services. Simply put, it includes: First, based on medium and long-term community reconstruction, this is the understanding of social workers. Second, the civil affairs department and local counterpart support provincial and municipal social work service teams must integrate their actions. The third is cooperation between the government and civil organizations.

From a social worker perspective, we believe that the first step is to assist the civil affairs department in carrying out its work. It’s not that there are no social workers in the entire disaster relief team, there are social workers but they don’t have the title of social workers. For example, civil affairs cadres, the people who immediately save lives and distribute supplies are called social workers internationally and civil affairs cadres in our country. There are also social workers who work in resettlement areas for a relatively long time, at least 3 years. Social workers now have the first priority to help people in disaster areas solve their livelihood problems, whether in cities or rural areas. In cities, social workers should do a good job in employment guidance and support; in rural areas, social workers should do a good job in helping immigrants and farmers find local employment; in temporary residential areas, they should do a good job in home care and care for orphans, the elderly and the disabled.

As social workers, we also hope to cooperate with the psychological team, using each's expertise to provide a full range of services to the people in the disaster area, so that they can find whatever professional team they need for whatever services they need.

Social workers must be involved in post-disaster reconstruction

Li Tao

Two core contradictions will break out during the reconstruction phase. The first is the imbalance of resources, including distribution. Mechanism failure, social service mechanism failure, and demand differentiation are often ignored. Social development varies greatly across disaster areas, and social workers must intervene in this process.

In the reconstruction process, one is to rebuild livelihoods, and the other is to rebuild social relations. If the reconstruction of social relations is solid, the reconstruction and development of livelihoods will be rapid. The reconstruction of social relations, to put it bluntly, is the reconstruction of the community's self-mechanism, including participation mechanisms, interest demand expression mechanisms, and interest coordination mechanisms, all of which are based on the reconstruction of livelihoods. In fact, things like sending supplies and repairing canals are all means and must be combined with community self-reconstruction. For example, how to repair canals is the responsibility of the engineering team, but where to repair them and how to manage and provide services in the future cannot be replaced by technology. This is where the professional value of social workers lies.

From the current perspective, there is a social care model for the elderly and disabled; a community development model for comprehensive development; and a social planning model for reconstruction and relocation; social workers should seize this opportunity to promote professional values ??and methods . It is through this opportunity that psychological assistance comes to the fore. We should put forward the slogan of social service reconstruction, combine participation in disaster relief services with promoting professionalization and cultivating social work teams, encourage school social workers to combine with external supervision, take advantage of social advocacy opportunities, and even consider establishing "social work service innovation" Fund" to encourage colleagues in the social work field to apply and explore the development of local social work in our country.

The psychology of those who help others also needs attention

Hu Yanhong

I very much agree with the experts’ positioning of the role of social workers. I have also just returned from the disaster area. The situation I saw is better than I imagined, but some places have been ignored.

For example, some towns and villages do not receive psychological assistance and counseling. At the same time, when we communicated with local Women's Federation cadres, we felt that the psychological problems of these public officials who help others are often ignored.

When we basically focus on groups such as children, the elderly, the orphans and the disabled, in fact, the psychological and basic needs of public officials should also receive attention. For example, some of them also lost relatives in the earthquake, and some of them did not have tents.

I think the psychology of helpers, a neglected group, also needs attention.

Incorporate various professional forces into the disaster relief system

Yang Tuan

On June 20, I came to the disaster area in Chengdu, Sichuan to investigate. Within a week,* **I went to 6 towns in 4 counties. Based on the theme of this conference, I would like to talk about three points.

First, concentrate professional forces into the disaster relief system. An important feature of this disaster relief is the unified coordination and deployment by the central government. This disaster relief operation is a nationwide effort and the organization is very orderly. It also reflects the beginning of the reshaping of our country's humanistic values. Under the baptism of the market economy, the personality of the Chinese people has been raised to a new height. During this earthquake relief effort, the civil affairs department focused on two aspects: living security and social services. Based on this positioning, in the future reconstruction process, the field of civil affairs work will expand, especially in rural areas. The most important experience in civil affairs is community building. All topics involved in disaster relief will fall on the community platform. Civil affairs work is naturally linked to social construction and social management.

The most important thing about how to integrate various forces into the disaster relief system is to have clear goals and a clear organizational system, and it must be sustainable, developable and promoteable. In this way, we can move from extraordinary disaster relief to normal, long-term community construction and social construction. I personally believe that a post-disaster service system should be established with community reconstruction as the purpose and the community reconstruction service center as the platform. Because we are currently in the transitional stage between emergency relief and community reconstruction, future reconstruction requires a complete set of ideas, organizations, and measures.

Why set up a community reconstruction service center? Because the civil affairs department has accumulated certain experience in community construction, and now there are new situations and new needs in the disaster area, it is called the Community Reconstruction Service Center. From the actual situation in the disaster area, the service center itself is an organization, which is conducive to integrating various forces, including various professional forces, into the disaster relief system. The first thing the community reconstruction service center needs to do is to restore functions. First, the individual recovers his or her psychosomatic functions. Secondly, the restoration of social relations, which sociologically refers to the restoration of social capital. The third is the restoration of family functions. The family has two functions, one is the social function and the other is the economic function. Finally, there is the restoration of community functions. Cultural life is one piece, and industrial recovery is another piece, but cultural life must be attached to industry. For example, after the September 21 earthquake in Taiwan, a foundation stayed in the disaster areas for a long time and discussed the reconstruction of their hometowns with the victims. Now those disaster areas have been built into eco-villages and the original industries have been restored.

In my opinion, the community reconstruction service center should do a good job in policy transmission. It is necessary to discover problems in time and strive to deal with small and specific problems that need to be solved as soon as possible. Organizational building must be strengthened. Various relief-for-work teams can be organized. Such as environmental protection teams, electrician teams, etc., although they are "grassroots" organizations, they will play a very good role. We also need to strengthen professional cooperation. Experts in various fields, including social work, psychological counseling, public health, social education, agricultural economy, agricultural development, etc., work together as a team. Also, there is the need for diversified training. We need to help local victims stand up because they are enthusiastic and capable, but lack guidance. It is necessary to classify and coordinate effectively according to the actual situation, so as to promote production development and social construction.