Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 2) | Page 129

Special Editions
the rehabilitation approach within legislation and community involvement.
Thus, social work safeguarded the values of protection of the vulnerable,
mutual help, caring for others and the fostering of community spiritedness.
This was especially evident through the work of child protection services,
welfare services for the destitute, support for families and the community
development and outreach work of ground agencies. In the building of an
eventually strong economy, social work’s contribution in the early years lies
in the support sys tems that were put in place including the crèches, public
assistance and welfare schemes that support families as the adults worked
in the newly formed industries.

Social legislation to protect the vulnerable
If there is one decisive imprint in the history of nation building where social
work made its greatest impact, it would have been in the introduction and
review of various social legislations. Among the very first of these were
the Children and Young Persons Act and its predecessor. The social work
perspective shaped significantly the foundation that balanced the tension
of protection, rights of parents and the restoration of well-being of families.
This Act, which was among the first social legislations, went through the
most reviews and amendment. With each amendment, the social work
contribution was to entrench a deeper adherence to the interest of the
child as the primary principle. The amendment in 1992 was momentous in
including a new provision to punish severely those who contributed to the
delinquency of children and young persons. This was deemed necessary to
prevent people including uncaring parents who used their children to hawk,
promote illegal gaming and traffic in drugs and other heinous activities.
Other social legislations which received significant contributions from social
work included the Destitute Persons Act, the Women’s Charter and the
Probation of Offenders Act. These legislations and their subsequent reviews
underwent expert scrutiny from social administrators and professionals. In
particular, social workers worked closely with policy makers and legislation
drafters to ensure that the intent and spirit of the Act, and its underlying
values, were adequately translated and represented in the powers and
provisions that were drafted into the law. The calibrated balance of rights
and responsibility, of state and family ownership of social issues, of what is
private to the family and what is the role of the state, were secured through
protracted and reflective analysis. To a large extent, the first generation
of social workers were in that moment in history where the cross roads of
policy, legislation and implementation brought out the best in their social
128