LOYOLA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Jan- Jun. 2019 No. 1

CONTENTS

Editorial Prakash Pillai R, Ph.D.

Vol. XXXIII

1. The 10Core‘Interventive’-SkillAreas (CIA) of SocialWork Practice in India: ATheoretical Propositionfor Social WorkEducation

2. Impact of Microfinanceon Women Empower-ment: Empirical Evidencefrom Kerala

3. Alienation of InternalMigrants: The Plight ofInterstate Migrants inKerala

4. Modernisation, Vulnerabil-ity and Coping Strategies:A Study on Koli Womenin Mumbai, India.

5. The Cooperative Move-ment as aTransformative Re-sponse to Issues ofPoverty:A Global Per-spective

Jasmine Sarah Alexander& JosephK.A.

Rajesh S. Pyngavil

Sunil Kumar P.&Pramod S.K.

Bhagyashri N. Mundhe &Sunil D. Santha

Satyanarayana Ayinagadda

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Editorial

I am indeed very happy to present this new volume of Loyola Jour-nal, the first one under my editorship. I thank the Loyola manage-ment for having entrusted me with this responsibility. The currentissue focuses on themes of empowerment and marginalisation.There are topics on Empowerment of Rural Women, Inter-stateMigrants, Traditional Fishing Women, Skill Based Social Work Prac-tice and Training as well as role of Cooperative movement in pov-erty alleviation.

The first paper on Interventive skill areas in social work practice inIndia by Jasmine and Josephchallenges the logic of specialisationin social work education in the country. Emphasising a compe-tency-based approach the authors identified 10 core interventiveareas (CIAs). They followed a rigorous methodology for their studycovering 15 social work practice settings and 21 sub-settings, in-terviewing 224 social workers in 100 organizations across 16 cit-ies, to reach into their conclusions. The paper gives critical insightsto both social work practitioners and social work educators by wayof suggesting a skill-based approach to the practice and training ofsocial work in India.

The empirical study by Rajeshon Impact of Micro-finance on WomenEmpowerment in Kerala gives a description of the dimensions ofempowerment experienced by rural women through the micro-fi-nance scheme. The author attempts to explain the various formsof empowerment experienced by the women in terms of economic,socio-cultural, political and skill achievement. The findings of thispaper provide valuable insights to managers and corporate practi-tioners of Micro Finance Companies to manage the challenges ofwomen empowerment initiatives in a better way.

Loyola Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. XXXIII, No.1, Jan.- June 2019.

The third paper authored bySunilkumar and Pramod portrays thePlight of Inter-state Migrants in Kerala, probing in to the fundamen-tal problems of alienation. Adopting a mixed research design, theauthors explained the alienation experienced by Inter-state migrantsfrom “Malayalee Society”, government officials, employers and con-tractors. It brings out certain very disturbing revelations about thetreatment of migrant labourers by Keralites which in turn gives aspace for vigilant policy interventions at one hand, behavioural andcultural interventions on the other. The authors have alsoput for-ward, a host of preventive and curative measures for interventionsby various stakeholders concerned.

Another paper in the present issue is entitled Modernisation, Vul-nerability and Coping Strategies: A Study on Koli Women in Mumbaiauthored byBhagyasri and Sunil. This paper explains the story ofthe transitions experienced by the Koli women, one of the tradi-tional fishing communities in India. Viewing from Marxist Feministperspective, the authors have followed a unique methodologicalapproach to describe the modernization and consequent vulner-ability of these women. The various coping strategies adopted bythese indigenous women was also portrayed from an ethnographicangle. The conclusions of this study are extremely relevant forsocial scientists and policy makers.

The final article The Cooperative Movement as a TransformativeResponse to Issues of Poverty: A Global Perspective bySatyanarayana is a conceptual paper with a global perspective.The author has attempted to cover the objective, ideologies andhistory of the global cooperative movement. It discussed the roleand impact of cooperative movements across the globe in alleviat-ing poverty as an emerging concern. The critical analysis of themagnitude and coverage of cooperatives in various countries wouldbe really a useful input for researchers.

I place on record my sincere thanks to DrSaji P Jacob, the ChiefEditor and all the reviewers for their efforts in bringing out thisvolume of Loyola Journal.

Prakash Pillai R Ph.D.

THE 10 CORE ‘INTERVENTIVE’-SKILL AREAS(CIA) OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE IN INDIA:A THEORETICAL PROPOSITION FOR SOCIAL

WORK EDUCATION

Dr. Jasmine Sarah AlexanderAssistant Professor, Department of Social Work,

Loyola College of Social Sciences, ThiruvananthapuramEmail: alexander.jasmine@gmail.com

Dr. Joseph, K.A.The Principal (Retd.),

Loyola College of Social Sciences, ThiruvananthapuramEmail: joseantonyncs@gmail.com

Abstract: In India, the relevance of specializations in the MSWcourse has been questioned for years. Keeping this problem inmind and adopting a competency-based approach, the authorsconducted extensive research, in two phases, spanning 15 socialwork practice settings and 21 sub-settings, interviewing 224 so-cial workers in 100 organizations across 16 cities, to discover thecore competencies of social work practice in India. The most sig-nificant finding of the study was the identification of 10 coreinterventive-skills areas (CIA) and 43 sub-tasks. The current articleattempts to describe the study, the CIA theory of social work prac-tice and its implication for social work education and training in thecountry.

Key Words: social work education, competency based education,core competencies, interventive-skill areas

Loyola Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. XXXIII, No.1, Jan.- June 2019.