INTRODUCTION

The new state's diverse population presents a fascinating background that is undeniably difficult. In order to improve mental health, science and tradition must converge and collaborate. By mobilising the public via social and institutional networking and field demonstrations, we may improve mental health initiatives, establish new ones, strengthen existing ones, alter policies, and make them more efficient.

To alleviate social suffering and improve social functioning via individualization, Mary Richmond started paying attention to the social components of medicine, law, psychology, and education in the 19th century. This approach would eventually be known as social casework. For victims of social evils to be able to adapt to society and contribute, they need both monetary assistance and mental support. Her books "Social Diagnosis" and "What is Social Casework?" provide a comprehensive overview of social maladjustment and the many approaches used to address it. The importance of clients' and their families' social and ancillary resources in facilitating transformation and adjustment has been recognised throughout time. Books on social casework as a means of providing tailored assistance followed. As social group work came into being, it revealed the group's potential as a tool for efficient community and group socialisation.

Research on leadership dynamics, power structures, and change broadened social work's scope to include fields such as law, social policy, and social action. The 'core' of social work, nevertheless, was still individualization. Social work and other human service professions have grown in recent years in response to many global initiatives, including the Earth Summit (1991), the World Summit on Social Development (1995), the Millennium Development Goals (2000), and Sustainable Social Development. Therefore, in order to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals, social workers, regardless of their area of specialty, must adopt a developmental strategy rather than a clinical or institutional one (N=17). Mental health should now be considered a part of overall health and treated by all relevant fields. In order to demonstrate their continued relevance, professionals must now take their services to communities, fulfil their social duties, and form and maintain relationships with people, particularly those from disadvantaged groups. This will require them to use inter-disciplinary and differential methods.

There was a huge disparity between the promises made and the actual results achieved during the Corona Pandemic, which led to mass migration and demonstrated the inadequacy of social, economic, governmental, and professional support structures. I want to communicate my ideas to you inside this evolving framework. There has been a sea shift in the objectives, methods, and viewpoints surrounding the Mary Richmond era. A variety of approaches is necessary in social work due to the multi-faceted nature of the field and the fact that various contexts call for different approaches. I came across notes from notable figures while reading the 2020 Souvenir. 'Time to Introspect in Psychiatric Social Work Education' by I. A. Shariff and N. Janardan discusses psycho-social service, psycho-social intervention research, working together with social work schools, studying, diagnosing, and treating mental health issues, the history of medical and psychiatric social work at TISS, and the process of evaluating reasoning and feelings in order to take action.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Singh, Rishi. (2020). Ranchi, which was formerly a part of Bihar but is now the capital of Jharkhand, was my first stop at the Central Institute of Psychiatry, and the experience is still very clear in my mind. Therefore, the Department must take the lead in mental health and social work, just like other organisations. The new state's diverse population presents a fascinating background that is undeniably difficult. In order to improve mental health, science and tradition must converge and collaborate. By mobilising the public via social and institutional networking and field demonstrations, we may improve mental health initiatives, establish new ones, strengthen existing ones, alter policies, and make them more efficient.

Babu, Anithamol. (2018). Both academics and practicing social workers disagree on how to close the gap between the two fields. Nevertheless, its seriousness must be evaluated in order to provide concrete remedies. Findings will inform recommendations for improving social work curricula and bridging the gap between theory and practice in the field. Six instances were chosen at random from three colleges in the North, Central, and South areas of Kerala for the research. The subjects were chosen using a purposive sample strategy in the research. We gathered this information via in-depth interviews. The lack of certification and quality standards was seen by the participants as an issue. Many people still confuse social work with social service since there isn't an organisation that can speak for the field as a whole. Job descriptions often failed to reflect actual duties. Many students who were supposed to be preparing for careers in social work ended up treating the field more like a job since they lacked the necessary skills and mindset. Students in the social work programme performed a poor job of bringing their creative personalities and the extensive knowledge they gained from their coursework to bear on the workplace. The incorporation of indigenous materials into the curriculum, revisions to the theories and curricula, instruction that is both practical and skill-oriented, participation in social issue-related events, seminars, and workshops, and training in professional skill development are all recommendations for bettering social work education.

Bhatt, Sanjai & Phukan, Digvijoy. (2023). This study examines social work educational institutions (SWEIs) in India in an effort to provide light on the current state of the field. The study shows the growth and development of social work education, even though there is little data on the types, numbers, and trends of SWEIs. This report makes it clear that the number of SWEIs in the nation increased dramatically from 2001 to 2010, with over half of all SWEIs being founded during this time. A quick look reveals that 13.5% of SWEIs are located in Madhya Pradesh, 12.55% in Maharashtra, and over 20% in Tamil Nadu. Since a significant portion of SWEIs in India (72.2% to be exact) came into being after globalisation started in India after 1991, the article concludes that globalisation is directly related to the formation of SWEIs in India. Various worries about the SWEIs are also brought up in the article.

S P, Rajeev. (2019). In response to suicide in Kerala, social workers have developed strategies and learned from their experiences. Among Kerala's most pressing problems is the high suicide rate. The frequency and reasons behind suicide are investigated in this article. Based on the authors' research and professional experience, as well as a study of relevant literature and policy documents, the authors provide techniques for suicide prevention and practice suggestions. Various approaches to preventing suicide in the community have been deliberated, including those that focus on families and those that urge various branches of government to collaborate in order to provide efficient assistance. Lastly, the difficulties social workers face and suggestions for their practice are covered.

K.P, Mini & Karibeeran, Sathyamurthi. (2017). The 'Community' in 'Community Social Work' *. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR - JHSS). 22. 52–64. 10.9790/0837-2209015864. To each individual, the concept of community has a unique meaning. The notion of community has been studied from many different theoretical perspectives and has many different meanings. The notion of community has emerged as a central tenet of social work because of its many positive aspects. 'The practice of professional social work with communities as target population or context for interventions' is what community social work means. Community social work acknowledges the variety of communities and operates within them. Consequently, for community social work to be successful, it is crucial to comprehend various community viewpoints and aspects. In this article, we will take a look at the idea, theories, and definitions of community, as well as its general and community social work-specific understandings in the field of social work.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study's population consisted of all registered institutions and organisations in Kerala that were either established by individuals or groups with the intention of engaging in entrepreneurial operations for social causes. The analysis assumed an unlimited population as there was no full list of social businesses in Kerala. Each district within each of Kerala's three geographical regions—the north, central, and south—was regarded as a sub-cluster. Fifteen sub-clusters were found in the northern area, four in the centre region, and five in the southern region. Since it would have been impractical to choose all social companies from each district, 105 samples were instead obtained by randomly picking social firms. It took one month, in March of 2019, to map all of the samples.

DATA ANALYSIS

Issues and Challenges faced by Social Enterprises

Problems with staff, unhelpful attitudes from government employees, peer pressure, money, a lack of government support, production, getting customers, registration, society's perception of social enterprises, and gender stereotypes are just a few of the obstacles that Kerala's social entrepreneurs face.


Figure 1 Issues and Challenges of Social Enterprises

Challenges in different categories

We compiled and categorised the difficulties of social entrepreneurship into five groups: legal, financial, governance, social, and market. These groups were derived from various sources, including Sivathanu and Bhise (2013), Spek and Velden (2014), Grey et al. (2001), Rajendiran and Silabarasan (2012), Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (2012), Oommen (n.d.), and Dees and Anderson (2003). Challenges in these areas and the extent to which they impact social entrepreneurs in Kerala are shown in Table 1. Among the legal hurdles faced by social enterprises were a lack of understanding among government officials about these businesses, difficulties in registering them, delays in obtaining licences and other essential paperwork, and an overall absence of a suitable legal framework. The most serious of these problems is associated with compliances; 39% encountered it often, and only 17% encountered it excessively. Due to a lack of knowledge among government authorities, over half of the social businesses (53.3% to be exact) were experiencing insufficient difficulties. The qualitative statistics, however, show that one of the biggest problems social entrepreneurs have is the unfavourable attitude of government authorities. This disapproval is not, however, due to a lack of knowledge about social businesses.

Table 1 Challenges of Social Enterprises


Among the social challenges that had to be addressed were the following: gaining the support of loved ones, enhancing the community's quality of life, increasing social return, measuring the effect of social capital, educating the general public and customers about social enterprises, ensuring the promoter's acceptability within the target group, and meeting the high expectations of the community. Among them, raising community expectations and bettering the quality of life for all members stands out; almost a quarter of social entrepreneurs (23.8%) reported having too much trouble with these issues. There are a number of obstacles that social enterprises in Kerala encounter when trying to break into the market. These include a lack of guidance from experienced professionals, high costs associated with technology, difficulty securing funding from the government, fierce competition from peers, a small market size, limited access to raw materials, and a lack of marketing management plans and research specifically for social enterprises. Among the many types of obstacles that social entrepreneurs confront, it is intriguing to note that market issues are among the most pervasive and impact many of these entrepreneurs. According to 81.9% of social entrepreneurs, the availability of raw materials is not a problem. This suggests that social companies in Kerala, particularly those in the manufacturing sector, have access to abundance of raw materials. Too much peer pressure is a problem for over a third of social entrepreneurs (35.2%). Qualitative data excerpts corroborate the idea that social entrepreneurs face peer pressure to undercut competitors' prices and product quality while pursuing customer orders.


Figure 2 Extent of Different Categories of Challenges faced by Social Enterprises

The magnitude of each kind of difficulty is shown in Figure 2. When it came to the severity of legal issues, fewer than half (44.76%) had a major problem, a third (34.29%) had a very major problem, and a quarter (20.95%) had a minor problem. In terms of the severity of the financial difficulties they faced while managing their social enterprises, nearly half of the respondents (46.67%) reported very considerable difficulties, while a third reported very minor difficulties, and 20% reported no difficulties at all. Concerning the severity of social difficulties, a little over three quarters (73.33%) of the social companies were dealing with them to a very substantial degree, slightly over a quarter (25.71%) to a considerable extent, and a pitiful 0.95% to a less considerable amount. Considering the magnitude of the problems with governance, nearly half of the respondents (46.67%) were dealing with them to a considerable degree, nearly half (45.71%) were dealing with them to a highly considerable extent, and a pitiful percentage (7.52%) were dealing with them to a less considerable extent. Regarding the severity of the market issues, over half (56.19%), a third (32.38%), were confronting them to a very great degree, and a small percentage (11.43%), were facing them to a less considerable level.

Profile of Social enterprises versus Challenges:

Deductive reasoning Presented in Table 2 is a cross-tabulation of the social businesses' issues based on area and extent. Within the area, North Kerala has the lowest proportion of less significant extent difficulties (17.4%), which is even lower than the sum of 13.3% and even lower than the overall average of 3.8%. Within the area, fewer than half of the population was dealing with large-scale problems; this accounted for 47.8% of the total, 21.6% of the entire large-scale problems, and 10.5% of the overall extent of problems. Just over a third of the region's social companies (34.8%) were dealing with really significant difficulties, which is lower than the overall challenge percentage (33.3%) and much lower than the overall difficulty percentage (7.6%). As a result, just over a quarter of the difficulties encountered by Kerala's social businesses are located in the southern regions. A small fraction of social firms in Central Kerala (33.9%) encounter moderate to low levels of difficulty in the area, compared to a large percentage (66.7%) and a negligible percentage (19%) of all social enterprises. Nearly half of the residents in the area were dealing with issues of a significant magnitude, accounting for 56.9% of all such cases and 27.6% of the total in the state. In the area, a small percentage (16.9%) were facing really significant difficulties; this represents less than half (41.7%) of the state's total problems and a pitiful percentage (9.5%) of the state's overall difficulties. Thus, 56.2% of Kerala's overall difficulties are located in Central Kerala.

Table 2 Regional Difference in Challenges


More than a quarter of the residents in South Kerala were dealing with issues of a less serious kind, making up 20 percent of the total and 5 percent of the state's total population. In the area, fewer than half of the population was experiencing significant difficulties (47.8%), compared to 21.6% statewide and 10.5% of the whole state population. Nearly a quarter of the state's residents were dealing with really significant problems, while only 5.7% of the state's total population was experiencing such difficulties. This was true in the area, where 26.1% of the population was living. In other words, compared to the whole scope of obstacles in the state, South Kerala has less than a quarter of the problems.

To compare the difficulties faced by social businesses in the North, Central, and South areas of Kerala, a one-way analysis of variance was performed. An F-test with a p-value of less than.05 revealed a statistically significant difference in the difficulties experienced by these locations.The result was a rejection of the null hypothesis, which said that social entrepreneurs in various parts of Kerala encounter similar obstacles. Central Kerala had a substantially different mean score (M =103.32, SD =18.125) from North Kerala (M =115.91, SD =19.190), according to post hoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD test. While North and Central Kerala did have significantly higher mean scores, South Kerala did not (M =110.35, SD = 19.376).

These show that, with the exception of social and legal and social and governance, all of the problems encountered by social businesses in Kerala were interconnected, meaning that the severity of one problem had a multiplicative effect on the severity of the others.

Table 3 Correlation between Challenges and Years of experience as Social Enterprises


The study did not find a significant correlation between the number of years of experience as a social company and the number of obstacles faced by social entrepreneurs. Table 3 shows a modest negative correlation between the variables, with an r-value of -.113; however, this connection is not statistically significant (p >.05). Therefore, we accepted the null hypothesis that "there is no significant relationship between challenges of social enterprises and years of experience as social enterprise.". It seems that no matter how long a social business has been around, the problems still remain. While there are certainly obstacles for newcomers to overcome, those already well-established also face difficulties, albeit with varying degrees of severity depending on their level of development. Consequently, there are obstacles that every social entrepreneur must overcome, both at the launch and ongoing operations. So, it turns out that the common belief that businesses with more expertise in the field are better able to overcome obstacles is incorrect.

Table 4 Legal Status versus Challenges of Social Enterprises


When we ran a one-way ANOVA to see whether the difficulties faced by social businesses in Kerala varied according to their legal status, we found no statistically significant difference (F (9, 95) = 2.754, p =.256, Table 4). Since no statistically significant difference was found for social companies with differing legal status, we accept the null hypothesis. It shows that social companies in Kerala are facing obstacles regardless of their legal status. Legal, financial, social, governance, and market issues are similar to all of these groups, hence it doesn't matter what their legal standing is. Therefore, it is safe to say that there is a distinct benefit to using one of the legal registration procedures over another when it comes to reducing the difficulties. The 99 qualitative data points gathered from 15 businesses with various legal statuses show that none of these registration methods really help with the problems they encounter.

Table 5 Social Worker in Social Enterprises versus Challenges of Social Enterprises


No statistically significant difference was found at t (103) = -1.355, p = 0.178 (Table 5) when a t-test was administered to determine if the hiring of professional social workers in social businesses impacts the difficulties encountered by these firms. The results indicated that the null hypothesis, which states that "social enterprises face no significant difference in the challenges faced by the presence of social worker as employee," was accepted.It suggests that the difficulties encountered by social companies are unaffected by the employment of social workers.

CONCLUSION

The problems and difficulties encountered by social entrepreneurs in Kerala are detailed in this chapter. The problems and their solutions were elucidated with the use of excerpts, and the difficulties were examined descriptively and inferentially across many categories. The creation and management of social enterprises in Kerala are greatly impacted by the necessity of addressing social challenges. While there are many interconnected types of challenges that social enterprises encounter, the fact that social challenges account for a disproportionately large percentage of these challenges highlights their importance. Years of experience, legal status, the existence of a social worker as an employee, and form of ownership do not significantly affect issues encountered by social businesses in Kerala, while the nature of their association does.