Under what conditions did the NASW emerge in 1955? And what were some of its early challenges?
- gradual transformation from narrow to broad view
- accelerated during 60’s-70’s due to social unrest in US
- accusations of being irrelevant
- social workers engaged in narrow focused activities (did not address need of the people)
How do these terms differ?
Clinical Practice
Direct Practice
Specialization
Limited to mental health treatment
Encompasses a variety of social work roles
Involves specialized training in a modality of treatment, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, trauma-informed therapy, psychodynamic therapy
What does Abromovitz say about the micro/macro distinction?
- Undo the false distinction between micro and macro and the division of labor
- This split obscures the reality that all social work methods involve or have the potential to promote rather than constrained change, be it with individuals, groups, or the wider society,
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- Five stage model (physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization)
- people are motivated to achieve certain needs (deficiency needs and growth needs)
- motivated to achieve self-actualization but only if other basic needs are met first
Roles of direct practitioners
Direct provision of services Individual casework or counseling Martial and family therapy Group work services Educator/disseminator of information
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- Five stage model (physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self actualization)
- states that people are motivated to achieve certain needs (deficiency needs and growth needs)
- motivated to achieve self-actualization but only if other needs are met first
Mezzo-level practice
Community organizing
Community programming
Mezzo-level practice
Community organizing
Community programming
Macro-level practice
Organization and management
Social planning
Political advocacy
What does Abromovitz say about the micro/macro distinction?
- Undo the false distinction between micro/macro and this division of labor
- This split obscures the reality that all social work methods involve or have the potential to promote rather than constrain change, be it with individuals, groups or with the wider society
Ecological systems theory
A system is a set of ordered elements making up a whole
When one part of the system changes so do the others (i.e., homeostasis)
Individuals constantly engage in transactions with other humans and wider systems in their environments
Individuals and systems “reciprocally” influence each other
Adequate assessments must consider how people and environmental systems influence each other
Why does Saleeby (1996) argue that a strengths-based perspective is needed?
- denies that all people who face trauma and pain in their lives are inevitably wounded or incapacitated or become less than they might
- correct the destructive emphasis on what is ‘wrong’
- focus on what is right
- victimhood has become big business
- wrong to deny the possible as it is to deny the problem
What are the elements of a strengths-based practice?
- different way of looking at individuals, families, and communities
- all must be seen in light of their capacities, possibilities, visions, values, and hopes, however dashed and distorted these may have become through circumstance, oppression, and trauma
What does the strengths-based perspective say about factors such as trauma history, disability, and addictions?
- they are real
- shouldn’t define the client
- can be used as tools for empowerment
- power of the self to heal
- denies people are victims
- denies the reign of categorical imperative
What is a self-righting tendency? Resilience?
Resilience means the skills, abilities, knowledge and insight to surmount adversity and meet challenges.
What are some criticisms of this perspective?
positive thinking in disguise
- quick fixes
- not true, takes hard work and effort
re-framing misery
- clients are expected to do the work of transformation
- only re-conceptualize their difficulties
- honors the reality of conditions, trauma, violence and demands reframing to develop an attitude beyond labels
pollyannaism
- ignores how manipulative, destructive and dangerous some clients can be
- social workers can’t automatically discount people
- not make assumptions
- some are beyond redemption?
ignoring reality
- ignores, downplays real problems
- make sure the diagnoses does not become the cornerstone of identity
- not deny the verdict, defy the sentence
Evidence-based practice
Comes from the medical model
Relies on controlled clinical trial research
Emphasizes targeted problems and interventions
Evidence-based process
Requires practitioner to survey knowledge base and weigh alternatives
A method of acquiring information
Always changing with new developments and findings
Challenges to EBPs
Practitioners are not always free to choose interventions
Social policies and agencies may pre-determine interventions
Practitioners operate under time constraints
Clients may have multiple, co-occurring problems that do not fit control groups
Practitioners may over-generalize domain expertise to groups where effectiveness isn’t proven
Using Trevithick (2008), identify three countervailing arguments in defense of social work.
- requires specific knowledge base
- ## theory, fact, action knowledge
