Generalist%20Practice%20and%20Introductory%20Theory

1
Generalist Practice and Introductory Theory

• Chapter 4

2
Introduction

• The profession was actually founded on a
  generalist premise that social workers needed to
  consider and work with both the individual and
  the environment as they attempted to improve the
  life quality and functioning of individuals,
  groups, and communities.

3
Introduction

• When a person comes into a social workers office
  requesting help or when the social worker visits
  an individual in a homeless shelter, the purpose
  of the meeting is to enhance the persons
  well-being or social functioning.
• When the social worker meets with a state
  legislative committee or a local school board,
  the professional purpose is to help them design
  programs that will alleviate poverty and
  oppression and meet the basic human needs.

4
Introduction

• Social workers dont pick and choose what
  problems and issues they would like to address.
  They see a problem, even a very difficult
  problem, and try to help people solve it. They
  must prepare themselves to help people with
  individualized personal problems on the one hand
  and very broad problems that affect whole
  organizations and communities on the other.
  (Kirst-Ashman and Hull)

5
Need for a Theoretical Framework

• CSWE has required that schools teach a series of
  classes under the title of Human Behavior and the
  Social Environment (HBSE).
• HBSE sequence has been a basic mechanism to help
  the professional focus on the perspective of the
  person and the environment with a proper
  understanding of the important interaction that
  goes on between people and the context in which
  they live.

6
Need for a Theoretical Framework

• Dual perspective assists the social worker to
  incorporate theories into practice that explain
  how individuals grow and develop socially,
  biologically, emotionally, and spiritually.
• The dual perspective has encouraged an
  understanding of social structures, systems, and
  cultural norms that play such an important part
  in the lives of all people.

7
Framework

• In the early days of social work the interactive
  perspective was evidenced in the Charity
  Organization Societies (COS) and the Settlement
  House Movement (SHM).
• The COS focused on changing the individual, while
  the SHM chose to change social systems.
• An important shift occurred when social work
  adopted Freuds psychodynamic model placing a
  greater emphasis on the individual (medical model
  approach).

8
Framework

• Since the l970s the profession has added the
  systems and ecological models as a way of again
  stressing the importance of balancing the focus
  of social work practice between the person and
  the environment.
• Systems theories addresses the impact that
  organizations, policies, communities, and groups
  have on individuals.
• Ecological theory is a subset of systems theory
  that makes some important contributions to social
  work, (micro, mezzo, macro perspectives).

9
Introductory Inner and Outer Forces Paradigm

• The inner and outer forces paradigm attempts to
  explain why people seem to act at times in
  strange and unpredictable ways.
• The basic assumption in the inner and outer
  forces model is that there are forces developed
  both within the person and from the persons
  environment that cause them to behave in certain
  ways.
• The real origin of the forces may never be
  identified, but the recognition that the forces
  exist and continually interact to produce
  behavior is significant.

10

• The framework can assist in assessing and
  treating problems of a troubled person.
• Another use of the inner and outer forces
  framework is in prevention.
• A third use of the inner and outer forces
  framework is creating a classification system for
  the new theories that are developing in the area
  of human behavior.

11
Life Cycle and the Inner and Outer Forces Model

• An important addition to the inner and outer
  forces model is the life cycle concept.
• It is recognized that there are stages of human
  development that seem to be universal.
• Erik Erikson, who adapted his formation of a life
  cycle from basic Freudian theory, developed an
  eight-stage classification .

12
Eight Stages of the Life Cycle

• Trust (0-1 years)
• Autonomy (1-3 years)
• Initiative (4-6 years)
• Industry (7-11 years)
• Identity (12-17 years)
• Intimacy (18-22 years)
• Caring (23-45 years)
• Integrity (45 years)

13
Social Functioning

• The inner and outer forces framework is a tool to
  help the social worker explain some of the
  reasons why individuals may not function well in
  their environment.
• The aim of social work is to improve and enhance
  social functioning.
• Social work has determined that social
  functioning is its central purpose.

14
Levels of Social Functioning

• Social work places its primary attention on an
  individuals relationship with other human
  beings.
• It focuses on how and with what effectiveness the
  person performs various social roles.
• Threats to, or actual impairment of, role
  function are the situations to which the
  profession addresses itself.

15
Levels of Social Functioning

• Social work assumes humanitys worth and
  preeminence and takes the position that people
  inherently have the potential for dealing with
  their problems.
• Social work is not antiseptic. It does not aim
  to make life free from stress-producing problems
  or to relieve people of their responsibilities.
• Problems can be building blocks. Crises are
  frequently the mainspring of adaptive behavior.

16
A Base for Generalist Social Work Practice

• Generalist social work practice requires the
  worker both to be able to explain human behavior
  and to decide on a course of intervention to
  improve social functioning.
• Since the generalist social worker must work with
  the micro, mezzo, and macro systems, it is
  important the each new social worker be grounded
  in the traditional social work methods.