Discussion Board - Human Services

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Introduction to

Human Services –

Chapter 1&2

Fall 2020 Instructor: Dr. Marisha Wright-Stewart

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What is Human Service?

● Everyone at some point in their lives needs help. This help could range from help with their bills to help with adequate shelter or even help with everyday living skills. No matter what the reason is for the help, it is inevitable that people need it. In these times of need, people may wonder who they can turn to for help. This question often goes unanswered because people are so unsure. Human Services is here to help. People just need to know where to look and even how to look for his help.

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What is Human Service?

● The primary goal of human services is to assist people in achieving sef-sufficiency and reaching their optimal level of functioning.

● Human Service professionals are committed to helping people develop the necessary skills to become self-sufficient and fully functioning (to the best of their ability), personally and within society.

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Purpose of Human Services (cont’)

● The purpose was updated in 2009: ○ help meet “human needs through as an

interdisciplinary knowledge base, focusing on prevention as well as remediation of problems, and maintaining a commitment to improving the overall quality of life of service populations” (NOHS, 2009).

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EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Often careers engaging in grassroots work require a degree in Human Services (or related field) at an associate’s level (Associate of Arts [AA] or Associate of Science [AS], bachelor’s level (Bachelor’ of Arts [BA] or Bachelor of Science [BS], or master’s level (Master of Arts [MA] or Master of Science [MS].

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EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Educational requirements just mean that the Human Services field is generalist, which means it’s broad, encompassing many different careers and professionals with a range of educational backgrounds.

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Human Service Professional Roles

There are 13 roles and functions of HS Professionals (SREB, 1969):

● Outreach worker – go into community to work with clients ● Broker – help clients find and use services ● Advocate – defends clients causes and rights ● Evaluator – assess client programs and shows that agencies

are accountable for services provided ● Teacher/Educator – tutors, mentors, and models new

behaviors for clients ● Behavior changer – uses intervention strategies and

counseling skills to facilitate client change

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Human Service Professional Roles

● Mobilizer – who organizes client and community support to provide needed services

● Consultant – seeks and offers knowledge and support to other professionals and meets with clients and community groups to discuss and solve problems

● Community Planner – who designs, implements, and organizes new programs to service clients needs

● Caregiver – who offers direct support, encouragement, and hope to clients

● Data Manager – develops systems to gather facts and statistics as a means of evaluating programs

● Administrator – supervises community service programs ● Assistant to specialist – works closely with the high trained

professional as an aide and helper in servicing ●

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Skills and Competencies

● ○ There are competencies and skills that are necessary for the

completion of human service work: ■ Participant empowerment ■ Communication ■ Assessment ■ Community and service networking ■ Facilitation of services ■ Community and living skills and supports ■ Education, training, and self-development ■ Advocacy ■ Vocational, educational, and career support ■ Crisis intervention ■ Organization participation ■ Documentation

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HS Understanding the Need

1. Broad-education and willingness to adapt to changing roles and circumstances.

2. A general knowledge, values,and skills/competencies to perform several job functions in various environments

3. Understand a client’s development is influenced by various levels from a macro to micro levels, i.e., Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model

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HUMAN SERVICES PROFESSIONALS

SOCIAL WORKER NURSE

COUNSELOR CASE MANAGERMINISTER/

PRIESTPSYCHOLOGIST

CASE WORKER CHILD

ADVOCATESOCIAL SERVICES WORKER

DRUG ABUSE COUNSELOR

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ADVOCATE

LIFE SKILLS COACH

NURSE

CPS WORKER

SHELTER VOLUNTEERS

THERAPIST GROUP HOME WORKER

ADULT DAY WORKER

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Where Do Human Services

Professionals Work ● Mental Health Centers ● Hospitals ● Health Clinics ● Nursing Homes ● College Counseling ● Ministers Affairs ● Salvation Army ● Schools ● Vocational Rehabilitation Services ● And others…..

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HUMAN SERVICE CERTIFICATIONS

1. Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE) created a Human Services Board Certified Practitioner certification (HS-BCP). In order to be eligible to take the certification exam: a. earn certificate or degree from an accredited

college b. acquire supervised hours in human service field

(hours are based on degree-Certificate-7,500, AA - 4,500, BA - 3,000, MA - 1,500 hours)

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• Multicausality is the view that personal or social problems are caused by many interacting factors, often too complex to allow a precise assessment of causality.

• Human Service professionals can never establish causality with any solid degree of certainty.

• There is a rarely one simple cause of a problem. • Human Service problems are the result of many intertwined

personal pressures and social forces. • Some cause of social problems are deeply rooted and other are

secondary causes or symptoms of a deeper problem. • Although many people appear to have the same problem they may

have it for a different set of reasons. • Even when people encounter similar experiences, they do not

necessarily react in similar ways.

The Concept of Multicausality

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• Jerome Kagan (1989) claims that there are very many linkages between a person’s early childhood characteristics and his/her personality as an adult.

• Let’s think about the following: • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) • Child Abuse • Alcoholism • Anxiety Disorder • Low Self Esteem • Sexual Abuse

•

The Concept of Multicausality - Part 2

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Bronfenbrenner Beliefs:

● interactions with others and the environment are key to development

● we all experience more than one type of environment 

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•chronosystem - events occurring in the context of passing time. •macrosystem - the larger cultural context, including issues of cultural values and expectations •exosystem - the environment in which an individual is not directly involved, which is external to his or her experience, but nonetheless affects him or her.

Ecological Model

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• Mesosystem - the interaction of two microsystem environments, such as the connection between a child’s home and school, Home system <---> School system

• Microsystem - the immediate environment in which a person is operating, such as the family, classroom, peer group, neighborhood, etc.

Ecological Model

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Person-in-environment (PIE)

This approach is often used as a basic orientation in practice because it encourages practitioners to evaluate individuals within the context of their environment. Start at the micro level.

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

SELF-ACTUALIZATION

people self-actualize naturally, but are motivated to get their most basic physiological needs met first before they are motivated to meet their higher-level needs.

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Strengths Perspective by Sullivan (1992)

Help Clients Find One’s Strengths:

a way to encourage clients to recognize and develop their own personal strengths and abilities.

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"The History and Evolution of Social

Welfare Policy"

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"The History and Evolution of Social

Welfare Policy"

● Early History: Elizabethan Poor Laws (1594) was the beginning of the first funded relief to aid poor people.

● British Poor laws were divided to classify the poor. These laws made a distinction between who were unable to work due to their age or physical health and those who were able-bodied but unemployed.

● Colonial America: poor relief consisted primarily of mutual kindness, family support, and distant help from England.

● Poor Care in the Industrial and Progressive Eras: During this time poor care remained minimal, consisting primarily of free land grants, pensions for widows, and aid to disabled veterans.

● Great Depression 1929 was a life changing event that created an awareness for the first time that the federal government recognized the necessity of a national social welfare program.

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"The History and Evolution of Social

Welfare Policy"

● There were some philosophical and religious belief systems that presumed to explain why poverty and other social ills existed: ○ John Calvin ○ Charles Darwin ○ Herbert Spencer ○ Rev. S Humphreys Gurteen ○ Jane Addams

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"The History and Evolution of Social

Welfare Policy"

● The New Deal and Great Society Programs ● Social Welfare in Contemporary in United States ● Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) ● Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) ● Other Programs

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SELF-SUFFICIENCY

● Self sufficiency is defined as the ability to provide for oneself without the support from others.

● It is critical to: ○ provide clients the opportunity and support to be self-sufficient; ○ empower clients to make decisions and assume responsibility for their

actions; ○ Encourage clients to be independent and gain control of their own

lives as soon as they are able; ○ Assist clients in believing in themselves or the efficacy to make the

changes needed to become self-sufficient.

● Economic self-sufficiency strengthens an individual’s self-esteem.

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The Interdisciplinary Nature of Human Services ● The three primary academic disciplines that provide an

integration of knowledge are: ○ Sociology ○ Psychology ○ Anthropology

● Each discipline brings a unique perspective to the understanding of the nature of the individual, families, and groups of people.

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Sociology

⚫ Examines the ways in which human societies influence the people who live in these societies.

⚫ Sociology assesses the individual and the broader culture and tries to account for and understand the differences within human culture.

⚫ It helps human service professionals understand elements of life that affect living, such as family structure, family roles, gender, race, and poverty.

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Psychology

⚫ Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. ⚫ It embraces all aspects of the human experience from

childhood on. ⚫ It examines how people think, feel, behave and explores why

they think, feel and behave. ⚫ Psychology analyzes behavior and mental processes from the

physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and psychodynamic perspectives.

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Anthropology

⚫ Anthropology studies:

⚫ the cultural, physical and social development of humans and the variation in their customs and beliefs.

⚫ Studies groups who live in remote areas of the globe or individuals in the mainstream culture in diverse settings.

⚫ Studies environment settings, for example, culture of work, employee relations, and human resources.

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Purpose of the Interdisciplinary Nature

By integrating the three disciplines (sociology, psychology, and anthropology) with human services, professionals can attain knowledge of clients, an understanding of society and its relationship to individuals and families, and the culture in which people live. This allows them to relate to their clients more effectively (Woodside & McClam, 2009).