Unit 1.1 Discussion: Multidimensional Influences

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Readings and Resources

Readings and Resources

eBook:

Zastrow, C., Kirst-Ashman, K.K. & Hessenauer, S.L. (2019).  Empowerment series: Understanding human behavior and the social environment (11th Ed.). Cengage Learning.

· Chapter 1: Introduction to Human Behavior and the Social Environment

Articles, Websites, and Videos:

How do we define “abnormal” behavior? This video provides a brief animation while looking at the three definitions of abnormality and the challenges of defining behavior in this manner.

Albert Bandura is a Psychologist most widely known for his work on aggression which found that children can learn behaviors from watching adults. The Social Learning theory is attributed to his work and this video guides the students through the components of this theory and its importance while assessing and understanding human behavior.

https://youtu.be/cwKJ0juPIrQ

https://youtu.be/SzBGS1aJZCE

Chapter 1 Introduction to Human Behavior and the Social Environment

Chapter Introduction

Introduction to Human Behavior and the Social Environment

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Blend Images/Superstock

Learning Objectives

This chapter will help prepare students to

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EP 6a,

EP 7b,

EP 8b,

· LO 1 Explain the importance of foundation knowledge for social work with an emphasis on assessment

· LO 2 Review the organization of this book that emphasizes lifespan development

· LO 3 Describe important concepts for understanding human behavior (that are stressed throughout the book and include human diversity, cultural competency, oppression, populations-at-risk, empowerment, the strengths perspective, resiliency, human rights, and critical thinking about ethical issues)

· LO 4 Employ a conceptual framework for understanding human behavior and the social environment: ecosystems theory

· LO 5 Recognize people’s involvement with multiple systems in the social environment

· LO 6 Recognize social worker roles

· LO 7 Identify knowledge, skills, and values necessary for generalist social work practice

Why do people behave the way they do? Are behavior and personality caused mainly by a person’s genetic makeup and given nature? Or are they due to the environment and a person’s treatment in that environment?

Human behavior and its dynamics can be remarkably complex. A fascinating example concerns the case of a boy, sometimes referred to as “the wild boy of Aveyron,” who grew up alone in the Aveyron forest of southern France at the end of the eighteenth century (Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2007). On various occasions, French villagers sighted the boy, who was naked, filthy, and covered with scars, as he roamed through the wilderness, foraging for roots, nuts, and whatever other food he could find (Yousef, 2001).

In January 1800, the boy, eventually named Victor, was caught burrowing for vegetables in a tanner’s garden in the French village of Saint-Sernin. Although he was only about four and a half feet tall, he appeared to be about 12 or 13 years old (Lane, 1976). He had “delicate white skin, a round face, long eyelashes, a long, slightly pointed nose, an average-sized mouth, a rounded chin, generally agreeable features, and an engaging smile.” Externally he appeared much like any other boy; however, he could make “only weird, meaningless cries,” could not speak, vehemently refused to wear clothing, and rejected any prepared food (Saskatchewan Psychology Portal, n.d.; Shattuck, 1980). Victor also failed to respond to others, neither communicating with them nor paying attention to what they were doing. It became apparent that Victor had been abandoned at an early age and, without human company, had learned to fend for himself in his own way.

Victor was eventually sent to Paris, where he came to the attention of two important Parisian physicians, Philippe Pinel and Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard. A basic question they addressed was the reasons for Victor’s behavior. They focused on the nature–nurture controversy. In other words, was Victor’s behavior the result of nature (i.e., inborn traits), or was it a consequence of nurture (i.e., the influence of his background, experience, and environment)? Pinel, a psychiatrist, determined that Victor was not really wild, but rather mentally deficient and an “incurable idiot” (Human Intelligence, 2004). He believed that nature had caused Victor’s pattern of behavior. But Itard, who was chief physician at the National Institution for Deaf-Mutes in Paris, disagreed. Itard credited Victor for his self-sufficiency and survival, asserting that Victor’s deprivation of human interaction had denied him the opportunity to learn how to fit into society. Itard believed that Victor could learn to interact, communicate, and conform if he were taught to do so. He argued that Victor’s behavior resulted from the nurturance, or lack thereof, he received from his environment.

More specific questions can be raised. Why couldn’t Victor speak? He had a horizontal scar across his throat, apparently caused by a knife, that may have damaged his vocal cords (Yousef, 2001). However, he could utter some sounds, which suggested that his vocal cords were not damaged. Could Victor hear? He would often ignore human speech and even the sound of a gunshot (Human Intelligence, 2004), yet would react to the sound of a walnut being cracked behind him, an unseen dog barking outside, or a door creaking open in the dark (Yousef, 2001). Was Victor autistic (a condition characterized by intense inner-directedness that is discussed further in  Chapter 3)? Some believe he presents the first documented case of autism (FeralChildren.com, 2005; Human Intelligence, 2004).

Far ahead of his time, Itard worked with Victor for five years, using behavior modification principles to teach and reinforce desired behavior ( Chapter 4 elaborates on behavior modification concepts and techniques). Victor learned to “read and speak a few words, demonstrated affection for his caretakers, and could carry out simple commands” (Human Intelligence, 2004). Consider what great accomplishments these were! However, Itard was greatly disappointed that Victor could not achieve much more and become “normal.” Victor never learned to communicate well; nor did he care much about interpersonal interactions. His focal point continued to be his own desires. Ultimately, he could not survive independently in the civilized world as he had in the wild. Victor spent the remainder of his life being cared for by Madame Guerin, who had been Itard’s housekeeper. He was in his early forties when he died in 1828.

Ethical Question 1.1

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1. Was it ethical for Dr. Itard and the others to remove Victor from the wild against his will?

Victor’s story raises many questions about how human behavior and personality develop. Why do we behave the way we do? How much of our behavior is a product of our genetic heritage? To what extent do we think, feel, and interact the way we do because we’ve been taught to do so by other people—our family, school, the media, our culture, and our government? Understanding Human Behavior will explore various dimensions of human behavior to enhance your understanding of why people have developed as they have and why they behave the way they do.

A Perspective

The goals of this book are to explore the dynamics of human behavior and prepare a foundation of knowledge upon which to build social work practice skills. What do we mean, exactly, by human behavior and the social environment, the title of this book? First, let’s break down and define the terminology. Human behavior involves people’s actions, conduct, and responses as they go through life. Individuals, of course, demonstrate human behavior. Groups of people ranging from couples to families to communities to nations also exhibit human behavior. People, then, behave within the context of their environment. An environment includes “the surroundings or conditions” in which people or other organisms live and function (Lindberg, 2007, p. 460). For our purposes, the social environment involves the systems of other people, including economic, political, legal, social, spiritual, and cultural, with whom any individual interacts as he or she operates within the encompassing environment.

Why is understanding human behavior and the social environment important for social workers and other helping professionals? Social workers help people solve problems and get access to resources. They must recognize what conditions people are faced with in their social environments and how these conditions affect people’s behavior and functioning. The social environment may vary on many levels. It may be urban or rural. It may be wealthy with many resources or impoverished with very few. It may be liberal or conservative. On an international level, it may be democratic, socialist, or communist. Social workers must understand the social environment in order to help people figure out what options are available to them and get the resources they need.

One of the primary steps in the helping process—and the focus of this book—is assessment, the identification and exploration of variables affecting people’s behavior, functioning, and well-being. Assessment for social workers entails investigating people’s strengths, problems, needs, and issues to begin understanding how to help people and improve their lives.

Human behavior can be fascinating and, sometimes, quite puzzling. For example, I (Karen Kirst-Ashman) once got home from work, walked into the master bedroom, and observed my partner ironing the mattress. Befuddled, I thought, “This is a new one. What in the world is he doing?” Mattress ironing had never been part of my repertoire of logical behavior. As it turned out, my partner, who is an engineer, explained his actions quite rationally. We had recently bought a new mattress, and its covering was so slippery that neither a mattress cover nor sheets would stay in place. This was quite annoying when we were trying to sleep. My partner was using the iron to attach a sheet with Stitch Witchery, a bonding tape that melts and secures materials like hems after heat is applied to it. It’s an easy way to get cloth materials to stick together if you don’t want to bother with needle and thread. My partner’s idea was that we’d put another sheet over the one bonded to the mattress; in effect, the bonded sheet would be a permanent—and nonslippery—mattress cover. As it turned out, his plan worked. The sheets no longer slipped off. This experience reinforced my hypothesis that people always have a reason for doing what they do, as baffling as it might appear at the time.

Social work is unique in that it emphasizes a focus that stretches far beyond that of an individual. Assessment in social work addresses all aspects of a client’s situation. Many times, it’s not the client’s fault that problems exist. Rather, something outside the client may be instigating the problem. The client’s whole family may not be functioning well. There may be difficulties beyond the client’s control in his or her workplace. Existing social service organizations may not be providing what clients need. Resources may be too difficult to obtain, inadequate, or even nonexistent. Organizational policies or laws affecting the client may be unfair. As part of assessment, social workers focus on families, work groups and environments, social agencies, organizations, neighborhoods, communities, and even local, state, and national government in addition to the individual. Figuring out what to do about any specific problem may directly involve any of these entities.

1-1 Explain the Importance of Foundation Knowledge for Social Work with an Emphasis on Assessment

LO 1

In order to recognize the significance of foundation knowledge, including that presented in this book, the purpose and process of social work must be understood. Social work may be viewed as having three major thrusts (Baer & Federico, 1978, p. 68). First, social workers can help people solve their problems and cope with their situations. Second, social workers can work with systems, such as social agencies, organizations, communities, and government bureaucracies, so that people can have better access to the resources and services they need. Third, social workers can “link people with systems” (Baer & Federico, 1978, p. 68), so that clients themselves have access to resources and opportunities. Much of social work, then, involves social functioning.

People interact with other people, with organizations (such as social service agencies), and with small groups (such as families and colleagues in the workplace). Social work targets not only how individuals behave, but also how these other systems and people affect each other.

An example is a family of five in which both parents work at low-paying jobs in order to make a marginal living. The father works at a small, non-unionized leather-processing plant. The mother works as a waitress at a short-order diner. Suddenly, the father is laid off. For a short time, the family survives on unemployment compensation. When that runs out, they face a serious financial crisis. Despite a great effort, the father is unable to find another job. In desperation, the family applies for public assistance. Due to some unidentified error in the lengthy application process, the payments are delayed for two months.

Meanwhile, the family is forced to eat poorly and is unable to pay rent and utility bills. The phone is disconnected, the electricity is turned off, and the landlord threatens to evict them. Reacting to the externally imposed stress, the parents begin to fight verbally and physically. The children complain because they are hungry. This intensifies the parents’ sense of defeat and disillusionment. As a result of stress and frustration, the parents hit the children to keep them quiet.

Although this example has not been presented in detail, it illustrates that people are integrally involved with other systems in their environment.

A social worker reviewing this case might assess how the family and other systems in the environment have had an impact on each other. First, the father’s life is seriously affected by his place of employment, the leather factory, when he is laid off. He then seeks unemployment compensation, which affects that system by dipping into its funds. When those benefits cease, the family then affects the public assistance system by drawing on its funds. The public assistance system, in turn, impacts the family by delaying their payments. The resulting frustration affects all family members, as the parents are unable to cope with their stress. The entire situation can be viewed as a series of dynamic interactions between people and their environment.

1-1aThe Profession of Social Work

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the primary professional organization for social workers in the United States. NASW (1982) defines  social work as follows:

Social work is the professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities to enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and to create societal conditions favorable to their goals.

Social Work practice consists of the professional application of social work values, principles, and techniques to one or more of the following ends: helping people obtain tangible services; providing counseling and psychotherapy for individuals, families, and groups; helping communities or groups provide or improve social and health services; and participating in relevant legislative processes.

The profession of social work is recognized as having the primary responsibility to implement society’s mandate to provide safe, constructive, and effective social services. Social work is thus distinct from other professions (such as psychology and psychiatry) because it has the responsibility and mandate to provide social services.

A social worker needs training and expertise in a wide range of areas to effectively handle problems faced by individuals, groups, families, organizations, and the larger community. Although most professions are increasingly becoming more specialized (e.g., most medical doctors now specialize in one or two areas), social work continues to emphasize a generic (broad-based) approach. The practice of social work is analogous to the old general practice of medicine. A general (or family) practitioner has professional education to handle a wide range of common medical problems; a social worker has professional education to handle a wide range of common social and personal problems.

The foundation of social work is described in  Highlight 1.1. The knowledge, skills, and values needed for generalist social work practice are described in greater detail later in the chapter.

Highlight 1.1

Generalist Social Work Practice

There used to be an erroneous belief that a social worker was a caseworker (who worked with individuals and families), a group worker (who worked with groups), or a community organizer (who worked on people’s behalf in organizations and communities). Practicing social workers know that such a belief is faulty because every social worker is a change agent working with individuals, groups, families, organizations, and the larger community. Social workers today are generalists. A generalist practitioner is one who uses a wide range of knowledge and skills to help people with an extensive array of problems and issues. These include anything from personal issues that affect an individual to extensive, far-reaching problems that involve entire communities. The amount of time spent at these levels varies from worker to worker, but every worker will, at times, work at each of these levels and therefore needs training in all of them.

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE, the national accrediting entity for baccalaureate and master’s programs in social work) requires that all bachelor’s (BSW) and master’s (MSW) programs train students in generalist social work practice. MSW programs, in addition, usually require students to select and study in an area of concentration. They generally offer several choices, such as family therapy, administration, corrections, or clinical social work.

The Council on Social Work Education (2015), in Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, defines generalist practice as follows:

Generalist practice is grounded in the liberal arts and the person-in-environment framework. To promote human and social well-being, generalist practitioners use a range of prevention and intervention methods in their practice with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities based on scientific inquiry and best practices. The generalist practitioner identifies with the social work profession end applies ethical principles and critical thinking in practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Generalist practitioners engage diversity in their practice and advocate for human rights and social and economic justice. They recognize, support, and build on the strengths and resiliency of all human beings. They engage in research-informed practice and are proactive in responding to the impact of context on professional practice.

This text focuses on the generalist-practice approach in social work by describing a variety of assessment strategies. Once you have learned these strategies, you can select the approaches that hold the most promise in facilitating positive changes in your clients.

In working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, social workers use a problem-solving approach. The process can be described in a variety of ways, but includes these steps:

1. Identify as precisely as possible the problem or problems; in other words, conduct an assessment of the situation.

2. Generate possible alternative solutions, evaluate their potential effectiveness, and establish a plan of action for intervention.

3. Implement the plan and carry out the intervention.

4. Evaluate the intervention’s effectiveness.

5. Terminate the process.

1-1bThe Process of Social Work: The Importance of Assessment

Accurate assessment is a critically important step in the social work process. Information about the problem or situation needs to be gathered, analyzed, and interpreted. Regardless of the specific type of situation, careful thought is necessary in order to make effective decisions about how to proceed. Assessment also involves basic knowledge and assumptions about human behavior. There are always reasons why people behave the way they do.

For example, a social worker who is trying to help a potentially suicidal adolescent needs certain types of information. The worker needs to know some of the reasons why people consider committing suicide so that he or she knows what questions to ask, how to respond to and treat the person, and what alternatives and supports to pursue.

Additionally, the worker must be able to identify what resources are readily available to suicidal adolescents. How can the crises be addressed immediately, simply to keep them alive? What supportive resources are available to keep them from suicidal thoughts in the future? Where can a social worker refer them to get help? ( Chapter 7 explores adolescent suicide in greater depth.)

1-1cIdentifying and Evaluating Alternative Courses of Action

Clients come to social workers with problems and needs. The worker must understand these problems and needs in order to help the client. One primary task for the practitioner is to help the client define the alternatives available to him or her. Often people have tunnel vision: because of stress or habit or lack of experience, they can fail to realize that various alternatives exist. Not only must alternatives be defined, but they also must be evaluated. The positive and negative consequences of each alternative should be clearly stated and weighed.  Figure 1.1 illustrates the process of evaluating alternatives.

Figure 1.1Social Workers Help Clients Identify Alternatives and Evaluate the Consequences of Each

A flow diagram shows three potential alternatives, 1, 2, and 3, arriving at the final decision after weighing the pros and cons of each alternative’s consequence.

Much of generalist social work practice involves individual clients and small groups.  Highlight 1.2, “Case Example: Unplanned Pregnancy,” shows how an individual client might be helped to identify the various alternatives available, evaluate the consequences of each, and finally select a course of action.

Highlight 1.2

Case Example: Unplanned Pregnancy

Mona, 16, is a high school sophomore who has just found out that she is two months pregnant. The father is Fred, a 17-year-old high school junior.

Mona and Fred have been dating for two years. They think they love each other. Mona is a vivacious, outgoing cheerleader, and Fred is a muscular, handsome quarterback on the school football team. They are both involved in school activities and have never thought very much about the future.

Mona hasn’t told Fred about being pregnant. She’s very confused about what to do. She doesn’t know how he’ll react. Mona hasn’t told her parents either. They’re very religious, and Mona is afraid they’ll be terribly disappointed in her. She doesn’t know what to do.

Mona finally gets up enough courage to talk to the school social worker, Ms. Peterson. Ms. Peterson is a warm, empathetic individual who encourages Mona to talk about her situation. Mona shares her shock and dismay over what is happening. She had simply avoided thinking about contraception or possible pregnancy. It had been easier not to worry about it.

With Ms. Peterson’s encouragement, Mona considers her alternatives. One alternative would be to have an abortion. The positive consequence of that would be a relatively fast termination of the problem and its implications. The negative consequences would include the cost, any difficulty Mona might encounter in setting up an appointment, and any physical discomfort the procedure would cause. The most serious negative consequence for Mona would be the guilt she says she would feel. She believes that abortion is morally wrong.

A second alternative would be to keep the baby and raise it herself. The positive consequence would be the fact that she would accept responsibility for the child she has conceived. The negative consequences would be the financial, social, and educational difficulties she would have to face in order to support and care for her child.

A third alternative would be to keep the child and eventually marry Fred. Mona feels that this is a rather uncertain alternative. She doesn’t know if Fred would want to get married. Although the positive consequence would be a two-parent home for the baby, Mona doesn’t feel that either she or Fred would be ready for the responsibilities of marriage, and she would have to live with her parents until they were ready.

A fourth alternative would be to have the baby and place it up for adoption. The positive consequences would be that her baby would live and have a home. The negative consequences would be that she would have to face the social consequences of being a pregnant high school sophomore. The other major negative consequence would be the pain and regret she would experience when she gave up her baby.

Ms. Peterson should not, nor does she want to, make Mona’s decision for her. It is up to Mona to weigh the positive and negative consequences of each alternative and make a decision. However, Ms. Peterson helps Mona think through her situation and her various alternatives.

Mona finally decides to have the baby and place it up for adoption. After weighing each positive and negative consequence within her own personal value system, she decides that this is the best route for her to take. She knows she will have to talk to Fred and to her parents first, but feels that at least she has defined her own perspective.

1-2 Review the Organization of This Book That Emphasizes Lifespan Development

LO 2

Understanding and assessing human behavior includes being knowledgeable about human development. It also involves comprehension of the wide range of issues facing people as they progress through life. For a coherent approach to changes that take place during a person’s lifespan, this text will assume a chronological perspective. The lifespan is divided up into four main phases:  infancy and childhoodadolescenceyoung and middle adulthood, and  later adulthood. Three chapters, respectively focusing on biological, psychological, and social development, address each life phase.

Biological development and theories concern the physical aspects of a person’s life. For example, biological dimensions for children include when they begin to walk and develop coordination. For adolescents, biological development includes puberty and the physical changes related to it. Biological aspects for older adults concern the physical changes that normally occur as people age.

Psychological development and theories emphasize individuals’ functioning and cognitive or thought processes. Psychological aspects concern how people think about themselves, others, and the environment around them. For children, this includes the gradual development from more concrete to more abstract thought. Development of a sense of morality is involved. As life progresses, people may make great intellectual contributions involving scientific discovery or artistic expression. They may also experience issues concerning mental health, such as depression or eating disorders.

Finally,  social development and theories address people’s interaction with others around them in the social environment. Children live within the social context of their family. They develop their social lives as they start interacting and playing with other children. As people continue through life, social dimensions include interaction with friends and participation in work groups. They may find significant others as partners and/or start families of their own. Many join organizations for political, social, recreational, or professional reasons. Some become great leaders who initiate and implement major social change.

Considered together, these aspects of development may be referred to as  bio-psycho-social development. As  Highlight 1.3 explains, these three dimensions integrally affect each other. Sometimes, the dividing lines among them are not clear cut. For instance, where does psychological development end and social development begin? Consider young people who attend school. Children first begin to attend school when they reach a certain biological age. A goal is to learn and develop thinking ability, a psychological dimension. Yet, school also provides a major social context in which children develop communication and interaction skills. People psychologically think about both gaining knowledge and developing their social relationships during this period of biological development.

Highlight 1.3

Bio-Psycho-Social Developmental Dimensions Affect Each Other

Because people are complex, social workers should focus on the dynamic interaction among biological, psychological, and social aspects of development. Various aspects of development act together to affect an individual’s overall growth and maturity.

Consider a depressed adolescent. Although his psychological state, or depression, may be the presenting problem, problems related to other systems may also be evident. His psychological depression may cause him to withdraw from others and become isolated. Thus, his social interaction may be drastically affected. He may stop eating and/or exercising, which would have a significant impact on his biological system. ( Chapter 6 explores the biological development and  Chapter 7 the psychological development of adolescents in much greater detail.)

Another example involves an alcohol-addicted adult. Her drinking affects her biological, psychological, and social development. Biologically, she loses weight and has frequent physical problems such as severe hangover headaches. Her physical health affects her psychological health in that she frequently becomes disgusted with herself. Her psychological condition affects her interactions with those close to her, and they begin to avoid her. Hence, her social interaction and development are affected. Social isolation, in turn, enhances her psychological desire to drink and escape, and her physical condition continues to deteriorate. ( Chapter 11 discusses further the dynamics of alcoholism and its effects.)

Because of the importance of human diversity and its effects on human behavior, three chapters on this topic are interspersed throughout the book. These chapters focus on ethnocentrism and racism, gender roles, and sexual orientation. (Note that content on various aspects of human diversity, including aspects of cultural and spiritual development, are also infused throughout the chapters on biological, psychological, and social development.)  Figure 1.2 summarizes the chapter layout of this book.

Figure 1.2Organization of the Text

An illustration shows the organization of text in the 16 chapters of this book. The chapters are majorly divided into two divisions, lifespan development and aspects of human diversity. Under lifespan development are the following: chapters 2 (biological development), 3 (Psychological development), and 4 (social development) are infancy and childhood chapters. Chapters 6 (biological development), 7 (Psychological development), and 8 (social development) are adolescence chapters. Chapters 10 (biological development), 11 (Psychological development), and 12 (social development) are young and middle adulthood chapters. Chapters 14 (biological development), 15 (Psychological development), and 16 (social development) are later adulthood chapters. Under aspects of human diversity are the following chapters: 5, Ethnocentrism and racism, 9, Gender roles and sexism, and 13, Sexual orientation.

1-2aCommon Life Events

Throughout each of the life periods—infancy and childhood, adolescence, young and middle adulthood, and later adulthood—people tend to experience common life events related to biological, psychological, and social development that occur at certain times of life. For example, adolescence is a time when people establish an identity. Adolescents strive for independence and search for a place to fit into social peer groups. Sometimes adolescence is even more stressful. It may be marked by running away from home or by delinquency.

Marriage and having children are often characteristic events of early and middle adulthood. Sometimes people face unplanned pregnancy and single parenthood during this time of life. Some people must deal with divorce. Life events in later adulthood include retirement and readjustments to married life when children leave home. Many older adults remain deeply involved in family and community life, as predicted by activity theory. However, disengagement theory predicts that others will become increasingly isolated and detached from society (Santrock, 2012b). Additionally, many older adults must cope with increasingly more serious health problems and illnesses.

These experiences or life events—identity crises, marriage and children, retirement, and detachment—all tend to happen during certain periods of life. Each of these common events will be addressed within the context of the time of life when it generally occurs. The variety of experiences that may be considered typical is great. However, there are certain life events that social workers are frequently called upon to help people cope with. We will arbitrarily select and focus on some of these experiences because of their relevance to practice.

1-2bTypical Developmental Milestones

Typical developmental milestones include those significant biological, psychological, emotional, intellectual, and social points of development that typically occur in a person’s lifespan. This category focuses on the individual as a distinct entity. It provides a perspective on what can be considered typical. Topics include motor development, personality development, motivation, social development, and learning.

For example, consider a young child’s typical motor development. By age three or four, most children begin to jump, hop, run, operate a tricycle, employ a fork effectively, and use a pair of scissors (Berk, 2012a). ( Chapter 2 profiles typical developmental milestones for children.)

Or consider the typical developmental occurrences for older adults. Older persons tend to have important changes in their sleeping patterns, such as taking longer to fall asleep and typically sleeping for shorter time periods at night (Ancoli-Israel & Alessi, 2005; Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013). ( Chapter 14 further discusses the changes in sleeping patterns commonly experienced by older people.)

In order to distinguish between what is typical and what is atypical, one must have a clear understanding of typical developmental milestones at any age. The term  typical is used here to refer to levels of functioning that are considered appropriate for a particular age level. Social work practitioners must be able to distinguish between situations that merit intervention and those that do not. Much time and effort can be wasted on trying to solve problems that are really not problems at all. For instance, it is needless to worry about a baby who is not walking at the age of 12 months. However, it may merit investigation if that baby is still not beginning to walk by the age of 24 months. Likewise, consider the older adult with sleeping problems. It may be senseless to worry about a tendency to sleep lightly when that is simply a typical sign of age. Social workers may help people adjust their expectations so that they are more reasonable. People can be helped to stop worrying about what is really the typical state of things. On the other hand, sleeping problems at the age of 50 may merit further exploration. At this earlier point in life, such problems may be caused by stress or some physiological problem.

Typical developmental milestones provide a baseline for assessing human behavior. The extent of the problem or abnormality can be assessed only to the extent that it deviates from what is typical.

1-3 Describe Important Concepts for Understanding Human Behavior

LO 3

Because of their significance in assessing and understanding human behavior, we will spend some time introducing several major concepts here. They involve themes that will be addressed throughout the book. The first cluster of ideas includes human diversity, cultural competency, oppression, and populations-at-risk, all of which are somewhat related. The second grouping entails empowerment, the strengths perspective, and resiliency, which are also interconnected. The third important dimension discussed here involves critical thinking about ethical issues.

1-3aHuman Diversity, Cultural Competency, Oppression, and Populations-at-Risk

Social workers must be aware of human differences and the effects they have on human behavior.  Human diversity is the vast range of differences among groups, including those related to “age, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, marital status, political ideology, race, religion/spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status” (Council on Social Work Education [CSWE], 2015).  Highlight 1.4 elaborates on the importance of one aspect of human diversity—culture.

Highlight 1.4

Culture and the Importance of Cultural Competency

One significant aspect of human diversity is  culture, the configuration of shared attitudes, values, goals, spiritual beliefs, social expectations, arts, technology, and behaviors that characterize a broader society in which people live. It’s vital for social workers to learn to understand and appreciate the various cultural values, beliefs, and practices of their clients. A goal is to achieve  cultural competency “the mastery of a particular set of knowledge, skills, policies, and programs used by the social worker that address the cultural needs of individuals, families, groups, and communities” (Lum, 2005, p. 4). Cultural competency involves cross-cultural understanding, the ability to appreciate and compare differences and similarities between and among different cultures, including your own. Winkelman (2005) explains the significance of cultural competency:

A general cross-cultural orientation covers the general dynamics of intercultural interactions … [It provides] perspectives for developing productive and less-stressful relations with members of different cultures by understanding the dynamics of cross-cultural contact … A central aspect of general cross-cultural orientation is an understanding of the culturally relative nature of beliefs and behavior. This perspective provides a basis for acceptance of other cultures as meaningful and rational. Another important aspect is development of cultural self-awareness, particularly of one’s values, prejudices and beliefs. Effective intercultural relations require an awareness of one’s cultural biases that can block acceptance and understanding of other cultures. Specific cross-cultural orientations provide information about a particular culture, region or ethnic group, covering information such as the group’s history, cultural system, normative social behavior, politics, beliefs and other information necessary for successful adaptation to interpersonal interaction with people from that culture. (p. 13)

Anytime a person can be identified as belonging to a group that differs in some respect from the majority of others in society, that person is subject to the effects of that diversity, including discrimination and oppression.  Discrimination is the act of treating people differently because they belong to some group (e.g., racial or religious) rather than on merit. Oppression involves putting unfair and extreme limitations and constraints on members of an identified group. Picture a woman in an all-male business establishment. Think of a 62-year-old person applying for a sales job in a department store where everyone else is under 30. Or consider an African American applying for membership in a country club that has no other members who are people of color. (People of color “is a collective term that refers to the major groups of African, Latino, Asian, and First Nations Peoples [Native Americans] who have been distinguished from the dominant society by color” [Lum, 2011, p. 129.]) A  population-at-risk, then, is any group of “people who share some identifiable characteristic that places them at greater risk of social and economic deprivation and oppression than the general mainstream of society” (Kirst-Ashman, 2007, p. 57).

Privilege, Power, and Acclaim

People in any society might be placed on a continuum based on social status and the amount of influence they have over others. People who experience discrimination and oppression might be placed on one end of the continuum. People who have exceptional “privilege, power, and acclaim” might be situated on the other.  Power is “the ability to achieve one’s goals despite the opposition of others”; in other words, power involves “the ability to do whatever you want because no one can stop you” (Leon-Guerrero, 2011, p. 48). Power may entail using “force, authority, manipulation, or persuasion” to make others alter their behavior (Eitzen, Zinn, & Smith, 2014, p. 45).

Privilege entails special rights or benefits enjoyed because of elevated social, political, or economic status. Privilege is often related to  prestige, “the amount of social respect or standing given to an individual based on occupation. We assign higher prestige to occupations that require specialized education or training [e.g., physicians], … or that make more money [e.g., CEOs of major corporations]” (Leon-Guerrero, 2011, p. 48).  Acclaim is “enthusiastic approval or praise” (Nichols, 1999, p. 8). People who experience acclaim, such as high-level politicians and famous entertainers, maintain broad influence over what other people think. People who have privilege and acclaim have greater power to influence and control the destinies of others.

Eitzen and his colleagues (2014) make several points regarding power, wealth, and status in the United States:

· “The inequality gap in the United States is the widest of all the industrialized nations. The gap continues to grow especially because of tax benefits for the affluent …

· These tax policies, in addition to increasing the unequal distribution of wealth, increase the national debt, reduce government spending for programs to help the less fortunate, and weaken public institutions  that benefit [all members of] society. The widening gap increases the political influence of the wealthy …

· The power elite in society (those who control the government and the largest corporations) tend to come from backgrounds of privilege and wealth. Their decisions tend to benefit the wealthy disproportionately. The power elite is not organized and conspiratorial, but the interests of the wealthy are served, nevertheless, by the way in which society is organized. This bias occurs through influence over elected and appointed officials, … [social and economic policies that affect the distribution of wealth, and prestige and acclaim that serve as a] control of the masses.” (p. 52)

Group Membership and Values

Membership in any group provides a certain set of environmental circumstances. A Chicano adolescent from a Mexican American inner-city neighborhood has a different social environment from that of an upper-middle-class adolescent of European descent living in the well-to-do suburbs of the same city.

Sensitivity to group differences is critical in understanding any individual’s behavior. This is important from two perspectives. First, the values or orientation of a particular group will affect how an individual behaves. For instance, an individual with a sexual orientation for the same gender may very well choose to participate in social activities with others of the same orientation. The individual might tend to avoid bars and nightclubs where heterosexual singles meet and might join activities or social clubs aimed at helping people with a sexual orientation toward the same gender to meet each other.

The Societal Perspective on Group Differences

There is a second important perspective concerning sensitivity to group differences. The first perspective focused on how the group member feels and chooses to act. The second perspective directs attention to how other people and groups in the social environment view the (diverse) group in question. The diverse group may be the object of  prejudgments (predetermined assumptions made without assessing facts) and  stereotypes (standardized views about people who belong to some group that do not take into account individual qualities and differences). Each group member tends to lose his or her individual identity and assume the group identity in the eyes of others in the environment. To these outsiders, the characteristics of the group become the characteristics of the individual, whether or not the individual actually has them.

For example, consider a young, single African American mother of three young children who is receiving public aid. She applies for a service job behind the counter of a local delicatessen. The deli is run by a lower-middle-class white family that holds many of the larger society’s traditional values. These values include the outdated ideas that the head of the household must be a man and that women should stay home and take care of the children. The owner of the deli, a man and head of the family, interviews the young woman and makes several assumptions.

The first assumption is that the woman has no business not being married. The second is that she should be staying at home with her children. The third assumption is that the woman, because of her color, is probably lazy and undependable. He uses the excuse that she has no experience in this particular job and refuses to hire her.

This young woman has run up against similar, serious difficulties in her job search. In addition, she may have problems getting adequate day care for her young children. Taken together, all these difficulties may prevent her from finding a job and getting off public aid.

In assessing behavior, then, one must be aware of limitations imposed by the environment. Otherwise, impossible alternatives might be pursued. In the case we presented above, for example, a social worker who does not understand these things might continue to pressure the young woman to go out and get a job. Since she was already trying and failing, however, this additional pressure might make her turn against the social worker and the social service system. She might just give up.

Awareness of how prejudgments and stereotypes affect people forms the basis of  professional values, one of the foundation blocks of social work. These values include respect for each individual and that individual’s right to self-determination; the importance of confidentiality; commitment to social justice, advocacy, and positive social change; the appreciation of human diversity; and the right to equal treatment and equal opportunity (CSWE, 2015; Reamer, 2013).

1-3bFocus on Empowerment, the Strengths Perspective, and Resiliency

The second cluster of vital concepts for understanding human behavior includes empowerment, the strengths perspective, and resiliency. These constitute ongoing themes stressed throughout social work practice.

Empowerment

Empowerment is the “process of increasing personal, interpersonal, or political power so that individuals can take action to improve their life situations” (Gutierrez, 2001, p. 210). The empowerment approach is a perspective on practice that provides “ways of thinking about and doing practice” (Lee, 2001, p. 32). Throughout the assessment process and our quest to understand human behavior, it’s critical to emphasize, develop, and nurture strengths and positive attributes in order to empower people. Empowerment aims at enhancing the power and control that individuals, groups, families, and communities have over their destinies.

We have also determined that some groups of people suffer from stereotypes, discrimination, and oppression. It is social work’s task to empower clients in general and members of oppressed groups in particular.

Cowger and Snively (2002) explain further:

Promoting empowerment means believing that people are capable of making their own choices and decisions. It means not only that human beings possess the strengths and potential to resolve their own difficult life situations, but also that they increase their strength and contribute to the well-being of society by doing so. The role of the social worker is to nourish, encourage, assist, enable, support, stimulate, and unleash the strengths within people; to illuminate the strengths available to people in their own environments; and to promote equity and justice at all levels of society. To do that, the social worker helps clients articulate the nature of their situations, identify what they want, explore alternatives for achieving those desires and then achieve them. (p. 110)

The Strengths Perspective

Focusing on strengths can provide a sound basis for empowerment. Sometimes referred to as the  strengths perspective, this orientation focuses on client resources, capabilities, knowledge, abilities, motivations, experience, intelligence, and other positive qualities that can be put to use to solve problems and pursue positive changes.

Assessment of human behavior establishes the basis for understanding people’s problems and issues, and subsequently helping them improve their lives. Social workers address people’s problems every day, but it’s the identification of people’s strengths that provides clues for how to solve their problems and improve their life situations. Saleebey (2013, pp. 17–20) cites at least four principles involved in the strengths perspective:

1. Every individual, group, family, and community has strengths. The case example in the next section concerning the Fernandez family will illustrate this idea.

2. Trauma and abuse, illness and struggle may be injurious, but they may also be sources of challenge and opportunity. Have you ever experienced a serious problem or disappointment that turned out to have opened other, perhaps better, opportunities for you? Days after my 16th birthday, I was in a car accident in which my face was crushed. (It happened at about midnight on Friday the 13th, amazingly enough.) My injuries were painful and required four years of plastic surgery. This experience taught me the value and superficiality of exterior beauty, gave me a much more realistic approach to viewing and understanding people, and made me tougher.

Another trauma occurred when I applied for a second master’s degree after receiving my MSW, and was turned down. I was devastated. However, the experience forced me to get out of school and into social work practice, which turned out to be by far the more gratifying and constructive choice.

3. Assume that you do not know the upper limits of the capacity to grow and change, and take individual, group, and community aspirations seriously. You don’t have a crystal ball telling you what opportunities and choices will confront you in your life. So many students come to me worrying about their choice of major or what will happen after they graduate. It’s important to appreciate the strengths you have and to grasp opportunities as they occur. You don’t yet know what chances will present themselves to you or where your career will take you.

4. Every environment is full of resources. Resources can provide great strengths. One of social workers’ major roles is to link clients with the resources they need to empower them to improve their lives.

Multiple Sources of Strengths: A Case Example

As mentioned, empowerment through focusing on strengths can occur on the individual, family, group, organizational, and community levels (Saleebey, 2013). For instance, consider the following case situation of a family coming to the attention of a social service agency (Haulotte & Kretzschmar, 2001, pp. 30–31). This provides an example of how a strengths perspective is helpful in assessment:

The Fernandez family consists of Carmen, the 35-year-old wife and mother; Juan, the 36-year-old husband and father; and their two daughters, Oralia, 13, and Mari, 14. The family had immigrated to the United States seven years ago from Mexico. Both Carmen and Juan had finished primary school, which is equivalent to attaining a sixth-grade education. In this country, they had been taking English lessons and were becoming quite fluent. Oralia and Mari both attended the same school and were doing reasonably well. When Juan and Carmen immigrated here, they had high hopes of attaining a better life for themselves and their daughters.

Three months ago, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service officers found Juan doing construction work at a site near the Fernandez apartment. After determining that his papers were not in order, the officers then deported Juan to Mexico.

Although the family has always experienced financial problems, these problems got much worse when Juan had to leave. Carmen is finding it very difficult making ends meet without her husband being with her. Juan did get a low-paying, part-time job in a Mexican border town. He is sending his family some money, but not much. He also must support himself and is trying to save money to return to the United States. Carmen works as a checker in a grocery store and just got a second part-time job as a janitor. She thus works from 6:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. on most days. Fortunately, bus transportation to and from work is readily available.

The current crisis is that right after Carmen got home last night, a police officer arrived at her door with Oralia. He had found her alone in a nearby park, which violated the local curfew. Apparently, Oralia and Mari had been arguing intensively about something when Oralia stomped off. (Now neither of them can remember what the argument was about.) Carmen told the officer that she was sick to death of listening to the girls’ continuous squabbling. She threw up her hands and said she didn’t know what to do. Carmen had to work long hours to keep the family afloat. She was forced to expect the girls to take care of themselves when she was gone.

The Fernandez family has no relatives in town, although they do have friends in the neighborhood. Juan and Carmen had attended services at a local Pentecostal church, but had not made the final decision to become members. At one point the couple met with the church’s pastor, who suggested that counseling for the girls might help the family. He had referred them to a local social service agency that provides a range of services to immigrants including counseling, legal advice, and help in finding employment. Carmen emphasized, however, that she wanted no one to ask questions about the family’s immigration status.

Carmen finally decides to seek outside help. She is experiencing horrible headaches from all of the stress. She is considering going to see a neighborhood currandera (a traditional unlicensed healer who typically uses herbal remedies and traditional cultural healing practices). Carmen is already taking manzanilla (chamomile, an ingredient found in herbal teas that is thought to calm anxiety in addition to easing stomach aches and intestinal cramping). She also plans to contact the social services agency that provides help to immigrants.

Problems in this case are fairly obvious. They include fighting between Carmen and the girls, financial difficulties, immigration status, Juan’s absence, and Carmen’s headaches. However, focusing on the Fernandezes’ strengths can provide clues about how to deal with the issues.

Individual strengths include the facts that both Juan and Carmen have completed middle school and are literate; both had been attending English classes; both have jobs (this is also a family strength as it directly affects the family’s well-being); both Oralia and Mari are doing fairly well in school; and Carmen is motivated to seek family counseling.

Family strengths include strong family bonds, mutual concern among family members for each other’s welfare, and the parents’ pride in their daughters and high hopes for their futures.

Group strengths include any support and help family members can get from friends and others at work, school, and church, and in the neighborhood.  Organizational strengths include the fact that the family plans to become involved with the agency serving immigrants, is willing to get counseling, and can use this agency as a resource to help Juan return to the United States. Another organizational strength is that family members can be involved with a church if they choose to do so.

Community strengths include having a social services agency, a church, public bus transportation, and access to a curandera to provide alternative health care. (Note the importance of appreciating cultural differences when focusing on natural support networks such as the curandera. A  natural support network or  helping network is a group of people—including family, friends, neighbors, work colleagues, and fellow members in organizations such as churches and other community groups—who informally provide help and support.) Communities and their significance are covered in greater depth later in this chapter. Can you see any other strengths in the Fernandez example that have been missed?

Consider also that sometimes a strength may overlap two or more categories. For example, spiritual involvement with a church may reflect individual, family, group, organizational, and community strengths. How the strength is labeled is not important. The essential thing is to consider all potential categories of strength when trying to understand human behavior.

Individual Strengths

Individual strengths can include educational background, work history, problem-solving and decision-making skills, personal qualities and characteristics, physical and financial resources, and positive attitudes (Jones & Biesecker, 1980; Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2012b). This text will explore many aspects of empowerment with individuals. Examples include infertility counseling ( Chapter 2); appreciation of ethnic and cultural strengths in families ( Chapter 4); culturally competent practice ( Chapter 5); sex education for Native Americans ( Chapter 6); spiritual development ( Chapter 7); women and sexual equality ( Chapter 9); persons living with AIDS ( Chapter 10); promoting optimal well-being for LGBT people ( Chapter 13); and theories of successful aging ( Chapter 15).

Communities provide an important context for human interaction and cultural celebrations. Here a crowd awaits the Chinese New Year’s parade in front of the main entrance to the Los Angeles Chinatown

Communities provide an important context for human interaction and cultural celebrations. Here a crowd awaits the Chinese New Year’s parade in front of the main entrance to the Los Angeles Chinatown

Enlarge Image

Stock Connection/Superstock

Understanding yourself enhances your ability to understand others. Other people deal with many of the same feelings, issues, and problems that you do. Recognizing strengths in yourself is just as important as recognizing them in others. How would you answer the questions about your personal strengths posed in  Highlight 1.5?

Highlight 1.5

Assessing Your Strengths

How would you answer the following questions in assessing your own array of strengths?

Individual Strengths

· What are your best qualities?

· What are you most proud of about yourself?

· What skills do you have (e.g., educational, work, leadership, communication, social, technological)?

Family Strengths

· To what extent do you receive support from your family of origin, current family, or significant other?

· In what ways do you rely on family members for help?

· What are the best characteristics about your family?

Group Strengths

How do your friends, neighbors, colleagues at work, or fellow students help and support you?

Do you belong to any social, recreational, or counseling groups?

If so, how does each serve to meet your needs, provide support, or offer opportunities for self-fulfillment, new experiences, or pleasure?

Organizational Strengths

· Do you currently belong to any organizations, or have you in the past?

· If so, what benefits and support do or did you receive?

· Do you receive any special advising, support, or financial help from school? If so, in what form?

· If you’re working, what are the strengths in your work environment?

Community Strengths

· What services and resources are available to you in your community?

· What do you like best about your community?

· What cultural opportunities are available in your community that you appreciate?

· What other strengths do you have that you can draw upon as you interact with others in your environment? Who and/or what helps you pursue your plans and dreams? Who and/or what helps you get through each day and, hopefully, make the most of it?

Empowerment through Groups

An example of using strengths to pursue empowerment for people from a group perspective involves the use of  support groups. These are made up of people with similar problems or issues who come together and provide each other with support, information about how to cope with difficulties, and suggestions for resources (Toseland & Rivas, 2012). Such groups emphasize the identification and use of strengths. Examples given by Toseland and Rivas include the following:

· “A group of children meeting at school to discuss the effects of divorce on their lives.

· A group of people diagnosed with cancer, and their families, discussing the effects of the disease and how to cope with it.

· A group of recently discharged psychiatric patients discussing their adjustment to community living.

· A group of single parents sharing the difficulties of raising children alone.” (p. 20)

Chapter 8 elaborates more fully on empowerment through social work with groups.

Organizational and Community Empowerment

Kretzmann and McKnight (1993) suggest a strengths perspective for enhancing communities and empowering community residents. They stress using potential community assets, including the following: citizens’ “religious, cultural, athletic, [and] recreational” associations; “private businesses; public institutions such as schools, libraries, parks, police and fire stations; [and] nonprofit institutions such as hospitals and social service agencies” to improve a community’s functioning and quality of life (pp. 6–8).

McKnight and Block (2010) refer to “the abundant community” that is full of potential and strength (p. 65). They describe communities as unique entities, each having special characteristics and strong points, noting that “[a] competent community takes advantage of its abundance” (p. 65). Its residents strive to identify the community’s positive attributes and use them in creative ways to improve the quality of life.

The following are examples of using the strengths of an abundant community (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993):

· “About 60 youth leaders are trained to teach a youth empowerment curriculum to 700 younger kids. The curriculum, which develops self-esteem through a variety of nontraditional classes, offers youth alternatives to crime, gangs, and drugs. The project is sponsored jointly by a community college and the neighborhood police precinct.” (p. 37)

· “Seniors organize and convince the Department of Aging to open an alternative nutrition site after two have already been closed down.” (p. 56)

· “A group of homeless women with children are working together to create a housing cooperative in which they will provide care for each other’s children and also share in community meal preparation several days a week. Their combined effort means that they will be involved in every aspect of planning, purchasing, remodeling, and maintaining their new home.” (p. 89)

· “A group of recently graduated college students created an association that collected information from the people in their neighborhood who were willing to teach others what they knew, either for pay or for free. The group identified thousands of things local people could teach, from how to play a guitar to the works of Aristotle. This ‘library’ of community knowledge became a major new resource for local learning, discussion, and recreation.” (p. 136)

· “A coalition of local churches provides sanctuary for refugees from Central America.” (p. 149)

Resiliency: Using Strengths to Fight Adversity

A concept related to the strengths perspective and empowerment is resiliency.  Resiliency is the ability of an individual, family, group, community, or organization to recover from adversity and resume functioning even when suffering serious trouble, confusion, or hardship. Whereas the “strengths perspective focuses on capabilities, assets, and positive attributes rather than problems and pathologies,” resiliency emphasizes the use of strengths to cope with adversity and survive, despite difficulties (Greene & Conrad, 2012; Gutheil & Congress, 2000, p. 41).

The following scenarios provide an illustration of the concept of resiliency:

When a pitched baseball hits a window, the glass usually shatters. When that same ball meets a baseball bat, the bat is rarely damaged. When a hammer strikes a ceramic vase, it too usually shatters. But when that same hammer hits a rubber automobile tire, the tire quickly returns to its original shape. The baseball bat and the automobile tire both demonstrate resiliency. (Norman, 2000, p. 3)

Resiliency involves two dimensions: risk and protection (Greene & Conrad, 2012; Norman, 2000). In this context, risk involves “stressful life events or adverse environmental conditions that increase the  vulnerability [defenselessness or helplessness] of individuals” or other systems (p. 3).  Protection, on the other hand, concerns those factors that “buffer, moderate, and protect against those vulnerabilities” (Norman, 2000, p. 3).

On the individual level, an example of a resilient child is one who, despite being shunted from one foster home to another during childhood, still completes high school, enters college, and later begins a healthy family of her own. Regardless of the risks to which she’s been exposed, she uses her strengths to protect her and struggle through her adversity. Such strengths might include positive self-esteem and self-worth, good problem-solving ability to address the difficulties confronting her, a positive sense of direction, the ability to empathize with others’ situations, the use of humor, high expectations for personal performance, and the ability to distance herself from the dysfunctional people and negative events around her (Norman, 2000). A key to stressing resiliency is the identification and use of clients’ strengths to overcome problems.

Examples of resiliency on the individual level can also include older adults (Lewis & Harrell, 2012). For example,

79-year-old Steven R. has been lovingly caring for his 80-year-old wife in their home since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 2 years ago. 68-year-old Juan T., having vowed to rebuild his business after it burned to the ground, reopened to great fanfare. 73-year-old Eudora B. has been raising her two teenage grandchildren since their mother died. 87-year-old Rose N. continues to write and publish short stories despite her recent stroke which left her wheelchair-bound and nearly totally blind. (Gutheil & Congress, 2000, p. 41)

An example of resiliency at the organizational level is a public university experiencing budget cuts of several million dollars. That university can be resilient to the extent that it responds to the risk of loss, protects its most important functions, makes plans to adapt to the shortfall of resources, and continues providing students with a quality education. Resiliency in this case involves focusing on its strengths to maintain basic functioning.

Resiliency in a community is illustrated by a group of urban neighborhoods that address increasing crime and drug use, problems that put the community at risk of disorganization and destruction. Community strengths include availability of organizations that provide resources, residents’ expectations for appropriate and positive behavior, and opportunities for “neighborhood youths to constructively participate in the community” (Greene & Livingston, 2002, p. 78). A resilient community might use its concerned citizens to form neighborhood organizations that oversee community conditions and upkeep, work with public services to improve conditions, and advocate for increased resources (Homan, 2011). Neighborhood Watch programs may be formed in which residents volunteer to keep an eye on each other’s premises to prevent and combat crime. Community residents might work with local police and schools to establish drug education and prevention programs for young people. They might also advocate for more police to increase the surveillance and apprehension of drug dealers. A resilient community uses its strengths to address the risks threatening it and to protect its residents.

1-3cCritical Thinking about Ethical Issues

Another important dimension necessary for understanding human behavior and social work practice involves critical thinking about ethical issues. Values and ethics serve as a major foundation of the social work knowledge base.  Values are perceptions and opinions held by individuals, professions, and cultures about “what is good and desirable” (Dolgoff, Harrington, & Loewenberg, 2012, p. 25). For example, our culture values education and offers it to everyone. Similarly, you value college or you wouldn’t be here.  Ethics are principles based on values that guide behavior and determine “what is right and correct” (Dolgoff et al., 2012, p. 25). Values are concerned with ideas, while ethics have to do with the appropriate behavior based on those ideas.

Social workers must be vigilant concerning their adherence to professional values. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2008) has a professional  code of ethics that specifies the following six basic ethical principles to guide practitioners’ behavior (access the entire Code at https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English):

1. “Social workers’ primary goal is to help people in need and to address social problems.”

2. “Social workers challenge social injustice.”

3. “Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person.”

4. “Social workers recognize the centered importance of human relationships.”

5. “Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner.”

6. “Social workers practice within their areas of competence and develop and enhance their professional expertise.”

Although the NASW Code of Ethics is the code followed by social workers in the United States, note that other ethical codes also are available (CSWE, 2008). Consider, for example, the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) code of ethics, available at http://www.casw-acts.ca/sites/default/files/attachements/CASW_CodeofEthics_0.pdf.  Highlight 1.6 addresses the ethical responsibilities of social workers at the international and global levels and discusses an international social work code of ethics.

Highlight 1.6

Ethics in Social Work at the International Level: Human Rights and Social Justice Issues

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Social workers should attend to and advocate for the basic rights of all people. National Association of Social Workers (NASW) policy states that social workers must be prepared “to advocate for the rights of vulnerable people and must condemn policies, practices, and attitudes of bigotry, intolerance, and hate that put any person’s human rights in grave jeopardy. The violation of human rights on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, immigration status, or religion are examples” (NASW, 2012, p. 206). Human rights involve the premise that all people, regardless of race, culture, or national origin, are entitled to basic rights and treatment. Such essential entitlements include those “basic civil rights recognized in democratic constitutions such as life, liberty, and personal security” (Barker, 2003, p. 203). They also include “people’s rights to have paid employment, adequate food, education, shelter, health care, as well as the right to freedom from violence and freedom to pursue their dreams” (NASW, 2012, p, 204). Human rights are based on the concept of social justice, the idea that in a perfect world all citizens would have identical “rights, protection, opportunities, obligations, and social benefits” (Barker, 2003, p. 405).

Human rights and social justice are global issues. NASW (2012) reports the following:

Human rights violations are prevalent throughout the world, including the United States. Civilians are injured, maimed, and killed in times of conflict, far outnumbering military personnel. Refugees and immigrants are fleeing their countries in record numbers. Women everywhere continue to be treated as second-class citizens and subjected to violence in epidemic proportions. The social situation of children and [older adults]… alike is of grave concern the world over and appears to be deteriorating. There has been a resurgence of violence and oppression against ethnic and racial minority groups, and against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in many regions of our globe, and poverty is endemic, fueling the fires of unrest and making a sham of the very concept of human rights. (p. 205)

When addressing ethical issues on an  international (involving two or more nations) or  global (involving the entire world) level, social workers may consult an international social work code of ethics. Two important international organizations that have developed an Ethics in Social Work, Statement of Principles are the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). IFSW “is a global organisation striving for social justice, human rights and social development through the promotion of social work, best practice models and the facilitation of international, cooperation” (IFSW, 2013b). IASSW “promotes the development of social work education throughout the world, develops standards to enhance quality of social work education, encourages international exchange, provides forums for sharing social work research and scholarship, and promotes human rights and social development through policy and advocacy activities” (IASSW, 2013). Both organizations actively engage social workers around the globe.

The Ethics in Social Work, Statement of Principles, concurrently supported by both organizations, consists of the following five parts:

1. Preface

2. Definition of social work

3. International conventions (various organizations’ statements of human rights)

4. Principles

5. Professional conduct (IASSW, 2004; IFSW, 2013a)

The “principles” in the Ethics in Social Work, Statement of Principles include “human rights and human dignity” and “social justice.” The former indicates that “social work is based on respect for the inherent worth and dignity of all people, and the rights that follow from this. Social Workers should uphold and defend each person’s physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual integrity and well-being.” The latter suggests that “Social workers have a responsibility to promote social justice; in relation to society generally, and in relation to the people with whom they work”; this involves “challenging negative discrimination,” “recognizing diversity,” “distributing resources equitably,” “challenging unjust policies and practices,” and “working in solidarity” (i.e., social workers have the responsibility to confront social injustice).

Information about IFSW is available at http://www.ifsw.org/ and about IASSW at http://www.iassw-aiets.org/.

Throughout a social work career, professionals must face and address  ethical dilemmas, situations in which ethical principles conflict and all solutions are imperfect. For example, a 16-year-old client tells her social worker that she hates her stepfather and plans to poison him. The social worker is supposed to maintain  confidentiality (being trustworthy and keeping information in confidence). However, this is a situation where a person’s life may be in danger, which must take precedence over confidentiality. In this case, the worker decides to break confidentiality in order to preserve the stepfather’s life.

Consider another example of an ethical dilemma:

A client told the [social work] field student intern that she was pregnant and was planning to marry the father of the baby. The student also was working with this client’s mother, who had told the student about her own sexual relationship with the same man that her daughter was going to marry. The mother did not want to tell her daughter that she was having a sexual relationship with her daughter’s boyfriend. (Abels, 2001, p. 9)

What should the student intern do? Tell the daughter about her mother’s relationship with her boyfriend? Or maintain confidentiality, remaining silent and letting the family work it out for themselves?

The social work student decided to “ask the mother to consider telling the daughter about her relationship, and to ask the boyfriend to do the same. Neither agreed. Because the daughter was 18, the agency could not identify a legal violation of sex with minors” (Abels, 2001, p. 9). The student social worker had tried her best. Maybe things would work out over time. Eventually, “the mother told her boyfriend that she was no longer going to see him” (p. 9).

As this story illustrates, social workers are bound to run into problems with no perfectly satisfactory solution. When this occurs, they must use critical thinking to determine the best course of action.  Critical thinking is “the careful examination and evaluation of beliefs and actions” to establish an independent decision about what is true and what is not (Gambrill & Gibbs, 2009, p. 4). Gibbs and Gambrill (1999) explain:

Critical thinkers question what others take for granted. They may ask people to support assumptions that others believe to be self-evident, but which are far from being self-evident. They ask, “What’s the evidence for—?” Critical thinking encourages open dialogue and the consideration of opposing views. It involves taking responsibility for claims made and arguments presented. It requires flexibility and a readiness to admit, even welcome, the discovery of mistakes in your thinking. Critical thinking is independent thinking—thinking for yourself. Critical thinkers question values and positions that may be common in a society, in a group, or in their own family. (p. 13)

Just because someone else says something is true doesn’t mean it is. Just because you read something in a book or a newspaper doesn’t mean it’s accurate. Just because it’s documented as a law doesn’t mean it’s right and just. Critical thinking means not taking things at face value but rather making a determination about their accuracy yourself.

Ethical decision making involves critical thinking. Social workers must assess potential problems and make a decision regarding what is the most ethical thing to do in a given situation. This book’s purpose is not to teach you how to do social work; rather, its purpose is to encourage you to begin to think critically about ethical issues. Ethical questions are incorporated throughout to encourage you to use critical thinking to determine your own answers and opinions.

For example, consider the story of the wild boy of Aveyron that introduced this chapter. The ethical questions posed there were:

· 1)

Was it ethical for Itard and the others to remove Victor from the wild against his will?

· 2)

Did they have the right to take his freedom from him and place him in captivity where he never learned to function independently?

· 3)

Does it matter that he was only 12 or 13 instead of being an adult? What do you critically think about these issues?

Questions ripe for critical thinking are endless:

· Should the life-preserving feeding tube be removed from a person who is brain-dead and will never regain consciousness?

· Should existing limited public funding be used to finance the military abroad, save Social Security, or provide scholarships and no-interest loans to finance higher education?

· Should prayer be allowed in public schools?

Highlight 1.7 explores further the application of values and ethics to bio-psycho-social assessments.

Highlight 1.7

Application of Values and Ethics to Bio-Psycho-Social Assessments

Icon 

Social workers assess problems and attempt to understand human behavior within the context of social work values and ethics. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics (2008) focuses on six areas involving how a worker should behave in a professional role. These include ethical responsibilities

· (1)

to clients,

· (2)

to colleagues,

· (3)

in practice settings,

· (4)

as professionals,

· (5)

to the social work profession, and

· (6)

to the broader society.

Social workers should always keep in mind their clients’ rights and well-being. We have established that to the best of their ability, social workers should strive to abide by professional ethical principles, respect the rights and needs of others, and make decisions about right and wrong consistent with their professional ethics. This sounds simple.

But consider the following scenarios, all occurring within the context of social work assessment.

Scenario 1: You are a social worker at a shelter for runaways, assessing an unmarried, pregnant 15-year-old who has been living on the streets. She is in her seventh month of pregnancy. She is addicted to cocaine, which she has been using throughout the pregnancy (prenatal influences will be discussed in  Chapter 2). She has been informed of the potential side effects of her cocaine use on the fetus, which are likely to result in an infant who will require more attention than that given to infants born to nonaddicted mothers. She adamantly states that she will keep the baby and figure out what to do about her addiction after it’s born. You have serious concerns for the infant’s well-being. You personally feel that the young woman should place the baby for adoption or at least in foster care until she can solve her own problems. What is the ethical thing to do?

Scenario 2: You are a hospital social worker assessing a client with AIDS (AIDS is covered in  Chapter 10). He tells you that he has had unprotected intercourse with dozens of women since he received his positive HIV diagnosis. He has shared his diagnosis with none of these women. He boldly states that he is incredibly angry that he has the disease and plans to continue having intercourse with as many women as he can. You believe that it is both unethical and hazardous to his sex partners for him not to tell them about their potential exposure to the disease. Clients are supposed to be able to make choices about their own behavior. You are supposed to keep the interactions between you and your client confidential. But what about the unsuspecting victims of your client’s choices? What is the ethical thing to do?

Scenario 3: You are an Adult Protective Services social worker. Your job is to make assessments and pursue interventions to make certain that vulnerable older adults with limited ability to take care of their basic needs get the help and resources they require. You are assessing an older woman in her own home. Her physical and intellectual health are deteriorating: The woman lives alone in a rundown apartment in a poor section of town. She has no close family. She insists that she wants to remain in her home. Your agency supervisor has told you that older adults deemed unable to take care of themselves must be placed in a nursing home facility. However, you also know that the only nursing home facilities available to poor older people in the area are rundown and understaffed, and offer a minimal quality of life. Ethically, your client has the right to make her own decisions. However, you fear that she may fall and remain helpless, turn the gas stove on and forget to light the flame, or have some other accident. What is the ethical thing to do?

Each of these situations portrays an ethical dilemma. Dilemmas involve problematic situations for which possible solutions are imperfect arid unsatisfactory. Many such dilemmas are encountered in social work practice.

Three basic suggestions can guide your critical thinking process. They are made within the context of assessing human behavior in order to lay the groundwork for determining what intervention to pursue.

1. Put your theoretical and factual knowledge base about human behavior to work. (This text intends to provide you with such a base.)

2. Identify your own values concerning the issues and then distinguish between your values and professional ethics.

3. Weigh the pros and cons of each alternative available to you and your client, and then proceed with the alternative you determine is the most positive.

There are no perfect answers. Following is an example of how these suggestions might be applied to scenario 1.

In scenario 1 (the pregnant, unmarried, 15-year-old cocaine addict), first gather the knowledge you need. You need to know the effects of cocaine on prenatal development (described in  Chapter 2), the dynamics of drug addiction (discussed in  Chapter 11), and the needs of newborn infants in general (addressed in  Chapters 23, and  4). Such information can give you clues regarding what types of information you need to know in order to plan interventions.

The second step is to recognize clearly your own personal values and biases. You should not impose your values on your client. Strive to make decisions that coincide as much as possible with professional ethics.

Finally, as depicted earlier in  Figure 1.1, identify the alternatives available to you, weigh the pros and cons of each, and make the decision you consider to be the most ethical. Knowledge of human behavior in the areas cited above can lead you to the questions you need to ask in order to make an effective, ethical decision along with your client. Questions in scenario 1 might include the following:

· What are the client’s drug-using behaviors?

· What are the potential effects on the child?

· How motivated is the client to enter a drug treatment program?

· What resources for drug treatment and other supportive services for unmarried teen mothers are available?

· If not available, can needed services be initiated and developed?

· What resources can you turn to in order to maximize the child’s well-being?

You can address the dilemmas posed in scenarios 2 and 3 in a similar manner. What theoretical and factual knowledge do you have about human behavior that can be applied to your understanding of the situation? What personal values and biases do you hold concerning the client and the client’s situation? What alternatives are available to you and your client? What are the pros and cons of each? Answers to these questions will guide you to the alternative that is the most ethical to pursue.

1-4 Employing Conceptual Frameworks for Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment: A Person-in-Environment Perspective

We have established that this book uses the organizing framework of a lifespan approach for studying human development and behavior. We’ve also emphasized important concepts that will be stressed throughout the book (including human diversity, cultural competency, oppression, populations-at-risk, empowerment, the strengths perspective, resiliency, and critical thinking about ethical issues). Subsequent sections will examine the book’s theoretical orientation based on ecosystems theory.

theory is a coherent group of principles, concepts, and ideas organized to explain some observable occurrence or trend. Theories provide conceptual frameworks for how to view the world. They direct your attention and indicate on what aspects of a situation you should focus when trying to understand why people behave the way they do. (Note that the terms theory,  theoretical perspective, and  conceptual framework are often used interchangeably.) In this book,  ecosystems theory incorporates concepts from both systems theories and the ecological perspective, which focuses on the environment. One definition of ecosystems theory is “systems theory used to describe and analyze people and other living systems and their transactions” (Beckett & Johnson, 1995, p, 1391). Ecosystems theory fits well with the concept known as  person-in-environment, a foundation notion in social work practice and our basis for understanding the dynamics of human behavior (Greene, 1999; Sheafor & Horejsi, 2012). As Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2012b) explain,

A person-in-environment focus sees people as constantly interacting with various systems around them. These systems include the family, friends, work, social services, politics, religion, goods and services, and educational systems. The person is portrayed as being dynamically involved with each. Social work practice then is directed at improving the interactions between the person and the various systems. This focus is referred to as improving person-in-environment fit. (p. 12)

Greene (1999, p. 17) describes the importance of the person-in-environment concept as an underlying principle of social work practice:

The person-in-environment perspective has been a central influence on the professions theoretical base and its approach to practice. This perspective is based on the belief that the profession’s basic mission requires a dual focus on the person and the environment and a common structured approach to the helping process (Gordon, 1962). By serving as a blueprint or an organizing guide for social work assessment and intervention at a multiple systems level, the person-[in-] environment focus has allowed for social workers to intervene effectively “no matter what their different theoretical orientations and specializations and regardless of where or with what client group they practice” (Meyer, 1987, p. 409) … In short, the person-[in-]environment perspective has established social work’s conceptual reference point and has delineated the practitioner’s role. (Greene & Watkins, 1998)

Highlight 1.8 discusses social workers’ goals as they work with people in the context of their environment.

Highlight 1.8

Goals of Social Work Practice

The National Association of Social Workers (1982) has conceptualized social work practice as having the following four major goals, followed by a fifth goal posed by the Council on Social Work Education (2015).

Goal 1: “Enhance People’s Problem-Solving, Coping, and Developmental Capacities”

Social work emphasizes the person-in-environment conceptualization. This conceptualization views every person as interacting with a number of systems. Such systems include (but are not limited to) the political system; the educational system; the family system; the religious system; the employment system; the social service system; and the goods and services system. A depiction of this person-in-environment conceptualization is presented in  Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3Person-in-Environment Conceptualization

An illustration depicts person in environment conceptualization. A circular text box labeled person is linked to 7 other circular text boxes using double headed arrows. These 7 circular text boxes in clockwise direction read as follows: family system, social service system, political system, employment system, religious system, goods and service system, and educational system.

Using the person-in environment concept, social work practice at this level focuses on the “person.” With this focus, a social worker serves primarily as an enabler. In this role, the worker may take on the activities of a counselor, teacher, caregiver (providing supportive services to those who cannot fully solve their problems and meet their own needs), and behavior changer (i.e., changing specific parts of a client’s behavior).

Goal 2: “Link People with Systems That Provide Them with Resources, Services, and Opportunities”

Using the person-in-environment concept, the focus of social work practice at this level focuses on the relationships between individuals and the systems they interact with. In this situation, a social worker serves primarily as a  broker.

Goal 3: “Promote the Effective and Humane Operation of Systems That Provide People with Resources and Services”

Using the person-in-environment concept, the focus of social work practice at this level is on the systems people interact with. One role a worker may fill at this level is an  advocate. Additional roles include the following:

· Program developer: The worker seeks to promote or design programs or technologies to meet social needs.

· Supervisor: The worker seeks to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the delivery of services through supervising other staff.

· Coordinator: The worker seeks to improve a delivery system by increasing communications and coordination between human service resources.

· Consultant: The worker seeks to provide guidance to agencies and organizations by suggesting ways to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of services.

(Social work roles that practitioners may assume as they work with larger systems are discussed more thoroughly later in the chapter.)

Goal 4: “Develop and Improve Social Policy”

Similar to goal 3, social work practice at this level focuses on the systems people interact with. The distinction between goal 3 and goal 4 is that the focus of goal 3 is on the available resources for serving people. Goal 4 works on the statutes and broader social policies that underlie such resources. The major roles at this level are  planner and  policy developer. In these roles, workers develop and seek adoption of new statutes or policies and propose elimination of ineffective or inappropriate ones. In these planning and policy development processes, social workers may take on an advocate role and, in some instances an activist role.

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is the national accrediting body for social work education in the United States. It describes the purpose of social work as follows (CSWE, 2015):

“The purpose of the social work profession is to promote human and community well-being. Guided by a person and environment construct, a global perspective, respect for human diversity, and knowledge based on scientific, inquiry, social work’s purpose is actualized through its quest for social and economic justice, the prevention of conditions that limit human rights, the elimination of poverty, and the enhancement of the quality of life for all persons locally and globally.”

This definition of the purpose of social work is consistent with the four goals of social work just mentioned. However, it adds one additional goal of social work, as follows.

Additional Goal 5: “Promote Human and Community Well-Being”

The social work profession is committed to enhancing the well-being of all human beings and to promoting community well-being. It is particularly committed to alleviating poverty, oppression, and other forms of social injustice. Social work has always advocated for developing programs to alleviate poverty, and many practitioners focus on providing services to the poor.

1-5 Employ a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment: Ecosystems Theory

LO 4

In the following pages, we explain the various concepts involved in ecosystems theory. First, we define significant conceptions in systems theory. We then present a case example involving child abuse that demonstrates the application of these concepts in practice. Next, we discuss important concepts inherent in the ecological perspective that also contribute to ecosystems theory, stressing people’s involvement with multiple systems in the environment.

Note that multitudes of other theories may be applied to various aspects of human development and behavior. Such theories are explained throughout the book in one of two contexts—either a specific developmental phase of life or people’s interaction with the encompassing social environment.  Highlight 1.9 provides a summary of these theories and the chapters in which they are addressed.

Highlight 1.9

A Summary of Some of the Other Theoretical Perspectives Addressed in This Book

The following are some of the conceptual frameworks and theoretical perspectives provided in this book. For ease of location, they are listed in alphabetical order. Some theories related to a specific topic are listed under that topic.

Theoretical Perspective

Chapter

Afrocentric perspective and worldview

5

Aging theories

Activity theory

14

Disengagement theory

14

Genetic theories

14

Nongenetic cellular theories

14

Physiological theories

14

Social reconstruction syndrome theory

14

1-5aUnderstanding Key Concepts in Systems Theories

A number of terms are important to an understanding of systems theories and their relationship to social work practice. These include system, boundaries, subsystem, homeostasis, role, relationship, input, output, feedback, interface, differentiation, entropy, negative entropy, and equifinality.

system is a set of elements that are orderly and interrelated to make a functional whole. A large nation, a public social services department, and a newly married couple are all examples of systems. We will refer primarily to social systems—that is, those systems that are composed of people and affect people.

Boundaries are the borders or margins that separate one entity from another. For example, your skin provides a boundary between you as an independent, living system and the external environment. Similarly, a boundary encompasses the students enrolled in the class that’s using this book. You’re either part of the class or you’re not.

A boundary may exist between parents and their children. Parents maintain family leadership and provide support and nurturance to their children. ( Chapter 4 discusses more thoroughly the application of this and other systems concepts to family systems.) A boundary may also exist between the protective service workers in a large county social service agency and those who work in financial assistance. These are orderly and interrelated groups set apart by specified boundaries in terms of their designated job responsibilities and the clients they serve, yet each group is part of the larger social services agency.

subsystem is a secondary or subordinate system that is a component of a larger system. Obvious examples of subsystems are the parental and sibling subsystems within a family. The group of protective services workers in the large social services agency forms one subsystem and the financial assistance workers another. These subsystems are set apart by designated boundaries, yet still are part of the larger, total system.

Homeostasis is the tendency for a system to maintain a relatively stable, constant state of balance. If something disturbs the balance, the system will readjust itself and regain stability. A homeostatic family system is one that is functioning in such a way that it can continue to function and stay together. A homeostatic social services agency is one that works to maintain its ongoing existence. However, neither the family nor the agency is necessarily functioning as well or as effectively as possible. Homeostasis merely means maintaining the status quo.

Sometimes that status quo can be ineffective, inefficient, or seriously problematic.

role is the culturally established social behavior and conduct expected of a person in any designated interpersonal relationship. Each individual involved in a system assumes a role within that system. For instance, a person in the role of social worker is expected to behave in certain “professional” ways as defined by the profession’s code of ethics. Each of us probably fulfills numerous roles because we are involved in multiple systems. The social worker may also assume the roles of spouse and parent within his or her own family system. Additionally, that person may assume the role of executive director within the National Association of Social Workers state chapter, the role of Little League coach, and the role of Sunday school teacher.

relationship is a reciprocal, dynamic, interpersonal connection characterized by patterns of emotional exchange, communication, and behavioral interaction. For example, a social worker may have a professional relationship with a client. They communicate and interact in order to meet the client’s needs. Relationships may exist between systems of any size. A client may have a relationship with an agency; one agency may have a relationship with another agency.

Input involves the energy, information, or communication flow received from other systems. A parent may receive input from a child’s grade school principal, noting that the child is doing poorly in physical education. A public agency may receive input from the state in the form of funding.

Output, on the other hand, is the response of a system, after receiving and processing input, that affects other systems in the environment. For instance, output for a social services agency for people who are substance abusers might be 150 hours of individual counseling, 40 hours of group counseling, 30 hours of family counseling, 10 hours of drug education at local schools, and 50 hours of liaison work with other agencies involved with clients. ( Chapter 11 discusses substance abuse and its effects on family systems in greater detail.)

Note that the term output is qualitatively different from outcome, a term frequently used in social work education. Output is a more general term for the result of a process.  Outcomes are specified variables that are measured for the purpose of evaluation. For example, outcomes for the social services agency just mentioned might include clients’ decreased use of addictive substances, enhanced communication among family members receiving treatment, and decreased use of drugs and alcohol by students receiving drug education. Output is what is done, which may or may not have value. Outcomes measure positive effects of a system’s process.

An issue that this text will continue to address is the importance of evaluating whether a system’s outputs are worth the inputs. Is an agency, for example, achieving the outcomes it hopes to? Is the agency using its resources efficiently and effectively? Or can those resources be put to a better use by providing some other type of service (output)?

If clients receiving treatment from the substance abuse counseling agency described previously continue to abuse drugs and alcohol at the same rate, to what extent is the treatment effective? Since treatment is expensive, is the agency’s output worth its input? Is the agency achieving its outcomes? If the agency typically sees little progress at the end of treatment for clients, we have to question the agency’s usefulness. Should the agency’s treatment process be changed to achieve better outcomes? Or should the agency be shut down totally so that resources (input) can be better invested in some other agency or treatment system?

Feedback is a special form of input in which a system receives information about its own performance. As a result of  negative feedback involving problematic functioning, the system can choose to correct any deviations or mistakes and return to a more homeostatic state. For example, a supervisor may tell a social work supervisee that he or she is filling out an important agency form incorrectly. This allows the worker the opportunity to correct his or her behavior and complete the form appropriately.

Positive feedback is also valuable. This involves a system’s receiving information about what it is doing correctly in order to maintain itself and thrive. Getting a 97 percent score on a history exam provides a sixth grader with the information that she has mastered most of the material. An agency that receives a specific federal grant has gotten the feedback that it has developed a plan worthy of such funding.

An  interface is the point at which two systems (individuals, families, groups, organizations, or communities) come into contact with each other or communicate. For example, one interface is the written contract established between a field instructor in an adoptions agency and a student intern placed under his or her supervision. At the beginning of the semester, they discuss plans and goals for the semester. What tasks will the student be given, and what levels of performance are expected? With the help of the student’s field liaison (i.e., the student’s university professor), a written contract is established that clarifies these expectations. Contracts generally involve written, oral, or implied agreements between people concerning their goals, procedures, techniques, time frames, and reciprocal responsibilities during some time period in their relationship.

At his midterm evaluation, the student receives a grade of D. Although he is devastated, he still has half a semester to improve. Focusing on the interface between the field instructor and field intern (in this case, the contract they established at the beginning of the semester) provides direction concerning what to do about the problem of poor performance in his internship. By reviewing the terms specified in the contract, the instructor and student, with the liaison’s help, can elaborate upon problems and expectations. Where did the student go wrong? Which of the student’s expectations did the field instructor fail to fulfill? They can then establish a new contract concerning the student’s performance for the remainder of the semester.

It is still up to the student to “make or break” his field experience. However, the interface (contract) provides a clearly designated means of approaching the problem. Having the field instructor and field liaison vaguely tell the student that he needs “to improve his performance” would probably accomplish little. Rather, identifying and using the interface in the form of the student–instructor contract provides a specific means for attacking the problem. Interfaces are not limited to those between individual systems. Interfaces can characterize interactions among systems of virtually any size. For example, there is an interface between the adoptions agency providing the student placement and the university social work program that places the student intern. This interface involves the specified agreements concerning each of these two larger systems’ respective responsibilities and expectations.

Differentiation is a system’s tendency to move from a simpler to a more complex existence. Relationships, situations, and interactions tend to get more complex over time. For example, in the life of any particular family, each day adds new experiences. New information is gathered, and new options are explored. The family’s life becomes more complex. And as a social services agency continues over time, it may develop more detailed policies and programs.

Entropy is the tendency of a system to progress toward disorganization, depletion, and death. Nothing lasts forever. People age and eventually die. Young families get older, and children leave to start their own families. As time passes, older agencies and systems are eventually replaced by new ones.

Negative entropy is the process of a system toward growth and development. In effect, it is the opposite of entropy. Individuals develop physically, intellectually, and emotionally as they grow. Social service agencies grow and develop new programs and clientele.

Equifinality refers to the fact that there are many different means to the same end. It is important not to get locked into only one way of thinking. In any situation, there are alternatives. Some may be better than others, but nonetheless there are alternatives. For instance, as a social worker you may get needed resources for a family from a variety of sources. These may include financial assistance, housing allowances, food stamps, grants, or private charities. You may have to choose among the alternatives available from a variety of agencies.

1-5bApplication of Systems Concepts to a Case Example of Child Abuse

The following case example concerning the Knoche family involves potential child abuse. The discussion applies various systems concepts (italicized) to the assessment and beginning treatment of the family. Note that child abuse is just one of a wide range of practice situations in which systems concepts can be applied to help understand the dynamics involved. Other issues that you may encounter include unwanted pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, potential suicide, severe illness, poverty, intellectual disability (formerly referred to as mental retardation), intimate partner violence, racial discrimination, and grief over illness or death.

The Presenting Problem

As she was baking Christmas cookies, Mrs. Green overheard Mr. Knoche in the next apartment screaming at his son, Jimmy. Mrs. Green became very disturbed. Jimmy, who was only 6, was crying. Next, Mrs. Green heard sharp cracks that sounded like a whip or a belt. This was not the first time; however, she hated to interfere in her neighbor’s business. She recalled that last summer she had noticed strange-looking bruises on Jimmy’s arms and legs, as well as on those of his 4-year-old sister, Sherry. She just couldn’t stand it anymore. She finally picked up the phone and reported what she knew to the public social services department. She asked that the Knoches not be told who had called to report the situation. She was assured that the report would remain confidential. State law protects persons who report suspected child abuse or neglect by ensuring their anonymity if they wish.

The Investigation

Ms. Samantha Chin was the Protective Services worker assigned to the case. She visited the Knoche home the day after Mrs. Green made the report. Both Mr. and Mrs. Knoche were home. Ms. Chin explained to them that she had come to investigate potential child abuse.

She then proceeded to assess the functioning of the family system. Mr. and Mrs. Knoche formed a parental subsystem within that system. Ms. Chin solicited input from that subsystem.

Harry Knoche was 38 years old. He was a tall, slightly overweight, balding man dressed in an old blue shirt and coveralls. He spoke in a gruff voice, but expressed a strong desire to cooperate. He also had a faint odor of beer on his breath.

Marion Knoche was a pale, thin, soft-spoken woman of 32. Mrs. Knoche looked directly at the worker, shook her head in a determined manner, and stated that she was eager to cooperate. However, she often deferred to Mr. Knoche when spoken to or asked a question.

Ms. Chin asked to examine the children. Together, the children formed a sibling subsystem within the larger family system. She found slash-like bruises on their arms and legs. When Mr. Knoche was asked how the children got these bruises, he replied that they continually made noise when he was trying to watch the football game on television or sleep. He stated they had to learn discipline in order to survive in life. He just strapped them a little now and then to teach them a lesson. It was no different from his treatment at the hands of his own father. He also stated that his neighbors could just keep their noses out of the way he wanted to raise his kids. This comment reflected how the family itself was a subsystem of the larger community system and did not escape Ms. Chin’s notice.

Ms. Chin replied that the state’s intent was to protect the children from abuse or neglect. The interface between the state and the family was Ms. Chin’s contact. She explained that citizens were encouraged to make a report even if abuse or neglect was only suspected. Ms. Chin added that the anonymity of people who made reports was protected by state law.

When asked how she felt about discipline, Mrs. Knoche said she agreed with her husband regarding how he chose to punish the children. Mr. Knoche was the main disciplinarian, and Mrs. Knoche felt all he was doing was teaching the children a lesson or two in order to maintain control and respect.

The Children

Jimmy was an exceptionally nonresponsive child of relatively small stature for his age. When he was asked a question, he tended to avoid eye contact and mumbled only one-word answers. When his father asked him to enter or leave the room, he did so immediately and quietly. His mother mentioned that he was having some problems with reading in school.

This child has had a long history of being abused by his mother.

This child has had a long history of being abused by his mother.

Pixel Memoirs/ Shutterstock.com

Sherry, on the other hand, was an extremely eager and aggressive child. When asked to do something, she initially ignored the request and continued her own activities. She refused to comply until her parent raised his or her voice. At that point she would look up and very slowly do what she was told, often requiring several proddings. At other times, Sherry would aggressively pull at her parents’ clothing, trying to get their attention. She would also scream at them loudly and ask for things such as food, even though this interrupted their ongoing conversation.

Parental History and Current Status

In order to do an accurate assessment, Ms. Chin asked the Knoches various questions about themselves, their histories, and their relationship with each other, Mr. Knoche came from a family of 10. His father drank a lot and frequently used a belt to discipline his children. He remembered being very poor and having to work most of his life. At age 16, he dropped out of high school because he was able to get a job in a steel mill.

Mrs. Knoche came from a broken family; her father had left when she was three. This reflected a state of entropy or disorganization. She had two older brothers who, she felt, often teased and tormented her. She described her mother as being a quiet, disinterested woman who rarely stated her own opinions and liked to keep to herself. The family had always been on welfare. Mrs. Knoche dropped out of high school to marry Mr. Knoche when she was 17. At that time, Mr. Knoche was 23 and had already held six different jobs since he started working at the steel mill seven years before.

The Knoches’ marriage had not been an easy one. It was marked by poverty, frequent unemployment, and frequent moves. Mr. Knoche had been laid off 19 months earlier from his last assembly-line job at a local tractor factory. He stated that he was “very disgusted” that the family had to rely on welfare. Despite his frequent job changes, he had always been able to make it on his own without any assistance. Yet this time he had just about given up getting another job. He stated that he didn’t like to talk to Mrs. Knoche very much about his problems because it made him feel weak and incompetent. He didn’t really have any buddies he liked to talk to or do things with, either. All he seemed to be doing lately was watching television, sleeping, and drinking beer. He was even starting to watch the daytime reality shows.

Mrs. Knoche was resigned to her fate. She did pretty much what her husband told her to do. She told Ms. Chin that she never did have much confidence in herself. She said that she and Mr. Knoche were never really able to talk much.

The Knoches had been living in their current apartment for six months. However, as usual, they were finding it hard to keep up with the rent and thought they’d have to move soon. The family’s output was surpassing its input. This deficit could affect the family’s homeostasis, or stability, and ability to function effectively. Moving so often made it hard to get involved and make friends in any neighborhood. Mrs. Knoche said she’d always been a lonely person.

The Assessment of Human Behavior

Factors that must be considered in the assessment of a child abuse case include physical and behavioral indicators, and certain aspects of social functioning that tend to characterize abusive families. Before Ms. Chin could plan an appropriate and effective intervention, she needed to understand the dynamics of the behavior involved in this family situation. Additionally, she needed to know what resources or input were available to help the family.

Physical Indicators of Abuse

Although definitions vary depending on medical, social, and legal emphases, simply put, physical child abuse is “non-accidental injury inflicted by a caregiver” (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 86). Physical indicators of abuse include bruises and welts, burns, lacerations and abrasions, skeletal injuries, head injuries, and internal injuries (Crosson-Tower, 2014; Downs, Moore, & McFadden, 2009).

Often it is difficult to determine whether a child’s injury is the result of abuse or a simple accident. For instance, a black eye may indeed have been caused by being hit by a baseball instead of a parent’s fist. However, certain factors suggest child abuse. These include an inconsistent medical history, injuries that do not seem to coincide with developmental ability (e.g., it is not logical that an 18-month-old girl broke her leg when running and falling when she is not yet old enough to walk well), and odd patterns of injuries (e.g., a series of small circular burns from a cigarette or a series of bruises healed to various degrees).

In Jimmy’s and Sherry’s case, slash-like bruises were apparent on their arms and legs. Upon further investigation, the worker established that these did result from disciplinary beatings by the children’s father. Cases of discipline often involve a discretionary decision on the part of the worker. The issue concerns parental rights to discipline versus children’s rights and well-being. The worker must assess the situation and determine whether abuse is involved.

Behavioral Indicators of Abuse

Ms. Chin needed to know not only what types of physical indicators are involved in child abuse but also the behavioral indicators of abused children. These types of behaviors differ from “normal” behavior. She needed to know the parameters of normal behavior in order to distinguish it from the abnormal behavior typically displayed by abused children.

Abused children are sometimes overly compliant and passive (Crosson-Tower, 2013, 2014). If a child acts overly eager to obey and/or is exceptionally quiet and still, this may be a reaction to abuse. Such children may be seeking to avoid further abuse by maintaining a low profile and avoiding notice by the abuser. Jimmy manifested some of these behaviors. He was afraid of being disciplined and so maintained as innocuous a profile as possible. This was a logical approach for him to take in order to avoid being hurt.

Sherry, on the other hand, assumed an aggressive, attention-getting approach, another behavior pattern frequently displayed by abused children (Crosson-Tower, 2013, 2014; Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2013). She frequently refused to comply with her parents’ instructions until they raised their voices, and often demanded additional prodding. She also tried to get their attention by pulling at them and screaming requests at them. This approach is also typical of certain abused children. Since Sherry was not getting the attention she needed through other means, she was acting aggressively to get it, even though such behavior was inappropriate. Ms. Chin needed to be knowledgeable about the normal attention needs of a 4-year-old in order to understand the dynamics of this behavior.

One other symptom typical of abused children involves lags in development (Crosson-Tower, 2013, 2014; Kolko, 2002; LeVine & Sallee, 1999). They might also regress to an earlier developmental stage, displaying such behaviors as “[b]aby talk, wetting the bed, and sucking fingers or thumb” in order to “cope with their situations” (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 97). Jimmy was small for his age and was having difficulty in school. Ms. Chin needed to be aware of the normal parameters of development for a 6-year-old in order to be alert to developmental lags. She also needed to know that such lags were potential indicators of abuse.

Family Social Functioning

Not only the children but also the parents must be assessed. A worker must understand the influence of both personal and environmental factors on the behavior of the parents. Only then can these factors be targeted for intervention and the abusive behaviors be changed.

Personal parental factors that are related to abuse include unfulfilled needs for nurturance and dependence, isolation, and lack of nurturing child-rearing practices (Barnett, Miller- Perrin, & Perrin, 2011; Crosson-Tower, 2014). Ms. Chin discovered in her interview that both parents were isolated and alone. They had no one to turn to for emotional support. There was no place where they could appropriately and harmlessly vent their frustrations. Nor had either parent learned appropriate child-rearing practices in their families of origin. Mr. Knoche had learned excessive discipline—to be strict and punitive. Mrs. Knoche had learned compliance and passivity—to be helpless and to believe she could have no effect on others, no matter what she did.

Environmental factors are equally important in the assessment of this case. Specific factors related to abuse often include lack of support systems, marital or cohabiting problems, and life crises (Barnett et al., 2011; Tower, 2014). Life can become more difficult and complicated. Differentiation, in a negative sense, can occur.

Neither parent had been able to develop an adequate support system. Due to frequent moves, they had not been able to develop relationships with neighbors or others in the community systems of which they were part. Nor could they turn to each other for emotional support. They had never learned how to communicate effectively within a marital relationship. Finally, they were plagued by the serious life crises of poverty and unemployment. All of these things contributed to the abusive situation.

Making Connections with Available Resources

Ms. Chin considered several treatment directions. Equifinality is reflected in the range of options available. Of course, resource availability in the client’s community system is critically important. If resources had not been available, Ms. Chin might have faced quite a dilemma. Should she work to help get appropriate resources developed? If so, what kind? How should she proceed? This would involve focusing on aspects of the larger social systems in which her clients lived.

However, the Knoches’ community had a number of resource input possibilities. A Parents Anonymous group and various social groups were available to decrease the Knoches’ social isolation. (Parents Anonymous is a self-help organization, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, for parents who have abused or neglected their children.) Individual and marital counseling were available to improve the Knoches’ personal self-images and to enhance marital communication. A visiting homemaker could encourage Mrs. Knoche to more assertively undertake her homemaking and child-rearing tasks. She could also provide personal support. Parent Effectiveness Training could be used to teach the Knoches parenting skills and alternatives to harsh discipline. Finally, Mr. Knoche could be encouraged to get re-involved in a job search. An employment specialist at the agency could help him define and pursue alternative higher-paying employment possibilities. The intent was to help the Knoches achieve negative entropy.

Ms. Chin discussed these alternatives with the Knoches. In essence, she provided them with input and feedback. Together they determined which were possible and realistic. They then decided which should be pursued first. Mr. Knoche admitted that he could use some help in finding a job, which he stated was his highest priority. He agreed to contact the agency job specialist to help him reinstitute his job search. Mrs. Knoche liked the idea of having a visiting homemaker. She felt that this would help her get her work done, and it would also give her someone to talk to. Both agreed to attend a Parents Anonymous group on a trial basis. They were not interested in pursuing marriage counseling or Parent Effectiveness Training now, but would keep it in mind for the future.

Ethical Question 1.2

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EP 1

1. When child maltreatment is suspected, should children be allowed to remain in their own home? How much risk of child maltreatment is too much risk? What effect does it have on children to be removed from their home?

1-5cUnderstanding Key Concepts in the Ecological Perspective

In addition to terms taken from systems theories, concepts from the ecological perspective also contribute to ecosystems theory. In some ways, the ecological perspective might be considered an offshoot or interpretation of systems theories. An ecological approach provides a more specific view of the world within a social work perspective. It tends to place greater emphasis on individuals’ and individual family systems’ functioning within their environments. It also brings to ecosystems theory many terms such as coping that are very important in understanding human behavior. Systems theories, on the other hand, can assume a broader perspective. They can be used to describe the dynamics in a social service agency or the functioning of an entire government.

Note that some systems and ecological terms, such as interface and the input of energy, overlap. In essence, their meanings are very similar, especially when relating specifically to people functioning within their environments.

Some of the major terms employed in the ecological perspective and defined here include social environment, natural environment, transactions, energy, interface, adaptation, coping, and interdependence.

Social Environment

The  social environment involves the conditions, circumstances, and human interactions that encompass human beings. Individuals must have effective interactions with this environment in order to survive and thrive. The social environment includes the actual physical setting that the society or culture provides. This involves the type of home a person lives in, the type of work a person does, the amount of money that is available, and the laws and social rules people live by. The social environment also includes the individuals, groups, organizations, and systems with which a person comes into contact, including family, friends, work groups, and governments. Social institutions such as health care, housing, social welfare, and educational systems are yet other aspects of this social environment.

Natural Environment

The  natural environment is composed of all the non-human living things and non-living things that are naturally on earth. It includes the climate, weather, natural resources, plants, animals, microorganisms, minerals, rocks, and bodies of water on this planet. Humans are strongly impacted by things like hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, droughts, diseases, animal bites, global warming, mining, industrial damage, mudslides, mountains, deserts, scarcity of fossil fuels, toxic wastes, lead poisoning, toxic chemicals, air pollution, radioactive leaks from power plants, acid rain, chlorinated hydrocarbons, oil spills in large bodies of water, forest fires, blizzards, food preservatives—the list of natural phenomena impacting humans could go on and on. The concept of “environmental justice” first appeared in the 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) (Council on Social Work Education, 2015). Social workers have an obligation to understand the impact of the natural environment on humans, and to work toward environmental justice.  Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people—with respect to the development and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. It will be achieved when everyone enjoys

· (a)

the same degree of protection from health and environmental hazards, and

· (b)

equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment to live in.

Transactions

People communicate and interact with others in their environments. These interactions are referred to as transactions.  Transactions are active and dynamic because something is communicated or exchanged. They may be positive or negative. An example of a positive transaction is the revelation that the one you dearly love also loves you in return. Another positive transaction is the receipt of a paycheck after two weeks of work. An example of a negative transaction is being laid off from a job that you’ve had for 15 years. Another example of a negative transaction is an irritable neighbor complaining to the police about your dog barking too much.

Energy

Energy is the natural power of active involvement between people and their environments. Energy can take the form of input or output. Input is the form of energy coming into a person’s life and adding to that life. For example, an older adult whose health is failing may need input in the form of substantial physical assistance and emotional support in order to continue performing the daily tasks necessary to stay alive. ( Chapters 15 and  16 discuss the importance of energy and input from the environment to maintain health and quality of life.) Another example of input is a teacher giving a student feedback on a term paper.

Output, on the other hand, is a form of energy going out of a person’s life or taking something away from it. For instance, parents may expend tremendous amounts of energy in taking care of their young children. So may a person who volunteers time and effort to work on the campaign of a politician he or she supports.

Interface

The  interface in the ecological perspective is similar to that in systems theory. It is the exact point at which the interaction between an individual and the environment takes place. During an assessment, the interface must be clearly in focus in order to target the appropriate interactions for change. For example, a couple entering marriage counseling initially state that their problem concerns disagreements about how to raise their children. Upon further exploration, however, the real problem is discovered—namely, their inability to communicate feelings to each other. The actual problem, the inability to communicate, is the interface where one individual affects the other. If the interface is inaccurately targeted, much time and useless energy can be wasted before getting at the real problem. ( Chapter 12 describes the importance of communication within the context of couples and families.)

The ecological perspective, however, differs from systems theories in its tendency to emphasize interfaces concerning individuals and small groups such as families. It is more difficult to apply the ecological perspective’s conception of interfaces to those involving only larger systems such as communities and organizations.

Adaptation

Adaptation refers to the capacity to adjust to surrounding environmental conditions. It implies change. A person must change or adapt to new conditions and circumstances in order to continue functioning effectively. Social workers frequently help people in their process of adaptation to a new marriage partner, a new job, or a new neighborhood. Adaptation usually requires energy in the form of effort. Social workers often help direct people’s energies so that they are most productive.

Not only are people affected by their environments, but environments are also affected by people in their process of adaptation. People change their environments in order to adapt successfully. For instance, a person might find it hard to survive a winter in Montana in the natural environment without shelter. Therefore, those who live in Montana manipulate their environment by clearing land and constructing heated buildings. They change their environment in order to survive in it. Therefore, adaptation is often a two-way process involving both the individual and the environment.

Coping

Coping is a form of adaptation that implies a struggle to overcome problems. Although adaptation may involve responses to new conditions that are either positive or negative, coping refers to the way people deal with the negative experiences they encounter. For example, a person might have to cope with the sudden death of a parent, a primary family wage earner losing a job, gangs that are vandalizing the community, or vital public assistance payments that are significantly decreased.

At least five types of coping skills are important for people to develop (Barker, 2003). First, people need to solicit and obtain the types of information they need to function well. For instance, an older adult who becomes sick needs to know how to obtain Medicare benefits (see  Chapter 16). Second, people need to have coping skills for thinking about and planning for the future. For example, a person who loses a job needs to develop a plan for finding another one. Third, coping skills involve controlling emotions. For example, a minor disagreement with a significant other should not result in a major battle involving screaming, scratching, and punching. Fourth, people need coping skills to control their needs for immediate gratification. For instance, a family needs to budget its income so that there is food on the table at the end of the week, instead of spending money on a new television set. Finally, coping skills involve identifying alternative ways of approaching a problematic situation and evaluating the pros and cons of each alternative.

Social workers are frequently called upon to help clients develop coping skills. A major theme in the helping process involves working with clients to evaluate alternatives and to choose the one that’s best for them. Evaluating alternatives was addressed earlier in this chapter.

Concept Summary

Systems and Ecological Perspective Concepts Prominent in Ecosystems Theory

Systems Theory Concepts

System: A set of elements that are orderly and interrelated to make a functional whole.

Boundaries: The borders or margins that separate one entity from another.

Subsystem: A secondary or subordinate system that is a component of a larger system.

Homeostasis: The tendency for a system to maintain a relatively stable, constant state of balance.

Role: The culturally established social behavior and conduct expected of a person in any designated interpersonal relationship.

Relationship: A reciprocal, dynamic interpersonal connection characterized by patterns of emotional exchange, communication, and behavioral interaction.

Input: The energy, information, or communication flow received from other systems.

Output: The response of a system, after receiving and processing input, that affects other systems in the environment.

Feedback: A special form of input in which a system receives information about its own performance (either negative or positive).

Interface: The point where two systems of any size come into contact with each other or communicate.

Differentiation: A system’s tendency to move from a simpler to a more complex existence.

Entropy: The tendency of a system to progress toward disorganization, depletion, and death.

Negative entropy: The process of a system toward growth and development.

Equifinality: The fact that there are many different means to the same end.

Ecological Perspective Concepts

· Social environment: The conditions, circumstances, and human interactions that encompass human beings.

· Natural environment: Composed of all the non-human living things and non-living things that are naturally on earth.

· Transactions: The means by which people communicate and interact with others in the environment.

· Energy: The natural power of active involvement between people and their environments.

· Interface: The exact point at which the interaction between an individual and the environment takes place.

· Adaptation: The capacity to adjust to surrounding environmental conditions.

· Coping: A form of adaptation that implies a struggle to overcome problems.

· Interdependence: The mutual reliance of each person on every other person.

Interdependence

The final ecological concept is that of  interdependence, the mutual reliance of each person on every other person. An individual is interdependent or reliant on other individuals and groups of individuals in the social environment.

A person cannot exist without other people. The businessperson needs the farmer to produce food and the customer to purchase goods. The farmer needs the businessperson to provide money to buy seed, tools, and other essentials. The farmer becomes the customer for the businessperson. People, especially those living in a highly industrialized society, are interdependent; they need each other to survive.

1-6 Recognize People’s Involvement with Multiple Systems in the Social Environment

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We have established that people are constantly and dynamically involved in interactions with their social environment. Social work assessment tries to answer this question: What is it in any particular situation that causes a problem to continue despite the client’s expressed wish to change it? An ecosystems approach provides a perspective for assessing many aspects of a situation. Clients are affected by and in constant dynamic interactions with other systems, including families, groups, organizations, and communities.  Figure 1.4 portrays the dynamic interactions of clients with other systems in the social environment.

Figure 1.4Human Behavior Involves Multiple Systems

An illustration shows the individual (micro system), represented by a circle, and overlapped by four circles: groups (comprising work and social [mezzo systems]), communities (marco systems), organizations (marco systems), and family systems (micro/mezzo systems).

Each individual is involved in multiple systems consisting of families, groups, organizations, and communities.

1-6aMicro, Mezzo, and Macro Systems

A system is a set of elements that are interrelated to make a functional whole. For our purposes, we will distinguish three basic types of systems throughout this text: micro, mezzo, and macro systems.  Micro system refers to an individual. In a broad sense, a person is a type of system that entails biological, psychological, and social systems. All of these systems interact. A micro orientation to social work practice involves focusing on an individual’s needs, problems, and strengths. It also stresses how that individual might address issues, generate solutions, and make the best, most effective choices possible. Micro practice, then, involves working with an individual and enhancing that person’s functioning. Issues concerning micro systems are addressed throughout the text. Examples include dimensions of physical and psychological development and maturity (all chapters on biological and psychological systems throughout the lifespan), women’s resilience after violence ( Chapter 9), identity development as an LGBT person ( Chapter 13), and grief management ( Chapter 15).

Mezzo system refers to any small group, including family, work groups, and other social groups. Sometimes for assessment purposes it is difficult to clearly differentiate between issues involving a micro system (individual) and a mezzo system (small group) with which the individual is involved. This is because individuals are so integrally involved in interactions with others close to them. In many cases, we will make an arbitrary distinction between an issue concerning a micro system and one concerning a mezzo system. Examples of content about mezzo systems in this text include the importance of play with peers and participation in school for children ( Chapter 4), empowerment through social work with groups ( Chapter 8), the functions of nonverbal communication ( Chapter 11), and family issues for older adults ( Chapter 15).

Macro system refers to a system larger than a small group. A macro orientation involves focusing on the social, political, and economic conditions and policies that affect people’s overall access to resources and quality of life. Macro practice in social work, then, involves striving to improve the social and economic context in which people live. Examples of content in this text about macro systems and how they affect people include the impacts of policies concerning abortion ( Chapter 2), legislation regarding people with disabilities ( Chapter 3), strategies to promote social and economic justice ( Chapter 5), community responses to battered women ( Chapter 9), and current services for older adults ( Chapter 16).

1-6bInteractions between Micro Systems and Macro Systems

Individual micro systems are also continuously and seriously affected by the macro systems with which they interact within the social environment. Two major types of macro systems impact individual clients: communities and organizations. The two are intertwined.

community is “a number of people with something in common that connects them in some way and that distinguishes them from others”; the common feature might be a neighborhood where people live, an activity people share such as a job, or other connections such as “ethnic identification” (Homan, 2011, p. 8).

Organizations are structured groups of people who come together to work toward some mutual goal and perform established work activities that are divided among various units. Organizations generally have a clearly defined membership in terms of knowing who is in and who is out.

We have emphasized the importance of clients’ interactions with the many systems engulfing them. It is easy for practitioners, especially those who are new to the field, to focus on micro and mezzo systems. Assuming a “clinical” approach targets trying to change individuals within the context of small groups and families.

We have also emphasized that a unique and vital aspect of social work is assessing the effects of macro systems on individual client systems. Two broad theoretical perspectives that most clearly underlie practice with large systems are organizational theory and community theory.

People and the environment are affected by social, political, and economic conditions at the macro level. Here, auto workers march against Wall Street.

A photo shows protesters wearing working America tee-shirts and holding placards reading, “Working America, community affiliate of the AFL-CIO,” “America does not belong to wall street,” “invest in our communities now,” and “manufacturing jobs now.”

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Jim West/Alamy Stock Photo

Organizational theory includes specific attempts to understand how organizations function, what improves or impairs the ability of an organization to accomplish its mission, and what motivates people to work toward organizational goals. Some approaches to organizational theory have focused on management or leadership style; others have dealt with structural issues such as organizational hierarchy, planning, staffing patterns, and budgeting. Groups considered as organizations include virtually every structure with staff, policies, and procedures whose purpose is to continue operation in order to attain certain goals. For example, schools, public social welfare departments, and an agency operating four group homes for adults with intellectual disabilities are all types of organizations.

The second theoretical framework,  community theory, has two primary components. First, it involves perspectives on the nature of communities. What constitutes a particular community? How are its boundaries defined? You may think of a community as having specific geographical boundaries, like Muleshoe, Texas, or Mattawamkeag, Maine, or Devil’s Den, Wyoming. However, a community may also be a group of people with shared ideas, interests, and allegiances, like the professional social work community, the military community, or a virtual community.

The second thrust of community theory involves how social workers practice within the community context. How can practitioners improve community services and conditions? What skills must social workers acquire to enhance clients’ quality of life within their community? (Community change theory is more fully described in  Chapter 5.)

1-7aA Variety of Roles

In working with individuals, groups, families, organizations, and communities, a social worker is expected to be knowledgeable and skillful in filling a variety of roles. The particular role selected should (ideally) be determined by what will be most effective, given the circumstances. The following material identifies some, but certainly not all, of the roles assumed by social workers.

Enabler

In this role, a worker helps individuals or groups to articulate their needs, clarify and identify their problems, explore resolution strategies, select and apply a strategy, and develop their capacities to deal with problems more effectively. This role model is perhaps the most frequently used approach in counseling individuals, groups, and families, and is used in community practice—primarily when the objective is to help people organize to help themselves.

(It should be noted that this definition of the term enabler is very different from the definition used in reference to chemical dependency. There the term refers to a family member or friend who facilitates the substance abuser in persisting in the use and abuse of drugs.)

Broker

A broker links individuals and groups who need help (and do not know where to find it) with community services. For example, a wife who is physically abused by her husband might be referred to a shelter for battered women. Nowadays even moderate-sized communities have 200–300 social service agencies and organizations. Even human services professionals are often only partially aware of the total service network in their community.

Advocate

The role of advocate has been borrowed from the law profession. It is an active, directive role in which the social worker represents a client or a citizens’ group. When a client or a citizens’ group needs help and existing institutions are uninterested (or openly negative and hostile), the advocate’s role may be appropriate. The advocate provides leadership in collecting information, arguing the validity of the client’s need and request, and challenging the institution’s decision not to provide services. The purpose is not to ridicule or censure a particular institution but rather to modify or change one or more of its service policies. In this role, the advocate is a partisan who is exclusively serving the interests of a client or a citizens’ group.

Empowerer

A key goal of social work practice is empowerment, the process of helping individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities increase their personal, interpersonal, socioeconomic, and political strength and influence. Social workers who engage in empowerment-focused practice seek to develop the capacity of clients to understand their environment, make choices, take responsibility for those choices, and influence their life situations through organization and advocacy. Empowerment-focused social workers also seek a more equitable distribution of resources and power among different groups in society. This focus on equity and social justice has been a hallmark of the social work profession, as practiced by Jane Addams and other early settlement workers.

Activist

An activist seeks basic institutional change; often the objective involves a shift in power and resources to a disadvantaged group. An activist is concerned about social injustice, inequity, and deprivation. Tactics involve conflict, confrontation, and negotiation. Social action is concerned with changing the social environment in order to better meet the recognized needs of individuals. The methods used are assertive and action-oriented (for example, organizing welfare recipients to work toward improvements in services and increases in money payments). Activities of social action include fact-finding, analysis of community needs, research, dissemination and interpretation of information, organizing activities with people, and other efforts to mobilize public understanding and support on behalf of some existing or proposed social program. Social action activity can be geared toward a problem that is local, statewide, or national in scope.

Mediator

The mediator role involves intervention in disputes between parties to help them find compromises, reconcile differences, or reach mutually satisfactory agreements. Social workers have used their value orientations and unique skills in many forms of mediation (for example, divorcing spouses, neighbors in conflict, landlords and tenants, labor and management, and contenders for child custody). A mediator remains neutral, not siding with either party in the dispute. Mediators make sure they understand the positions of both parties. They may help to clarify positions, identify miscommunication about differences, and help both parties present their cases clearly.

Negotiator

A negotiator brings together people in conflict and seeks to bargain and compromise to find mutually acceptable agreements. Somewhat like mediation, negotiation involves finding a middle ground that all sides can live with. However, unlike a mediator (who maintains a neutral position), a negotiator is usually allied with one side or the other.

Educator

The educator gives information to clients and teaches them adaptive skills. To be an effective educator, the worker must first be knowledgeable. Additionally, the worker must be a good communicator so information is conveyed clearly and readily understood by the receiver. An educator can teach parenting skills to young parents, instruct teenagers in job-hunting strategies, and teach anger-control techniques to individuals with aggressive tendencies.

Initiator

An initiator calls attention to a problem or to a potential problem. It is important to recognize that sometimes a potential problem requires attention. For example, if a proposal is made to renovate a low-income neighborhood by building middle-income housing units, the initiator will be concerned that low-income residents could become homeless if the proposal is approved (because these current residents may not be able to afford middle-income units). Because calling attention to problems usually does not resolve them, the initiator role must often be followed by other kinds of work.

Coordinator

Coordination involves bringing components together in an organized manner. For example, a multiproblem family may need help from several agencies to meet its complicated financial, emotional, legal, health, social, educational, recreational, and interactional needs. Frequently, someone at an agency must assume the role of case manager to coordinate services from different agencies and avoid both duplication of services and conflict among the services.

Researcher

At times every worker is a researcher. Research in social work practice can involve reading literature on topics of interest, evaluating the outcomes of one’s practice, assessing the merits and shortcomings of programs, and studying community needs.

Group Facilitator

A group facilitator serves as a leader for a group discussion in a therapy group, an educational group, a self-help group, a sensitivity group, a family therapy group, or a group with some other focus.

Public Speaker

Social workers occasionally talk to a variety of groups (e.g., high school classes; public service organizations such as Kiwanis; police officers; staff at other agencies) to inform them of available services or to argue the need for new services. In recent years, various new services have been identified (for example, family preservation programs and services for people with AIDS). Social workers who have public speaking skills are better able to explain services to groups of potential clients and funding sources, and are apt to be rewarded (including financially) by their employers for these skills.

1-8 Identify Knowledge, Skills, and Values Necessary for Generalist Social Work Practice

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EP 1a through  EP 9d

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Knowledge, Skills, and Values Needed for Social Work Practice

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In Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS), the Council on Social Work Education (2015) identified knowledge, skills, values, and cognitive and affective processes that accredited baccalaureate and master’s degree programs are mandated to convey to social work students. EPAS is based on a competency approach. The following material is reprinted with permission from EPAS (CSWE, 2015).

The mandated content that Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and Master of Social Work (MSW) programs are required to provide to students are summarized in the following nine competencies:

Social Work Competencies

The nine Social Work Competencies are listed below. Programs may add competencies that are consistent with their mission and goals and respond to their context. Each competency describes the knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive and affective processes that comprise the competency at the generalist level of practice, followed by a set of behaviors that integrate these components. These behaviors represent observable components of the competencies, while the preceding statements represent the underlying content and processes that inform the behaviors.

Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

Social workers understand the value base of the profession and its ethical standards, as well as relevant laws and regulations that may impact practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Social workers understand frameworks of ethical decision making and how to apply principles of critical thinking to those frameworks in practice, research, and policy arenas. Social workers recognize personal values and the distinction between personal and professional values. They also understand how their personal experiences and affective reactions influence their professional judgment and behavior. Social workers understand the profession’s history, its mission, and the roles and responsibilities of the profession. Social Workers also understand the role of other professions when engaged in interprofessional teams. Social workers recognize the importance of lifelong learning and are committed to continually updating their skills to ensure they are relevant and effective. Social workers also understand emerging forms of technology and the ethical use of technology in social work practice. Social workers

· make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics as appropriate to context;

· use reflection and self-regulation to manage personal values and maintain professionalism in practice situations;

· demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic communication;

· use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate practice outcomes; and

· use supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment and behavior.

Competency 2: Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

Social workers understand how diversity and difference characterize and shape the human experience and are critical to the formation of identity. The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersectionality of multiple factors including but not limited to age, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, marital status, political ideology, race, religion/spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status. Social workers understand that, as a consequence of difference, a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege, power, and acclaim. Social workers also understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values, including social, economic, political, and cultural exclusions, may oppress, marginalize, alienate, or create privilege and power. Social workers

· apply and communicate understanding of the importance of diversity and difference in shaping life experiences in practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels;

· present themselves as learners and engage clients and constituencies as experts of their own experiences; and

· apply self-awareness and self-regulation to manage the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse clients and constituencies.

Competency 3: Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice

Social workers understand that every person regardless of position in society has fundamental human rights such as freedom, safety, privacy, an adequate standard of living, health care, and education. Social workers understand the global interconnections of oppression and human rights violations, and are knowledgeable about theories of human need and social justice and strategies to promote social and economic justice and human rights. Social workers understand strategies designed to eliminate oppressive structural barriers to ensure that social goods, rights, and responsibilities are distributed equitably and that civil, political, environmental, economic, social, and cultural human rights are protected. Social workers

· apply their understanding of social, economic, and environmental justice to advocate for human rights at the individual and system levels; and

· engage in practices that advance social, economic, and environmental justice.

Competency 4: Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice

Social workers understand quantitative and qualitative research methods and their respective roles in advancing a science of social work and in evaluating their practice. Social workers know the principles of logic, scientific inquiry, and culturally informed and ethical approaches to building knowledge. Social workers understand that evidence that informs practice derives from multidisciplinary sources and multiple ways of knowing. They also understand the processes for translating research findings into effective practice. Social workers

· use practice experience and theory to inform scientific inquiry and research;

· apply critical thinking to engage in analysis of quantitative and qualitative research methods and research findings; and

· use and translate research evidence to inform and improve practice, policy, and service delivery.

Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice

Social workers understand that human rights and social justice, as well as social welfare and services, are mediated by policy and its implementation at the federal, state, and local levels. Social workers understand the history and current structures of social policies and services, the role of policy in service delivery, and the role of practice in policy development. Social workers understand their role in policy development and implementation within their practice settings at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels, and they actively engage in policy practice to effect change within those settings. Social workers recognize and understand the historical, social, cultural, economic, organizational, environmental, and global influences that affect social policy. They are also knowledgeable about policy formulation, analysis, implementation, and evaluation. Social workers

· identify social policy at the local, state, and federal level that impacts well-being, service delivery, and access to social services;

· assess how social welfare and economic policies impact the delivery of and access to social services;

· apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice.

Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand that engagement is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers value the importance of human relationships. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge to facilitate engagement with clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers understand strategies to engage diverse clients and constituencies to advance practice effectiveness. Social workers understand how their personal experiences and affective reactions may impact their ability to effectively engage with diverse clients and constituencies. Social workers value principles of relationship-building and interprofessional collaboration to facilitate engagement with clients, constituencies, and other professionals as appropriate. Social workers

· apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks to engage with clients and constituencies; and

· use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to effectively engage diverse clients and constituencies.

Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand that assessment is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in the assessment of diverse clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers understand methods of assessment with diverse clients and constituencies to advance practice effectiveness. Social workers recognize the implications of the larger practice context in the assessment process and value the importance of interprofessional collaboration in this process. Social workers understand how their personal experiences and affective reactions may affect their assessment and decision making. Social workers

· collect and organize data, and apply critical thinking to interpret information from clients and constituencies;

· apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the analysis of assessment data from clients and constituencies;

· develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives based on the critical assessment of strengths, needs, and challenges within clients and constituencies; and

· select appropriate intervention strategies based on the assessment, research knowledge, and values and preferences of clients and constituencies.

Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand that intervention is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, Social workers are knowledgeable about evidence-informed interventions to achieve the goals of clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge to effectively intervene with clients and constituencies. Social workers understand methods of identifying, analyzing and implementing evidence-informed interventions to achieve client and constituency goals. Social workers value the importance of interprofessional teamwork and communication in interventions, recognizing that beneficial outcomes may require interdisciplinary, interprofessional, and interorganizational collaboration. Social workers

· critically choose and implement interventions to achieve practice goals and enhance capacities of clients and constituencies;

· apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in interventions with clients and constituencies;

· use interprofessional collaboration as appropriate to achieve beneficial practice outcomes;

· negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of diverse clients and constituencies; and

· facilitate effective transitions and endings that advance mutually agreed-on goals.

Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand that evaluation is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Social workers recognize the importance of evaluating processes and outcomes to advance practice, policy, and service delivery effectiveness. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in evaluating outcomes. Social workers understand qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating outcomes and practice effectiveness. Social workers

· select and use appropriate methods for evaluation of outcomes;

· apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the evaluation of outcomes;

· critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate intervention and program processes and outcomes; and

· apply evaluation findings to improve practice effectiveness at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.

Concept Summary

Important Concepts Stressed in This Book

Critical thinking: “The careful examination and evaluation of beliefs and actions” to establish an independent decision about what is true and what is not (Gambrill & Gibbs, 2009, p. 4).

Cultural competency: “The mastery of a particular set of knowledge, skills, policies, and programs used by the social worker that address the cultural needs of individuals, families, groups, and communities” (Lum, 2005, p. 4).

Economic justice: An ideal condition in which all members of a society have the same opportunities to attain material goods, income, and wealth.

Empowerment: “The process of increasing personal, interpersonal, or political power so that individuals can take action to improve their life situations” (Gutierrez, 2001, p. 210).

Ethical dilemmas: Situations in which ethical principles conflict and all solutions are imperfect.

Human diversity: The vast range of human differences and the effects they have on human behavior.

Human rights: The premise that all people, regardless of race, culture, or national origin, are entitled to basic rights and treatment.

Oppression: The condition of putting unfair and extreme limitations and constraints on members of an identified group.

Populations-at-risk: Any group of people who share some identifiable characteristic that places them at greater risk of social and economic deprivations and oppression than the general mainstream of society.

Poverty: The condition of “not having enough money to buy things that are considered necessary and desirable” (Kornblum & Julian, 2012, p. 196).

Resiliency: The ability of an individual, family, group, community, or organization to recover from adversity and resume functioning even when suffering serious trouble, confusion, or hardship.

Social justice: An ideal condition in which all members of a society have the same basic “rights, protection, opportunities, obligations, and social benefits” (Barker, 2003, p. 405).

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