Viewing social work practice

WHAT IS SOCIAL WORK?

Ellen Perrault, PhD, RSW

perrault@ucalgary.ca
Pause the slide and consider:

WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT

SOCIAL WORK?
WHAT IS SOCIAL WORK?

Click here for a 2 minute clip on

What is social work
by the edu411 Website
REQUIRED READING

Click here
Canadian Association of Social Workers (2008).
Social work scope of practice. Ottawa, ON:
Canadian Association of Social Workers.
 Social Work Goals
 Enhance social functioning
 Link to resources

 Improve social service delivery

 Promote social justice

(National Association of Social Workers)

Allyn & Bacon 2004

SOCIAL WORK, PSYCHOLOGY, &
PSYCHIATRY

Social Work Psychology Psychiatry

Emphasizes Focuses on Focuses on individually

individual within individual based mental illness,
context of broader behaviour and generally treated with
social environment internal thoughts prescription
and feelings medications or
biological treatments
PSYCHOLOGISTS AND SOCIAL WORKERS

Psychology
 neuroscience

 developmental

 cognitive

 social

 clinical
 BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL

 biological •Psychiatrist
 psychological •Psychologist
 social factors •Social Worker
SOCIAL WORK IS MORE ABOUT
RELATIONSHIP

The authentic social relation with

reciprocal learning among the parties
involved in the helping process, not the
unilateral application of some theory or
some technique – is the real key to
‘success’ in social work” (p. 22)

Folgheraiter, F. (2004). Relational social work.

CONTEXT

INTERDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE
JANE MATHESON

Clinical Social Worker

CEO of Woods Homes
SUZANNE ROSEBRUGH

Clinical
Social
Worker

Counsellor
at Red Deer
College
MARY VALENTICH

 Works as an advocate in
pursuit of gender equity
and freedom from racial
and other forms of
discrimination
JOE CECI

 MLA for Calgary-Fort

 Former Coordinator with Action to End Poverty

Alberta and a former Calgary Alderman

https://www.facebook.com/joe.ceci.ndp
WHAT DO WE DO AS SOCIAL WORKERS?
Consult, facilitate, plan, empower, monitor,
advocate, broker, convene, mediate, coach,
activate, teach, train, research, counsel, link…
SOCIAL WORK BUILDS ON GENERALIST
PRACTICE

encompasses
 the ecological perspective,
 the problem-solving process,
 knowledge regarding the
client-worker relationship.
(Compton & Galaway)
PHASES OF PRACTICE
1. Pre-meeting
2. Engagement-tuning in and
connecting
3. Intervention-work
4. Termination
Kirst-Ashman, K. & Hull, G. (2012)
 Phases of
•Engagement Practice
•Assessment cont'd
•Planning
•Implementation
•Evaluation
•Termination
•Follow-up
•Kirst-Ashman, K. & Hull, G. (2012)
SOCIAL WORKERS MORE OFTEN INTERVENE
AT THE MICRO LEVEL

 Micro

Individual, Family
 Mezzo

Groups, Organizations
 Macro

Communities and Societies

THE DEBATE: focus on the individual/family or the social
context in which the issues are occurring
MICRO VS. MACRO
CONSIDER A SOCIAL ISSUE IN THE FIELD, HOW WOULD YOU
PRACTICE SOCIAL WORK IN ORDER TO RESPOND TO INDIVIDUAL
NEED AND TO WORK TOWARDS SOCIAL CHANGE?
 homelessness and housing insecurity
 poverty and unemployment
 working with women, with an emphasis on family
violence
 refugee and resettlement experiences
 social/emotional well-being of Aboriginals

•socio-economic status What would you consider

•gender inequality the role of a social worker
•racism, homophobia within these contexts?
Micro
 cognitive theory
 ego psychology
 crisis theory
 knowledge from Micro
psychiatry, i.e. DSM
Mezzo
 knowledge re family
issues and processes
Macro
Mezzo
 theory about groups,
organizations
Macro
 structural approach,
inter-organizational
theory, policy, politics
 Historical Controversy

Symbols
for the
diversity
in social
Jane work Mary
Addams practice Richmond
 Macro Focus

“social problems…concern the

community, rather than
personality problems of
individuals.” …Social work should
be “helping people make use of
social resources—family members,
friends, neighbors, community
organizations, social service
agencies—to solve their problems”.
(Specht and Courtney)
Let’s Focus on Individuals to have the
Greatest Impact?

“Any amount of social

action and change will
always be insufficient to
bring about a society in
which individual human
suffering does not exist,
and that regardless of
the cause, whether
societal or otherwise, a
number of problems can
be resolved through
individualized services”
(Fischer, 1978)
Most agree it cannot be just one or the other

“We must simultaneously pull our clients out of the

destructive river and go upstream to prevent their being
pushed in” (Hynes,1998)
DEFINITION OF SOCIAL WORK
The social work profession promotes social
change, problem solving in human
relationships and the empowerment and
liberation of people to enhance well-being.
Utilising theories of human behaviour and
social systems, social work intervenes at
the points where people interact with their
environments. Principles of human rights
and social justice are fundamental to social
work.
 International Federation of Social Workers
SOCIAL WORKERS
 Commitment to social justice
 Commitment to improving service delivery
 Commitment to ensuring access to resources
 Commitment to client involvement
Social Workers

 Provide a structural analysis

 Critique the dominant social labelling processes

 Highlight power imbalances

WHO IS GOING TO DO THIS IMPORTANT WORK?

 Promoting social change

 Facilitating problem solving
 Enhancing well-being through empowerment
and liberation
(International Federation of Social Work – 2000)
For example,
patterns of mental health and illness are
distributed along the lines of social
disadvantage including:
 gender oppression
 racial discrimination
 poverty and unemployment
 being sexually assaulted
EXAMPLE CONTINUED:
UNIQUE ROLE AND CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL WORK IN RELATION
TO MENTAL HEALTH

How does structural oppression such as

racism, patriarchy,
Highlight or poverty
the relevance foster
of issues the to
related
anxiety or depression
powerlessness, experiencedpoverty,
dispossession, by
increasing
abuse numbers of
and violence, people? work, etc.
low-status

Macfarlane, S. (2009). Opening spaces for alternative understandings in mental

health practice In J. Allan, L. Briskman, & B. Pease (Eds.). Critical social work:
Theories and practices for a socially just world (2nd ed, pp. 201-213). Crows
Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
CONSIDER A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE IN THE FIELD, HOW WOULD A
CRITICAL APPROACH INFORM YOUR PRACTICE TO RESPOND TO
INDIVIDUAL NEED AND WORK TOWARDS SOCIAL CHANGE?

 homelessness and housing insecurity

 poverty and unemployment
 working with women, with an emphasis on family violence
 rural issues
 refugee and resettlement experiences
 Social/emotional well-being of Aboriginals

•socio-economic status What would you consider

•gender inequality the role of a social worker
•racism and homophobia within these contexts?
SOCIAL WORK IS
BROADER THAN
THE INDIVIDUAL

For example: Mental Health First Aid program:

Intro video Click Here
CASE MANAGEMENT
CASE MANAGEMENT

 Co-ordination of a case
is essential where a
client is accessing more
than a single service
CASE MANAGEMENT

 Take the time for

service integration –
creates seamless service
for clients
How are all these doing?

Social Worker

Your Other
Agency Professionals

Client
Community Institutions –
Resources Schools, etc
HEALTH PROFESSIONS ACT (HPA)
SCHEDULE 27:
(a) enhance or restore the social functioning of
individuals, families, groups, organizations and
communities by improving developmental, problem-
solving and coping capacities of people and systems,
(b) promote effective and humane systems that provide
resources, opportunities and services to people and
link people to those systems,
(c) contribute to the development and improvement of
social policy, and
(d) provide restricted activities authorized by the
regulations.
WHAT DO SOCIAL
WORKERS MAKE?
WHAT ARE SOME INITIAL QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT WANT
TO ASK ABOUT SOCIAL WORK?

 Who?
 What?
 When?
 Where?
 How?
 Why?
ON ANY GIVEN DAY,
SOCIAL WORKERS HELP

Click here

NASW 5 minute clip on social work areas of

practice
REFERENCES
Fischer, S. (1978) Does anything work? Journal of Social Sciences Research,
1(3), 215-243.
Kirst-Ashman, K., & Hull, G. (2009). Understanding Generalist Practice.
Wadsworth.
Lindeman, E. C. (1924). Social discovery: an approach to the study of
function groups. New York, NY: Republic Publishing.
Norcross, J.C. & Prochaska, J. O. (1983). Clinicians theoretical orientations:
Selection, utilization and efficacy. Professional Psychology, 14, 197-208.
Renouf, N. & Bland, R. (2005). Navigating stormy waters: Challenges and
opportunities for social work in mental health. Australian Social Work, 58
(4), 419-30.
Specht, H., & Courtney, M. (1994). Unfaithful angels: How social work has
abandoned its mission. New York, NY: The Free Press.
Wakefield, J. C. (2005). Putting Humpty together again: Treatment of
mental disorder and pursuit of justice as parts of social work’s mission. In
Kirk, S. A., (Ed.) Mental disorders in the social environment: Critical
perspectives (pp. 293-309). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
ALBERT SCHWEITZER
I don't know what your destiny will be, but
one thing I do know: the only ones among
you who will be really happy are those who
have sought and found how to serve.