Class 4: Macro generalist practice: theories, values, and perspectives

UTA SSW, SOCW 5306: Generalist Macro Practice Professor Dick Schoech

Suggest printing slides for class using: Print | Handouts | 3 slides per page | grayscale optionsCopyright 2005, Not to be used without permission

Overview of Class

Values

Perspectives

Theories, specifically Systems Theory

Social Work Change Process (in group)

Hold 2nd task force meeting meeting Firm up condition, community, roles

Discuss vision and principles

Next week= Further explore condition

Values

*What are social work value?* What are social work values & how are they defined?

How do they affect macro practice?* How can we tell if we need additional information on values?

* Review items: These should have been covered in other courses.

What are Social Work Values?

A value is a belief or principle to which the social work profession adheres and which guides practice

Core social work values are: Service: all seek to improve humankind Social and economic justice Dignity & worth of person ($ exercise) Importance of human relationships Integrity and competence in practice CSWE EPAS p6 Diversity: understand, affirm, respect differences Democratic participation

Value: Diversity Systems definition: A system with a variety of

inputs can survive better than one with fewer inputs (requisite variety)

Relevant terms for cultural diversity Race (biological concept not very useful in human

services, except for genetic predisposition) Culture (symbols by which we structure reality) Ethnicity (socio-history) useful concept in human

services

Diversity Principles Diversity is a strength, not a weakness. It becomes a

weakness if extremely high or low All cultures are valid but some cultural practices are not People’s opinions and actions are influenced by their

concept of race, e.g., Racism exists Theories and values are not culturally neutral

Understanding culture helps understand human situations Source: Wright, R. Jr., Saleebey, D., Watts, T., & Lecca, P. (1983) An introduction to the transcultural perspective,

in Transcultural Perspectives in the Human Services, Springfield, IL: Thomas, pp. 3-25.

Why is Diversity Important?

Improve practice if we understand our/client’s values & culture

Helps eliminate “group think” and narrow perspectives

Do I need more on Diversity?

Do I have friends from various cultures so I can understand their culture?

Do I understand the influence of my culture on my values, work practices and clients?

Do I understand the influence of the dominant culture on myself, my clients, and my work?

Do I make attempts to enhance my understanding of cultures?

No to these questions indicate more diversity training is needed

Value: Democratic Participation

Democratic The will of the majority influences most heavily The rights of the minority are protected

Participation People have a right to be involved in decisions that

affect them People have a right to information that affects their

lives People presented with options and supporting

information can make good decisions for their lives

Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation

1. Manipulation

2. Therapy

3. Informing/training/educating

4. Consultation

5. Placation

6. Partnership

7. Delegated power

8. Consumer/Citizen control Note: ranked from lowest to highest participation Source: Arnstein, S.R. (1971) Eight Rungs on the ladder of citizen participation, in E. S. Cahn &

B. A. Passett, Citizen Participation: Effecting Community Change, NY: Praeger.

Value: Social/economic Justice

People have a right to the necessities of life: food, shelter, health care, and protection from violence

Where people live without options, social and economic justice does not exist

The well being of people belongs before profits, e.g., elected governments control corporations

Earth’s resources and the environment should benefit all rather than a few

Access to resources and options based on religion, age, gender, disability, political opinion, and sexual preference is wrong

Perspectives

Strengths

Empowerment

Win/Win

Strengths Perspective: Concepts People/communities are resilient (relatively healthy

despite exposure to a variety of severe risks and stresses) People are doing the best they can It’s as wrong to deny potentials (protective factors) as it is

to deny the problem (risk factors) Every crisis contains an opportunity Better to focus on gains than on problems Assessments, taxonomies, etc., must include capacities and

interventions must build on capacitiesNote: can we learn from the psychic

Strengths Perspective: Principles Focusing on needs disempowers, focusing on

strengths empowers Even the most distressed person/program has

strengths and successes on which to build Find a strength, no matter how small, and begin

building on that strength (horse whisperer) Strengths are found more in histories, stories,

dreams, hopes, and myths than in data/researchSource: Saleebey (see coursepack), McKnight and Kretzman, and others

Empowerment Perspective: concepts

Power = capacity of individuals/groups to act on their own behalf and control their destiny. Implies a transformation of ‘definition of self’ as having power and the capacity to bring about change

Process more than product, e.g., show how to fish than to give them a fish

Expands the personal to the interpersonal & then to the political

Parsons, R.J., Gutierrez, L.M., & Cox, E.O., (1988). A model for empowerment practice. Staples, L. H. (1990) Powerful Ideas about Empowerment, Administration in Social Work, 14(2), 29-41.

Empowerment Perspective: Principles

People must empower themselves, but we can guide them Implies change agent and client are egalitarian partners. Contrast

with authoritarianism or paternalism Recognizes all forms of inequity/oppression and respects diversity Group empowerment is more powerful than individual

empowerment It is hard to remedy collective inequity with individual

empowerment Group empowerment leads to individual empowerment, rarely vice

versa

Win/Win Perspective: Concept

Definition: perspective that assumes resources are not limiting and disagreements can move from lose/lose or win/lose to win/win

Benchmarks Both sides feel like they are a winner Both sides feel negotiations were fair Both will enjoy future work with the other Both feel other side kept commitments

Win/Win Perspective: PrinciplesDifferences between win/win vs. lose/lose views Losers narrow differences to one issue Losers feel they have the weaker position Losers jump to conclusions about other side’s needs Losers lack information about needs of the other side Losers are unwilling to understand/appreciate others

positions Losers never offer the opposition a ‘face saving’ way out

Source: Dawson, R. (1985). How both sides can win, Ch. 12 from You Can Get Anything You Want, NY: Simon & Schuster, pp. 224-233.

EBP Perspective: Concept

First do no harm There is not such thing as common sense

(what’s common to me makes sense) Some social work practices work better than

others and we can determine those Organizational learning strategies help

address the issues of turnover & lack of specific expertise

Measurement and feedback are powerful

EBP Perspective: Process

Asking answerable questions about the decision/situation

Tracking down the best evidence to answer the questions

Appraising the validity, impact, applicability of evidence

Determining if something needs to or can be done Informing those involved, considering their opinions,

values, and expectations Integrating all evidence into an action plan Monitoring and evaluating processes and outcomes

Evidence Based Practice

EBP conceptually Link: http://www2.uta.edu/ssw/trainasfa/

EBP applied to Child Protective Services Link: http://www3.uta.edu/sswtech/test/

Theories

What are theories and why are they important?Systems Theory

Definition Types

Concepts Application

Theories and their importance

A theory is a set of assumptions or principles that have been repeatedly tested to explain or predict facts or phenomena

Theories: Provide a conceptual framework Provide a common vocabulary Guides action Assists comprehension or judgment Challenge practice wisdom

Systems Theory Definition Systems are elements in interaction Systems thinking vs. traditional thinking

Characteristic Traditional thinking Systems thinking Overall view Reductionistic, focus is on the parts Holistic, focus is on the whole Key processes Analysis Synthesis Type of analysis Deduction Induction Focus of investigation Attributes of objects Interdependence of objects State during investigation Static Dynamic Basic assumption Cause and effect Multiple, probabilistic causality Problem resolution A static solution An adaptive system or modeling Operation of parts Optimal Suboptimal

Systems concept: Open vs. Closed An open system interacts with its environment. A closed system receives no inputs from its

environment & entropy or decay sets in. Systems have different levels of being open or

closed. A variety of inputs is required to help a system to

remain open.

Systems Concepts: Hierarchy

Systems are nested in a hierarchy, that is, systems consist of subsystems and systems operate within environments (e.g., Russian Nesting Dolls)

Systems Concepts: Boundaries

Boundaries are the interface between a system and its subsystems or a system and its environment.

Friction occurs at the boundaries of a system, e.g., Where rubber hits the road, when planes take off and land, between an agency and its client.

By examining the boundaries of a system, we can often isolate the friction and its causes.

Systems Concepts: Goal Seeking

Systems tend to be goal seeking, that is, they move

in the direction of goal achievement.

Systems without well defined goals often go in many

different directions.

The primary goal of a system is survival.

All goals will be sacrificed in order for a system to

survive.

Systems Concepts: Inputs-process-output

All non-random functioning systems have:

Inputs processes output

feedback loop with criteria

By identifying and mapping the cycles of inputs, processes and outputs, we can define a system better and learn a lot about how it behaves

Systems Concepts: Cybernetics

For a system to work properly, it must have feedback and control mechanisms

Feedback and control mechanisms

Accept information about system outputs

Evaluate information using goal related criteria

Use evaluative information as additional inputs

Cybernetics is the study of feedback & control

Systems Concepts: Equilibrium

Systems tend toward a state of non-change called homeostasis or equilibrium

Thus, we should assume that no system will change unless it receives new inputs

Systems that are most amenable to change are those that are failing (survival is threatened) and successful and can take risks without threatening survival

Systems Concepts: Elaboration

When systems change, they tend to move in the direction of differentiation and elaboration

Systems like change only if it allows them to become larger entities like themselves

Systems Concepts: Synergy

Systems working well experience synergy where the total system output are greater than the sum of all inputs.

For synergy to occur, subsystems must not optimize, but cooperate for the good of the overall system, e.g., Teamwork.

Synergy is also called nonsummitivity

Systems Theory Application: Discussion

SSW system, subsystems, environment, inputs, processes, outputs, feedback loops & criteria

(coursepack) Analysis Results of the analysis Resulting capacities (strengths) Resulting needs Options for change (intervention) What is the goal of a community??

‘New’ Systems Thinking

It is more important to do the right job than to do the job right

Innovation is more importation than optimization

To discover the unknown, must abandon the successful known

Things more plentiful are more valuable (fax machine)

Wealth follows things that are free (shareware, open systems)

Abandon a product/occupation/industry when it is at its best

Seek sustainable disequilibrium to keep things in “churn”

Seeking opportunities is more important than solving problemsSource: Kevin Kelly, Wired Magazine, Sep 97, p. 140+

Ecological Systems Theory

Applies systems to living systems and focuses on people interacting with their environment

Entities must stay in ecological balance with their environment for functional adaptation; Imbalances result in dysfunctional adaptations

Social sciences should formulate the laws of functional adaptation (person in environment)

Source: Theorist = William Sumner, folkways (See Brueggemann)

Questions and Comments