Final Exam Flashcards
The Mission and Purposes of Social Work
The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human wellbeing and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s focus on individual wellbeing in a social context and the wellbeing of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living. Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients. “These activities may be in the form of direct practice, community organizing, supervision, consultation administration, advocacy, social and political action, policy development and implementation, education, and research and evaluation.
Social Worker Functions
Prevention Services to vulnerable persons before a problem begins Can you give an example? Restoration Restore functioning that has been impaired Can you give an example? Remediation Eliminate or ameliorate social problems ex: – A school Social Worker who has a child referred due to truancy or disruptive behavior visits and finds that the child is living in a situation where there may not be dinner or breakfast or food on the weekend.
Core Social Work Values
These core values, embraced by social workers throughout the profession’s history, are the foundation of social work’s unique purpose and perspective: service social justice dignity and worth of the person importance of human relationships integrity competence.
Purpose of Social Work’s Code of Ethics
Provides accountability of the profession to community, consumer, and practitioners Safeguards the reputation of the profession Furthers competent and responsible practice by members Protects the public from exploitation by practitioners
Systems Theories – Ecosystem Theory
Ecological System Model Broad scope, assesses person in environment Habitat, niche – status or role Target system- focus of change effort Client system- who will benefit from service Action system- resources, who will do what Agency system - Limitations of system theories When you reviewed the various Systems Theories did any particularly speak to you. Ecosystem has Practical implications. Organisms do not live in isolation. A closed system maintains itself on a limited amount of resources that are entrenched in that particular system. Textbook page 19. Open Systems permit more free exchange. Closed Systems have rigid boundaries Open systems are much more common. In an open system, necessary resources are renewed and exchanged on a regular basis. Many ecosystems, for example, rely on the sun to constantly import energy into their basic cycles. Then there’s a limited amount of nutrients to go around – such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous – and they’re constantly cycled around. Some common cycles include the hydrological cycle, rock cycle and the carbon cycle.
Roles of Social Workers
DIRECT SERVICE PROVIDER
- Individual problem solving
- Marital or family therapy
- Group work services
- Educator/ disseminator of information
SYSTEM DEVELOPER
•Program developer
•Planner
•Policy and procedure developer
•Advocate
RESEARCHER/
RESEARCH CONSUMER
SYSTEM LINKAGE ROLES
- Broker
- Case manager/ coordinator
- Mediator/ arbitrator/ advocate
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE ROLES
- Organizational assessor
- Facilitator/ expediter
- Team member
- Consultant/ consultee
The Helping Process
Phase I: Exploration, engagement, assessment, and planning (p. 37-42)
Phase II: Implementation and goal attainment (p. 42-44)
Phase III: Termination (p. 53-55)
(exploring is finding our what brought the person into the agency.
At this point the Social Worker may provide information that will help to put the client at ease or at least give them some idea of what they can expect. It is almost impossible to obtain information without attempting to make the situation more comfortable. Depending on the type of client, voluntary/involuntary the degree of comfort that you are able to provide may vary.
Although these phases are presented in sequence sometimes the sequence may vary. For example as you work with a client depending on the setting, you may have a continuous assessment)
Phase I
Exploration of the problem
Establishing rapport
Multidimensional assessment
Mutually negotiating goals
Making referrals
Phase II
Implementation and goal attainment
Enhancing self-efficacy
Monitoring progress – 3rd Party Payers*
Barriers to goal accomplishment
Relational reactions
Enhancing clients’ self-awareness
Use of self
Phase III
Assessing that goals have been satisfactorily attained
Helping client to develop strategies to maintain change past termination
Successfully terminating the helping relationship
Planning change maintenance strategies
SOAP Notes (Pg. 246)
▫Subjective observations
▫Objective data
▫Assessments
▫Plans
- Remember your purpose and audience
- Be Precise, accurate, and legible.
- Avoid the use of labels, subjective terminology and jargon.
Empathic Communication
Empathic communication
Empathic recognition
Sympathetic vs. Empathic response
Developing perceptiveness to feelings
Affective words and phrases – Page 97- 98
Identifying surface and underlying feelings
.What is the difference between sympathetic and Empathic . P. 94 Sympathetic involves supporting and condoning the other persons feelings. Is this helpful? Will sympathy help the client to move on? P. 96 When social workers assume their clients feelings they lose not only their vital perspective that comes from being an outsider but also the ability to be helpful. Why is this?
Why should a Social Worke never say “I know how you feel”?
Can a social worker be empathic if the client is involuntary or legally mandated?
Look at the list on p. 97 of empathic words and phrases. As you read through them, do they sound like phrases that you would use? Look for words and phrases that seem comfortable for you. Turn to page 100.
Clients may say one thing but their may be a deeper meaning. Exercises on page 100 give us an opportunity to try a few situations,
Empathic communication scale
Level 1: Low level of empathic responding
Level 2: Moderately low level of empathic responding
Level 3: Interchangeable or reciprocal level of empathic responding
Level 4: Moderately high level of empathic responding
Level 5: High level of empathic responding
Exercises in discriminating levels of empathic responding
Client statements
Modeled responses
Many Uses:
Establishing relationships with clients in initial sessions
Staying in touch with clients
Accurately assessing client problems
Responding to clients’ nonverbal messages*
Making confrontations more palatable
Handling obstacles presented by clients
Managing anger and patterns of violence
Utilizing empathic responses to facilitate group discussions
Critical Thinking
Page 193-195
When theories are being used you must be careful. Critical thinking is required. You may oversimplify the problem or miss other important issues.
P. 193 Assessments are informed by problem specific knowledge. Refer to the nature of the problem and use when possible evidence based practice.
Can you think of an example. Suicide
Core Competencies
•Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments
noun disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence: The questions are intended to develop your critical thinking.
Jane Addams and Hull House - Settlement Houses
Hull House(founded 1889) – A Settlement House based on the concept of Toynbee Hall in England.
Hull House is the most famous although the Neighborhood Guild was first(1886) in New York
Established the Chicago Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers (CFSNC)
CFSNC started programs that are still known today. (Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program, Head Start and Day Care)
Micro, Mezzo, and Macro
Micro is probably the most common type of practice
Developing Goals
GAS (Goal attaininment scaling) pg. 592
PG. 335:
Motivational Congruence - Starting where the client is. MEaningful to client and the mandate.
Agreeable Mandate- Search for common ground that bridges the differing views of the involuntary individual and of the court.
Let’s Make a Deal- Private concerns of the involuntary client are combined with the problem that precipitated the mandate or referral.
Getting rid of the Mandate-
Motivational Interviewing
(OARS) Open Ended Questions + Affirmations + Reflective Listening and Summarizing
Stages of Change
Precontemplation
Contemplation
Determination
Action
Maintenance
Guided By:
Collaborative parternship conducinve to change
Evocation- aim to elicit and draw an individual’s intrinsic motivation.
Autonomy of the client.
Empathy, acceptance, understanding that ambivalence or resistance is normal, supporting an individual’s self-efficacy, developing discrepency.
Evaluation and Termination
Termination:Process of formally ending the social worker-client relationship.
