Key Social Work Terms Flashcards
Aberrant
Markedly different from an accepted norm; deviant, atypical or nonconforming.
Abstinence
Practice of not doing something.
(i.e: Aversion Therapy)
Acculturation
Process of individuals or groups acquiring or adopting the cultural traits, practices, and values of another culture while maintaining their own cultural identity
(does not restrict need to change to those in minority.)
Act of Commission
Engaging in an act of malfeasance when knowing the action or omission is illegal.
Act of Omission
Failure to perform a legal duty; social work task that is not done despite the need to do so according to established standard of care.
Acting Out
Emotional conflict is dealt with through actions rather than feelings
(i.e., instead of talking about feeling neglected, a person will get into trouble to get attention).
Active Listening
Technique that involves listening closely and asking questions as needed to fully understand latent and manifest communication, as well as feeling associated with content of message; critical to client-centered therapy.
Acuity
Sharpness or ability, particularly of the mind, vision, or hearing.
Acute
Short or episodic
-Often characterized by high intensity and unanticipated (sudden onset)
Ad Hoc
Created or done for a particular needed purpose
(Occurs temporarily to fulfill a given need)
Advanced Directive
Written statement of wishes regarding medical treatment to ensure those wishes are honored in the event that they cannot be communicated to doctors
(i.e: types of advance directives, include, but are not limited to, living wills, medical powers of attorney and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders)
Age of Consent
Legal age at which a minor can legally engage in a behavior without parental consent
(varies by jurisdiction and type of activity)
Ageism
Stereotyping based on age (form of discrimination)
Amelioration
Aimed at improving or making better
- Lessoning of symptoms or severity of disease, illness, or disorder
-Eradicating a social problem.
Antecedents
Things or events that existed before or logically precede others
(Often identified as causes of maladaptive behaviors).
Assent
Agreement or approval by someone not able to give legal consent due to age or cognitive ability.
Assimilation
Process of individuals or groups adopting the dominant cultural norms, practices, and values, often leading to the loss or suppression of their own cultural identity.
Atrophy
Decreasing in size and function; shrinkage of muscle or nerve tissue
(Can be caused by aging, inactivity, malnutrition, and other injuries, illnesses, and conditions)
Aversion Therapy
Any treatment aimed at reducing the attractiveness of a stimulus or a behavior by repeated pairing of it with an aversive stimulus.
(An example of this is treating alcoholism with Antabuse.)
Bartering
Acceptance of services, goods or other non-monetary payments from clients in return for services.
(creates the potential for conflicts of interest, exploitation, and inappropriate boundaries in social workers’ relationships with clients; only permissible in very limited cultural contexts)
Baseline
Functioning before the intervention occurs.
Begnin
Not damaging or threatening to life
- Often used to describe growths that are not cancerous.
Beneficence
To act for the benefit of others; moral obligation of helping professionals to do no harm and act in the best interest of others.
Biofeedback
Behavior training program that teaches a person how to control certain functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and muscular tension.
Boundary Violation
Harmful or potentially harmful deviation from established professional standards dictated by professional relationships.
Capacity Building
Intervention aimed at enhancing the abilities or resources of an individual, group, organization, or community.
Capitation
Payment structure used with insurance companies
- Provider or facility is paid a fixed amount for each person
-Risk is taken by entity to deliver services under cost of contract;
-Incentive to provider or facility to promote wellness.
Catchment Area
Geographic area which defines who are eligible for a service or benefit if they meet additional admission requirements (if any established).
Centralization
Consolidation of power or functions within an organization; associated with bureaucracy and “top down” approach to operations.
Chronic
Long standing; persisting for a long time or reoccurring; continual.
Circulatory System
The body’s transport system.
It is made up of a group of organs that transport blood throughout the body.
Civil Disobedience
Nonviolent opposition or protest aimed at making government change; can include refusing to obey certain laws.
Client Self-Monitoring
Form of data-gathering in which clients are asked to systematically observe and record specific targets such as their own thoughts, emotions, body feelings, and behaviors.
Close-Ended Questions
Soliciting information which requires choice from a limited number of options (such as yes/no).
- Used to structure assessment; beneficial when time is limited or specific information required.
Closed System
Uses up its energy and dies.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Therapeutic approach that focuses on identifying and changing negative thoughts and behaviors to improve mental health.
Cognitive Dissonance
Holding two beliefs, values, or attitudes that contradict each other.
Cognitive Distortions
Unhealthy thoughts (Inaccurate, irrational views of reality which may serve to assist with coping from adverse events)
Collateral Information
Records or documents associated with the client that are used in the problem-solving process
(may be used to corroborate information provided by the client.)
Collective Bargaining
The process by which unionized employees and their employers negotiate about working conditions, salaries, benefits, and so forth.
Community Development
Focus on enhancing social bonds between and increasing leadership skills of residents, as well as revitalizing local geographic areas.
Comorbid
Existing with or at the same time
(I.e: For instance, having two different illnesses at the same time)
Compassion Fatigue
Stress resulting from working with those who have experienced trauma.
Symptoms include:
apathy, feeling overwhelmed, exhaustion, pessimism, and feeling powerlessness
sometimes referred to as the “cost of caring.”
Compensation
Enables one to make up for real or fancied deficiencies
(i.e., a person who stutters becomes a very expressive writer; a short man assumes a cocky, overbearing manner).
Conflict Resolution
Informal or formal process that two or more parties use to find an acceptable solution to a dispute or disagreement.
Confrontation
Therapeutic technique of calling attention to distorted thinking, behavioral patterns, or ineffective communication so that it can be addressed.
Congruent Comunication
Verbal and nonverbal language and actions provide consistent messages (important for intimacy and emotional connection.)
Conjoint Therapy
Partners in a relationship or members of a family are treated together in joint sessions, instead of being treated separately; also called “conjoint counseling.”
Consent
Legal permission for something to happen or agreement to do something
(Cannot be obtained from those not legally authorized to make decisions).
Consultation
Usually time-limited work or guidance provided due to specialized expertise; advice does not have to be followed (non-binding)
Continuity of Care
Ensuring that there are no gaps or duplication in service.
(Often a focus when moving from one provider to another, or being discharged from a hospital or other inpatient setting).
Continuum of Care
Range of services geared to address varying levels of need from most to least severe
(Needed to appropriately address problems as they get better and/or worse).
Contradicted
Not recommended or safe to use (a medication or treatment that is _____ would not be prescribed because it could have serious consequences).
Control Group
Group that receives no intervention or treatment.
Convalescence
Time spent recovering from an illness, injury, or other medical condition; often referred to a “recuperation.”
Conversion
Repressed urge is expressed as a disturbance of body function, usually of the sensory, voluntary nervous system (as pain, deafness, blindness, paralysis, convulsions, tics).
Cooptation
Strategy for reducing resistance by including opponents in decision making.
(aims to change viewpoints of those who are oppositional)
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Examining the costs associated with service delivery in light of the financial benefits from program outcomes.
Counter Transference
Emotional reaction of helper which can be used to identify the reaction of others to the one being assisted
(Based on the helper’s own psychological needs which are revealed through conscious responses).
Court-Ordered Treatment
Assessment, intervention, or service that is mandated by a judge. (Assisted Outpatient Treatment)
Custodial Care
Assisting others to meet their basic needs and with activities of daily living.
D.A.P Note
- Data
- Assessment
- Plan
Popular standardized format to write psychotherapy or progress notes.
Decentralization
Location of power and decision-making authority with those who are directly working on the frontlines instead of those in upper management positions.
Decompensation
Deterioration of existing defenses.
Deductive Reasoning
“Top down” approach to understanding whether or not an assumption is true.
making an assumption based on widely accepted facts or premises; drawing a conclusion based on reasoning.
Delirium
Disordered thought that can include changes in cognition (disorientation, memory impairment, or language disturbance), hallucinations, restlessness, and misinterpretation of sounds or sights
-Acute state which develops quickly (can fluctuate over a short period; multiple etiologies; usually temporary and treatable.)
Delusion
False, fixed belief despite evidence to the contrary (believing something that is not true).
Dementia
General term for loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to interfere with daily life
(Primarily impacts those over the age of 65; likelihood of developing dementia significantly increases with age.)
Denial
Inability to acknowledge true significance of thoughts, feelings, wishes, behavior, or external reality factors that are consciously intolerable.
Descriptive Statistics
Summary data that provides information about a larger sample or population; mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and so forth.
Desensitization
Gradual reduction in adverse reaction to stimuli due to exposure or as a result of behavioral techniques aimed at reducing anxiety or fear.
Devaluation
A defense mechanism in which a person attributes exaggerated negative qualities to self or another.
It is the split of primitive idealization.
Developmental Disability
Condition occurring before adulthood that results in life-long functional impairment
-May be due to genetic or other disorder present at birth or an accident during childhood that causes significant difficulties with cognition, mobility, and/or other functional domains.
Differential Diagnosis
Process of distinguishing between mental, physical, or other problems that result in similar symptoms or might be causes for behavior.
Differentiation
Becoming specialized in structure and function.
Digestive System
Made up of organs that break down food into protein, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and fats, which the body needs for energy, growth, and repair.
Discharge Plan
Structured plan to ensure follow up, safety, and continuity of care after termination
(Often used when leaving inpatient and/or medical facilities; focused on sustaining any progress made and “next steps.”)
Disorientation
Confusion with regard to person, time, or place.
Displacement
Directing an impulse, wish, or feeling toward a person or situation that is not its real object, thus permitting expression in a less threatening situation
(e.g., a man angry at his boss kicks his dog).
Dissociation
Disturbance or change in the usually integrative functions of memory, identity, perception, or consciousness (often seen in clients with a history of trauma).
Dissociation
A process that enables a person to split mental functions in a manner that allows the expression of forbidden or unconscious impulses without taking responsibility for the action, either because the person is unable to remember the disowned behavior, or because it is not experienced
(i.e., pathologically expressed as fugue states, amnesia, or dissociative neurosis, or normally expressed as daydreaming).
Double Bind
Contradictory messages or requests in which affirmatively responding to one negates the other; situation in which any choice results in unpleasant outcome.
Dual Relationship
Having another association with a client, such as friend, family member, intimate partner, coworker, etc. (should be avoided due to boundary violations).
Duty to Warn
Obligation of mental health professionals to inform others of dangerous client behavior; exception to confidentiality to prevent injury to others.
Dysphoria
General sense of dissatisfaction.
Ecological Perspective
Focuses on the interrelationship between individuals and their environment
(emphasis on the interactions between people and the larger contexts in which they exist)
Ego Dystonic
Thoughts, impulses, or wishes that are repugnant or unacceptable to one’s sense of self; sometimes referred to as “ego alien.”
Eitiology
Cause of a behavior, disorder, or disease; root of the problem.
Encopresis
Passage of feces which is involuntary
(may be due to emotional or psychological problems; often treated with behavioral intervention; medical causes should be ruled out.)
Endocrine System
Made up of a group of glands that produce the body’s long-distance messengers, or hormones.
Endogenous Depression
Depression caused by a biochemical imbalance rather than a psychosocial stressor or external factors.
Enmeshed Family
Members have little to no autonomy or personal boundaries.
Entitlement
Feeling that special consideration is deserved
- Right or benefit of a person or group
- Benefit program for which one has the legal right to receive.
Entropy
Closed, disorganized, stagnant; using up available energy.
Enuresis
Urination that is involuntary.
(may be caused by medical problem, which should first be ruled out, or psychological distress.)
Equifinality
Arriving at the same end from different beginnings.
Equilibrium
State of balance or stability.
Equity
Approach to resource allocation in which individuals receive their fair share of the goods and services in society
**distinct from equality which provides each resources to all as equity sometimes required treating people differently from others to compensate to lack of opportunities.
Ethical Dilemma
Situation in which two ethical values or standards conflict with one another.
Ethnocentrism
An orientation that holds one’s own culture, ethnic, or racial group as superior to others.
Exogenous Depression
Depression caused by external events or psychosocial stressors.
Exploitation
Taking unfair advantage of people, situations, etc. for personal benefit.
External Locus of Control
Belief that outcomes are not under one’s control, but rather due to environmental factors, luck, chance, or randomness.
External Validity
Extent to which results are generalizable.
Extinction
Withholding a reinforcer that normally follows a behavior.
Behavior that fails to produce reinforcement will eventually cease.
Extrinsic Rewards
Positive consequence for behavior or action that is not natural.
Face Validity
Accepting the accuracy of a report, instrument, or document based on whether it appears to represent a construct or constructs.
False Negative
Inaccurate test results indicating negative findings (or absence of a condition) when they are really positive (or condition is present).
False Positive
Inaccurate test results indicating positive findings (or presence of a condition) when they are really negative (or condition is not present).
Feasibility Study
Assessment to determine whether goals, objectives, or plans are achievable given available resources
Fee Splitting
Receiving compensation for referrals made to other professionals (unethical in social work practice)
Fee-For-Service
Payment method for services, in which providers set their own fees, that are paid in part or full by recipients and/or insurance companies.
Flooding
A treatment procedure in which a client’s anxiety is extinguished by prolonged real or imagined exposure to high intensity feared stimuli.
Folie à Deux
Shared delusion.
Formative Evaluation
Gathering and analyzing feedback during the development or implementation of a program, project, or product .
(often used to help improve processes)
Free Association
Encourages client to verbalize whatever thoughts come to mind, no matter how embarrassing, illogical, or irrelevant; allows unconscious ideas and feelings to be revealed so they can be interpreted.
Gatekeeping
People, processes, or structures that limit or obstruct access.
(may be tied to perpetuating systems or rationing resources.)
Generativity
Orientation towards making the world a better place for others (benevolence).
Genogram
Diagram illustrating a client’s family members, how they are related, and their medical history.
(Used to see hereditary patterns of behavior and medical and psychological factors that are shared or influential)
Gentrification
Making physical improvements to housing within a neighborhood that result in attracting wealthier individuals to the area
(Displaces long-term residents who cannot afford to live in the gentrified area due to increased property values)
Globalization
Growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information.
Grandiosity
Exaggerated sense of self, importance, or ability
(may be regarded as a delusion of grandeur when extreme).
Group Think
When a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical evaluation of the consequences or alternatives.
Hallucinations
Hearing, seeing, smelling, or feeling something that is not real (auditory most common).
