Social Work Macro Practice Flashcards
Campaign (Macro Change)
Strategy used to gain support and acceptance for community or organizational change. Is used when the target system needs to be convinced of the importance of the change or to allocate resources but communication is still possible between the action and target systems. Related tactics include education, persuasion, co-optation, lobbying, and mass media appeal
Centralization
The concentration of the administrative power of a group, organization, or political body
Collaboration (Administration)
In social work administration, an agreement (joint venture) in which two or more agencies agree to work together to set up an operate a new program or service
Community Self-Help
Entails having community members, including volunteers, become involved in decision-making, planning, and working with professionals and agency personnel. Control and responsibility are decentralized from national, state, or local organizations to community groups and individuals
Cost-Sharing
Budgeting system that involves dividing the cost of various resources between different organizations (e.g., two schools might share the cost of one social worker who will spend time in both facilities). Allows organizations to use services that they might not otherwise be able to afford
Dual Perspective
Proposes that the social environment includes two sets of influences: The nurturing environment is composed of individuals with whom a person interacts frequently and sometimes in an intimate way, and the sustaining environment includes individuals a person encounters in the wider community and broader society. Ideally, a person is accepted, respected, and supported in both environments
Gantt Chart
Scheduling technique that graphically represents all of an organization’s or program’s activities, the people responsible for performing the activities, and a time-line for completing each activity. Horizontal bars on a calendar show the time allotted to each activity. The chart does not indicate the relationship among activities and, therefore, is less detailed than a PERT chart.
Horizontal Community
Consists of linkages between and among organizations and neighborhoods that are located within the same geographic region and, usually, serve the community
Individualism (Social Policy)
In regard to social policy, an ideology that attempts to place few restrictions on personal freedom and individual will
Legislative Advocacy
Efforts to influence legislation to benefit a category of clients (e.g., urging state or federal lawmakers to support or oppose certain bills). May involve the use of ‘lobbying tactics’ to influence legislative committee consideration of a bill
Mechanical Analogy
A way of viewing social systems that compares them to machines. All parts of the system work closely together - they are integrated and well coordinated. Practice models that derive from this analogy aim to organize the community or organization to make conditions more pleasant and restore order
Nominal Group Technique
Technique used to help consensus-oriented committees or groups arrive at a decision; encourages active involvement by all group participants
Participatory Administration
An approach to social agency administration that allows democratic involvement in the formulation of agency policies and procedures. When agency staff are part of participatory administration, they tend to perform better, which, in turn, improves the performance of the agency
Program Evaluation
In social work, assessments carried out to obtain information that can be used to improve social programs and social service accountability. Involves using applied social research to discover the extent to which social programs are carried out efficiently and effectively
Quality Circles
Participatory management approach in which a group of workers at an agency or elsewhere voluntarily meets to identify, study, and solve work-related problems. Representatives of the quality circle then present their solutions to management
Social Darwinism
Ideology that assumes that income differences between the wealthy and the poor occur because the wealthy inherently are ‘more fit’
Sunk Costs
Associated with social welfare planning and administration. The amount of effort and time used to develop, maintain, and facilitate current relationships, power structures, and standard ways of operating in an organization
Access Provision
Actions taken by social agencies to ensure that their services (or a program’s services) are available to the target population. Examples include educating the public about the service, establishing convenient referral procedures, and having ombudsperson services to deal with obstacles to getting the service
Case Advocacy (Client Advocacy)
A form of advocacy that involves working with and on behalf of a client to ensure that the client receives the services and benefits to which he is entitled and that the services are delivered in a way that protect his dignity
Centralized Communication Networks
Networks in which all communication must pass through a central person or position within the organization. These networks work best for simple tasks
Collaboration (Macro Change)
Strategy used to gain support and acceptance for community or organizational change. Is used when there is a working relationship in which the action and target systems agree that change must occur, and the target system supports the allocation of resources. Related tactics include implementation and capacity building (e.g., empowerment)
Conflict Induction
Community organizing technique used to compel community members to actively debate issues or value differences and form new coalitions. The social worker brings up issues and differences directly to motivate group members to work on them
Costing
Involves estimating in advance all of the costs associated with a plan or program that seeks to meet a specified goal. Also called ‘costing out’
Empowerment
The process of helping individuals, families, groups, and communities increase their personal, interpersonal, socioeconomic, and political strength and develop influence toward changes their circumstances
Gemeinschaft And Gelellschaft
Gemeinschaft’ refers to community. It focuses on intamacy and relationship and emphasizes the mutual, common, and intimate bonds that bring people together in local units. The group is valued whether or not its members are creating a product or achieving a goal. Examples include the domestic unit, neighborhood, and groups of friends. ‘Gesellschaft’ refers to society or association (e.g., the city or state). It represents formalized, task-oriented relationships in which people organize to achieve a purpose, goal, or task. People may benefit personally from these relationships, but their purpose is to create a product, achieve a goal, or complete a task
Human Relations
Management theory that developed as an alternative to scientific management and places greater emphasis on worker needs, motives, and relationships
Input, Throughput, and Output
Systems (e.g., organizations) are made up collections of parts that receive inputs, operate on these inputs via throughput, and produce outputs. In social agencies, ‘inputs’ include resources, clients, the types and severity of clients’ problems, and the values, expectations, and opinions about the agency held by community members, funding sources, regulatory bodies, and other parts of the environment. ‘Throughputs’ are the services provided by the agency and the way the agency is structured to apply its technology to the inputs it receives. ‘Output’ is the completion of a service to a client - the key aspect of service output is outcome, which is a measure of quality-of-life change for the client
Liberalism
Ideology that embraces the values of egalitarianism and social responsibility as means of achieving social and economic change and the belief that, as societies become more complex and its members less self-sufficient, government should take action to address the problems of individuals who are less able to cope
Mezzo Practice
Level of social work practice that usually takes place with small groups and families. Activities emphasize facilitating communication, mediation, and negotiation, educating, and bringing people together.
Nonprofit Private Agency
A social agency operated to achieve a service provision goal rather than to make a financial profit for its owners
Permanency Planning
Child welfare strategy used to provide alternatives to temporary foster care placement through organized efforts to provide long-term continuity in the care of dependent children
Program Evaluation Criteria
(a) Effort: Evaluates the resources needed to reach program objectives. (b) Impact: Examines the program’s effect on broad social change. (c) Effectiveness: Determines how well the objectives of the program were met in terms of client change. (d) Efficiency: Assesses the economics of program operation in relation to its accomplishments (the ideal is maximum performance using minimal resources). (e) Quality: Examines professional competence and standards of service
Risk Technique
Technique used to facilitate committee or group members in expressing their concerns about an issue or proposed action
Social Networks
Networks that include individuals or groups linked by a common bond, shared social status, similar or shared functions, or geographic or cultural connection. They develop and discontinue on an ad hoc basis, depending on specific need and interest. Types of social networks include support systems, natural social networks, self-help groups, and groups of formal organizations
Task Groups (Task Forces)
Temporary groupings created to achieve a specific, predefined goal or function. At an agency, for example, task group meetings of various forms provide a forum for staff to exchange information and give and receive feedback and support, for tasks to be distributed, and for planning, decision-making, and problem-solving
Basic Needs
Items considered by social planners to be necessary for maintaining personal well-being. Include adequate food, shelter, clothing, heating fuel, clean water, and security from bodily harm
Case Management
A procedure used to identify, plan, access, coordinate, and monitor services from different social agencies and staff on behalf of a client. Clients needing case management services usually have multiple problems that require assistance from multiple providers, several problems that need to be addressed at the same time, and special difficulties in seeking and using help effectively
Chaos Theory
A theory concerned with the way systems change over time. It focuses on feedback systems that, despite their underlying simplicity, demonstrate complicated and unpredictable behavior. Underlying this unpredictability is a ‘sensitive dependence on initial conditions’ (butterfly effect), which refers to the fact that future events in complex systems can be affected in profound ways by minor variations that take place early in an interaction - in other words, a seemingly minor initial event can produce profound effects later on
Community Decision Network
All of the important individuals and organizations in a community who have formal or informal power to decide on the actions taken by the community. Its membership may include political leaders, industrial leaders, religious groups, and civic associations
Contingency Theory
Management theory suggesting that different organizational approaches can be appropriate depending on the circumstances faced by an organization. The key issue is not how closely an organization follows a certain model but rather how well it structures itself to accommodate to its unique environment (i.e., an organization’s structure and leadership are “contingent” on a variety of factors that are specific to that organization)
Decentralized Communication Networks
Networks in which information flows freely between people in an organization without going through a central person. These networks work well for complex tasks
Force Field Analysis (FFA)
Technique used to identify and assess significant factors that promote or inhibit change in a community or organization. Involves analyzing social forces supporting an intended program or policy change (driving forces) and those opposing it (restraining forces): This includes rating each force’s strength (power, consistency, openness to outside influence) and identifying and rating entities who might successfully oppose a driving or restraining force and, thereby, change its strength. These assessments are used to guide intervention planning
Grass-Roots Organizing
Community social work method directed toward helping community members develop shared goals, strengthen their relationships, and organize in a way that will help them achieve their goals. The emphasis is on organizing all people who will be affected by a change rather than just the community’s leaders. It differs from a more bureaucratic means to social change, or one involving decisions that come from power centers in the community
In-Service Training
Planned, formal training provided to a group of agency personnel with the same job classification or the same job responsibilities and designed to meet their general educational needs. The generic content is useful for all the members of the group but is specifically relevant to none of them
Integrated Communities
A ‘well-integrated’ community is associated with a low rate of mental disorders. Indicators of high integration include strong community associations and groups, able and adequate leadership, diverse recreational and leisure opportunities, cohesive informal social networks, high income level and stable incomes, acknowledgment and resolution of differences between cultures, and an emphasis on religious and spiritual values
Macro Orientation
Orientation to social work that emphasizes the sociopolitical, economic, historical, and environmental factors that affect the human condition. These factors either cause problems for people or afford them opportunities for growth, satisfaction, and justice
Models of Decision-Making (Simon)
(a) The ‘rational-economic model’ proposes that decision-makers attempt to maximize benefits by systematically searching for the best solution. (b) The ‘bounded rationality (administrative) model’ proposes that rational decision-making is limited by internal and external constraints so that decision-makers often ‘satisfice’ rather than optimize (i.e., consider solutions until a fairly good one is encountered and them stop searching due to limited time and resources)
Outcome Model
Approach to social program evaluation that emphasizes the evaluation of expected results. If productivity is being evaluated, a ‘quantitative outcome model’ is used to measure, in numbers, program factors such as activity, revenue, and so forth. If clients’ perceptions of a program are being evaluated, a ‘qualitative outcome model’ is used
Prevention (Community Mental Health)
An approach to the alleviation of mental disorders that is associated with both community mental health and public health. Preventions are classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary: Primary preventions make an intervention available to all members of a target group or population in order to keep them from developing a disorder. Secondary preventions identify at-risk individuals and offer them appropriate treatment. Tertiary preventions are designed to reduce the duration and consequences of an illness that has already occurred
Proprietary Practice
The delivery of social services for profit, typically by self-employed professionals in nonclinical settings. The term ‘private practice’ has a similar meaning, but usually refers to clinical practice. Social workers in private practice assume responsibility the services they provide to clients in exchange for direct payment or third-party reimbursement
Social Action
An organized effort to bring about institutional change; the goal is usually to meet a certain need, address a social problem, correct an injustice, or improve quality of life. An effort may be organized by professionals or by the people who are directly affected by the desired change or the problem.
Social Policy
Laws and regulations established by a government that determine which social programs exist, what categories of clients are served, and who qualifies for a program. Social policy also sets standards regarding the type of services to be provided, the qualifications or service providers, etc., and rules for how money can be spent to help people and how these people will be treated
Time-Series Comparison
Technique for collecting and displaying data that provides data from repeated observations over time. It displays trends in the variable(s) of interest, which can help predict future needs and cost based on assumptions about these trends
Board Of Directors
A group of people authorized to establish an agency personnel who have day-today responsibility for implementing those policies. In a private or voluntary social agency, the board of directors has ultimate responsibility for the agency’s programmatic and financial operations. In public agencies, a board has less power and takes on more of an advisory or administrative role
Catastrophic Analogy
A way of viewing social systems. Proposes that they change so much and so often that they appear chaotic - there is extreme conflict in the system and a lack of order and predictability, and it can be difficult to determine the system’s future direction
Child Protective Services (CPS)
Social, residential, medical, legal, and custodial care services given to children whose parent or other caregiver is not meeting their needs. Social workers who work in government agencies often help law enforcement personnel with investigations to find out if children need these services and help children get the services when they need them. The social workers may also provide the services themselves. In most states, the child protective service (CPS) unit of the Department of Social Services, Department of Human Resources, or Department of Public Welfare is the primary agency responsible for decisions related to the prevention, investigation, and treatment of child abuse and neglect. The foremost goal of services provided by CPS units is the protection of abused and neglected children
Community Development
Community organizing effort made by professionals and community members to improve social ties among residents of a community, motivate residents for self-help, develop reliable local leadership, and create or restore local institutions. Relies on a grass-roots, non bureaucratic approach that emphasizes community solidarity. Efforts are purposeful and involve a clear strategy and set of activities. Associated interventions include social action, public education, national and local planning, and community organizing
