Human behavior and the social environment, seventh edition dale, orren SRG

Human behavior and the social environment, seventh edition dale, orren SRG Human behavior and the social environment, seventh edition dale, orren SRG Human behavior and the social environment, seventh edition dale, orren SRG Human behavior and the social environment, seventh edition dale, orren SRG Human behavior and the social environment, seventh edition dale, orren SRG Human behavior and the social environment, seventh edition dale, orren SRG

Trang 2

Competency Chapter

Professional Identity

Practice Behavior Examples…

Serve as representatives of the profession, its mission, and its core values

Know the profession’s history

Commit themselves to the profession’s enhancement and to their own professional conduct

and growth

Advocate for client access to the services of social work

Practice personal reflection and self-correction to assure continual professional development

Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior, appearance, and communication 11

Engage in career-long learning

Use supervision and consultation

Ethical Practice

Obligation to conduct themselves ethically and engage in ethical decision-making

Know about the value base of the profession, its ethical standards, and relevant law

Recognize and manage personal values in a way that allows professional values to guide

practice

3, 13

Make ethical decisions by applying standards of the National Association of Social Workers

Code of Ethics and, as applicable, of the International Federation of Social Workers/

International Association of Schools of Social Work Ethics in Social Work, Statement of

Principles

Apply strategies of ethical reasoning to arrive at principled decisions 2, 11, 14

Critical Thinking

Know about the principles of logic, scientific inquiry, and reasoned discernment 4, 13

Use critical thinking augmented by creativity and curiosity 8

Requires the synthesis and communication of relevant information 12

Distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple sources of knowledge, including

research-based knowledge, and practice wisdom

1, 10Analyze models of assessment, prevention, intervention, and evaluation 14

Demonstrate effective oral and written communication in working with individuals, families,

groups, organizations, communities, and colleagues

Trang 3

Diversity in Practice

Understand how diversity characterizes and shapes the human experience and is

critical to the formation of identity

4, 13

Understand the dimensions of diversity as the intersectionality of multiple factors

including age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and

expression, immigration status, political ideology, race, religion, sex, and sexual

orientation

Appreciate that, as a consequence of difference, a person’s life experiences may

include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege,

power, and acclaim

Recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values may oppress,

marginalize, alienate, or create or enhance privilege, and power

15

Gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate the influence of personal biases and values

in working with diverse groups

Recognize and communicate their understanding of the importance of difference in

shaping life experiences

3, 9, 10View themselves as learners and engage those with whom they work as informants 6

Human Rights & Justice

Understand that each person, regardless of position in society, has basic human rights,

such as freedom, safety, privacy, an adequate standard of living, health care, and

education

5

Recognize the global interconnections of oppression and are knowledgeable about

theories of justice and strategies to promote human and civil rights

Incorporates social justice practices in organizations, institutions, and society to ensure

that these basic human rights are distributed equitably and without prejudice

8Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination

Advocate for human rights and social and economic justice 15

Engage in practices that advance social and economic justice 4

Research Based Practice

Use practice experience to inform research, employ evidence-based interventions,

evaluate their own practice, and use research findings to improve practice, policy, and

social service delivery

Comprehend quantitative and qualitative research and understand scientific and ethical

approaches to building knowledge

7Use practice experience to inform scientific inquiry

Trang 4

Human Behavior

Know about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in

which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining

or achieving health and well-being

4, 5, 8

Apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social,

cultural, psychological, and spiritual development

6, 11, 12

Utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the processes of assessment, intervention, and

evaluation

1, 3, 7Critique and apply knowledge to understand person and environment 2, 9, 10, 13, 15

Policy Practice

Understand that policy affects service delivery and they actively engage in policy

practice

11

Know the history and current structures of social policies and services; the role of

policy in service delivery; and the role of practice in policy development

7, 15Analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance social well-being 2, 13

Collaborate with colleagues and clients for effective policy action

Practice Contexts

Keep informed, resourceful, and proactive in responding to evolving organizational,

community, and societal contexts at all levels of practice

3

Recognize that the context of practice is dynamic, and use knowledge and skill to

respond proactively

9, 10

Continuously discover, appraise, and attend to changing locales, populations, scientific

and technological developments, and emerging societal trends to provide relevant

services

6, 12

Provide leadership in promoting sustainable changes in service delivery and practice to

improve the quality of social services

7

Trang 5

Engage, Assess, Intervene, Evaluate

Identify, analyze, and implement evidence-based interventions designed to achieve

client goals

Use research and technological advances

Evaluate program outcomes and practice effectiveness

Develop, analyze, advocate, and provide leadership for policies and services

Promote social and economic justice

A) ENGAGEMENT

A substantively and effectively prepare for action with individuals, families, groups,

organizations, and communities

5Use empathy and other interpersonal skills

Develop a mutually agreed-on focus of work and desired outcomes

B) ASSESSMENT

Collect, organize, and interpret client data

Develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives

C) INTERVENTION

Implement prevention interventions that enhance client capacities

Help clients resolve problems

Negotiate, mediate, and advocate for clients

Facilitate transitions and endings

D) EVALUATION

Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate interventions

Trang 6

My Search Lab Connections in This Text

In addition to the outstanding research and writing tools and a complete eText in MySearchLab,

this site contains a wealth of resources for social work students

Below is a listing of the videos and readings found in MySearchLab, keyed to each chapter in this text.

In addition, a wealth of assessment questions (including those based on CSWE’s core competencies)

and useful online resources can be found under the appropriate chapters in MySearchLab.

V I D E O S

* Applying Critical Thinking (1)

Entry to the Social Work Profession (2)

* The Ecological Model Using the Freire Method (2)

* Developing an Action Plan that Changes the Internal and External (3)

* Professional Demeanor (4)

* Professional Roles and Boundaries (4)

Battle Between Faith and Science (5)

In Crowd and Social Cruelty (10)

* Providing Leadership to Promote Change to Improve Quality of Social Services (11)

* Tolerating Ambiguity in Resolving Conflicts (11)

* Ethical Practice-Managing Personal Values: The Code of Ethics (12)

* Building Alliances (12)

* Engage, Assess, Intervene, Evaluate Community Organization (12)

* Recognizing Personal Values (13)

* Engaging Clients to Share Their Experience of Alienation, Marginalization and/or Oppression (13)

MS13: Gang Life (14)

* Keeping up with Shifting Contexts (15)

* = CSWE Core Competency Asset

Δ = Case Study

Trang 7

My Search Lab Connections in this Text

R E A D I N G S

* Human Behavior (1)

Δ Ethical Dilemmas (2)

Δ Mothers versus the Board of Education (3)

Δ Community to Community: A Unique Response to Long Term Disaster Relief (3)

* Professional Identity (4)

Δ Volunteer Experiences with Neighbor Helping Neighbor Program (4)

Self-Psychology (5)

Object Relations Theory (5)

Δ Attachment & Grief in a Stepfamily with Children Adopted Internationally (5)

Δ A Narrative in New Masculinity (6)

Δ Elderly People (6)

Δ Impact of Childhood Trauma on Development, The (6)

Δ Dylan James: A Case in School Social Work (7)

Cognitive Theory (8)

Δ The Leon Family (9)

Δ Multigenerational Abuse: The Santiago Story (9)

Δ Family Feud (9)

Δ Group Work Ethics (10)

Δ Caregiver Support Group, A (10)

Δ Adventures in Budgets and Finances (11)

Δ Supervisory Dilemmas for a Newly Promoted Community Health Care Clinic Manager (11)

Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail (15)

Lyndon B Johnson, War on Poverty (15)

The Gay Liberation Front, Come Out (15)

Jane Addams, Twenty Years at Hull House (15)

Δ Veterans of the Vietnam War (15)

* = CSWE Core Competency AssetΔ

Δ = Case Study

Trang 8

human Behavior

and the Social

environment

Social Systems Theory

Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River

Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto

Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo

Trang 9

Executive Editor: Ashley Dodge

Editorial Product Manager:

Carly Czech

Editorial Assistant: Nicole Suddeth

Vice President/Director of Marketing:

Brandy Dawson

Executive Marketing Manager:

Wendy Albert

Marketing Assistant: Frank Alarcon

Production Manager: Fran Russello Editorial Production Service:

Sudip Sinha/PreMediaGlobal

Cover Administrator: Jayne Conte Cover Designer: Karen Noferi Cover Image Credit: Bruce Rolff/

Shutterstock

Interior Design: Joyce Weston Design

Credits appear on Page 422, which constitutes an extension of the copyright

page.

is protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the

publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system,

or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording, or likewise To obtain permission(s) to use material

from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc.,

Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

07458 or you may fax your request to 201-236-3290.

Many of the designations by manufacturers and seller to distinguish their

products are claimed as trademarks Where those designations appear in this

book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have

been printed in initial caps or all caps.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dale, Orren.

Human behavior and the social environment: social systems theory /

Orren Dale, Rebecca Smith — 7th ed.

p cm.

Previous ed cataloged under title.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-205-03648-6

ISBN-10: 0-205-03648-1

1 Social service 2 Social systems 3 Social systems—Mathematical

models 4 Human behavior I Smith, Rebecca, 1949- II Human behavior

and the social environment III Title.

Instructor Edition

ISBN 10: 0-205-03650-3 ISBN 13: 978-0-205-03650-9

à la Carte Edition

ISBN 10: 0-205-03704-6 ISBN 13: 978-0-205-03704-9

Trang 10

Theories as Maps: Grand, Middle Range, and Focal Theories 10Summary 12

PRACtiCe teSt 13MYSeARChLAB ConneCtionS 14

2. The Foundations for Social Systems Theory 15

The Nature of Theory 16Social Systems Perspective 18General Systems Theory 19Ecological Theory 24Generalist Social Work Practice and Person in the Environment 25Functional Theory 27

Symbolic Interactionism and Role Theory 30Summary 35

3. Social Systems and Social Work 39

Social Systems in Generalist Practice 40Development of Social Systems 41Social Systems Cycle 42

Social Systems Features 46

Trang 11

Definitions of Social System Elements 47

Boundary 47 Suprasystem 50 Interface 51 Input 52 Proposed Output 54 Conversion Operations 55 Output 56

Feedback 58

Summary 60PRACtiCe teSt 62MYSeARChLAB ConneCtionS 63

5. Psychodynamic Theories 92

Individual Theory: The First Wave 93Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Theory 94

Focus 95 Assumptions 95 Concepts 96

Theoretical Base of Analytical Psychology 104Theoretical Base of Individual Psychology 106Childhood Attachment Theory 108

Object Relations Theory 110Neurosis and Striving 111The Sane Society 113

Authoritarianism 114 Destructiveness 114 Automaton Conformity 114

Psychodynamic Theory in Systems Perspective 117

Trang 12

6. Psychosocial Theory: A Social Systems Perspective 122

Psychosocial Theory 123

Focus 123 Assumptions 124 Concepts 124

The Biological Connection 128

Causation 128 Genetics 128 Evolution 129

Trang 13

7. Behavioral Learning Theories 152

Behavioral Learning Theory 153

Focus 155 Assumptions 155

Concepts 156

Reinforcement 156 Punishment 158 Time Out 160 Contingency Management 160 Generalization 161

Stimulus Binding 161 Discrimination 162 Shaping 162 Cueing 162 Reinforcement Schedules 162 Extinction 166

Social Learning Theory 167Cognitive Behavioral Theory 169

Rational Emotive Behavior Theory 169 Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Mood Disorders 172 Positive Psychology 173

8. Cognitive and Humanistic Theories 178

Third Wave: Cognitive and Humanistic Theories 179Cognitive Development Theory 179

Focus 180 Assumptions 180 Concepts 181 Piaget’s Four Stages 182 Summary 186

Moral Development Theory 187

Focus 188 Assumptions 188 Concepts 189 Gender-Related Differences 191

Humanistic Theory 194

Assumptions 195 Concepts 196

Person-Centered Theory 199

Trang 14

9. Family Theories 207

Families as Emergent Structures 208Structural Family Theory 210

Family Subsystems 214 Family System Boundaries 220

Family Systems Theory 224

Differentiation 224 Triangles 225 Nuclear Family Emotional Process 226 Family Projection Process 226

Multigenerational Transmission Process 227 Social Environment 227

Emotional Cutoff 228 Societal Emotional Process 229

Communications/Interactive Theory 230

Metacommunications 231 Double Bind Communication 232 Family Homeostasis 233

10. Group Theories 238

Social Groups 239Collections, Categories, and the Social Group 240

Collections of People 241 Categories of People 241

Primary and Secondary Groups 242Natural and Rational Will 245Formed versus Natural Groups 245Task versus Treatment Groups 246Field Theory 248

Assumptions 248

Exchange Theory 250Psychoanalytic Tavistock Groups 252Behavioral Group Theory 253

Trang 15

Role Theory in Groups 253Dimensions of Group Process 254

Interaction Process Analysis 254 Needs-Based Motivational Model 254 Interpersonal Underworld 255 Individual Personality Temperament and Group Process 255

In-Groups and Out-Groups: Boundaries and Identity 257Stages of Group Development 260

Group Therapeutic Factors 261Group Leadership 262

Summary 264PRACTICE TEST 266MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 267

The Weberian Bureaucracy—the Rationalist Position 275

A Hierarchical Authority Structure 275 Division of Labor 276

Standardization of Role Performance 277 Depersonalization of Position 278

Decision making Guided by Rules Based in Law and/or Administrative Policy 279

Scientific Management and the Classical Tradition 280 Rationalist Position and Social Systems Theory 281

The Human Relations Position 282

Human Relations Position and Social Systems Theory 285

The Dialectic 286Social Systems Theory: Emergence 287Social Systems Theory: Definitions for Organizations 289Social Systems Theory: Developmental Stages of Formal Organizations 291

Social Systems Theory: Total Quality Management 293Theories X, Y, and Z 294

Trang 16

The Community Power Position 306

Assumptions 307

Community Power: The Elitist Position 308

Assumptions 308 Concepts 308 The Regional City Study 309

Community Power: The Pluralist Position 312

Assumptions 312 Concepts 314

The Conflict Position 315The Community System Cycle 319Communities of Interest 322

Toward a Definition 323

Stagnation and Emergence in Communities: Two Illustrations 325

Rural Communities as Stagnant Systems 326 AIDS: A Community of Interest 329

13. Theories Applied to Addiction 336

Defining Addiction 337Measuring Addiction 338Toward a Theory of Addiction 338The Natural Mind 339

The Psychiatric Model 341Existing Theories: A Sampler 344

Choice Theories 344 Compulsion and Self-Control Theories 345 Drug Transitions: Gateway Theories 346 Recovery Oriented Theories 346

The Transtheoretical Model: Stages of Change 348 Conditioning Theories 349

Exposure Theory 350 Differential Association 351

Trang 17

Assessing Addiction Theory and Treatment 354

What Activities Are Addictive? 354 Who Becomes Addicted? 355 What Environmental Conditions Promote Addiction? 355 How Does Addiction Develop? 355

What Other Symptoms Accompany Addiction? 355

Is There a Uniform Experience of Addiction? 355

Do Different Addictions Overlap? 355 What Triggers the Decision to Try to Stop an Addiction? 356 What Are the Steps from Being Addicted to a State of Active Recovery? 356 What Makes for Successful Recovery? 356

What Addiction Treatments Are Effective? 356 What Common Problems Are Related to Addiction? 357 What Makes Something Addictive? 357

What Determines Susceptibility to Addiction? 357 What Makes an Environment Pathological? 357

Effects of Interventions 358

Is Treating the Symptom Effective? 358 What Are the Basic Principles of Effective Intervention? 358 Should You Press for Immediate Action for Change? 358 Does Education Change Behavior? 358

What Are Treatment Intervention Goals? 359

Violence as a Mental Disorder 369 Intermittent Explosive Disorder 369 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 369 Borderline Personality Disorder 370

Conduct Disorder 371 Antisocial Personality Disorder 372

Violence as Crime 373Operant Learning 376Exchange Theory 378Social Learning 380Domestic Violence 382

Trang 18

Bullying 385Summary 386PRACTICE TEST 387MYSEARCHLAB CONNECTIONS 388

15 Theories on Social Systems, Social Capital, and Diversity 389

Introduction 390

Culture Wars: How the West Won 390 Modernism: Mastering Nature 390 Postmodernism: A Philosophy Fragmentation 391

Cultural Diversity 392Social Systems Theory 396

The Function of Dysfunction 396 Open and Closed Systems 397 Boundary Effect 397

Minority Status as a Holon 399

Social Capital 401Conflict and Consensus 404

The Wrong Crowd 405 Irreconcilable Differences 405

Conflict, Religion, and Diversity 406Ethics and Cultural Diversity 409

Poverty 413

References 416Photo Credits 422Index 423

Trang 19

Prior editions were formatted in parts to facilitate the teaching of the content

in either one course (usually at the graduate level) or a series of two courses (usually at the undergraduate level) That format required the repetition of some material throughout the five parts of the text to ensure that students had the opportunity to review the major concepts as they progressed through the course sequence With the elimination of parts, we have the opportunity to include both new and expanded material

This edition is organized around the new professional competencies dated by the Council on Social Work Education It is apparent in the format

man-of this text that we have worked to link the text to the relevant areas man-of nated core competencies, which are organized around the concept of general-ist social work practice With the help of Ashley Dodge and Carly Czech, we have formatted the text to highlight the linkage of theories to required practice skills It is our hope that this format will help you develop a unified view of the total range of professional social work activities

desig-We have included a significant new section on role theory, which we ent as a logical extension of systems theory concepts and dynamics This new edition provides support for the systems thinking model presented Following the CSWE paradigm, we have organized the discussion of theories in a roughly increasing order of magnitude from individuals, families, groups, organiza-tions, and communities As before, we have noted that many theories have implications and application to multiple system levels We have noted where theories complement or contradict one another in our effort to promote a more systematic eclecticism among practitioners In addition, we have added chap-ters on the application of theories to special populations

pres-This is the first edition that does not include major new contributions by Wayne Chess and Julia Norlin, the originators of this text The original idea of the book was to develop a single volume that offers an ambitious overview of all the theories that undergird social work practice The use of systems theory

as a matrix to bring some order to this endeavor began with Wayne and Judy

This edition is very much a continuation of that conception The work that these two valued friends and colleagues have done to apply systems concepts

to theory development and presentation is part of their lasting professional legacy In addition, we have missed arguing about whether systems concepts

Trang 20

are a theory or a model; whether you can write a book about human behavior

without talking about individuals, and whether Talcott Parsons is a stooge for

the establishment Not many people care about such things We have missed

the mud-wrestling about these and other arcane trivia

We want to congratulate you, the emergent social worker, on your choice

of this profession The environment in which you have chosen to begin your

studies is challenging Times have been difficult, and as always there are those

who want to make the first notch in belt tightening in the services to the poor,

oppressed, and needy These are the times when the people we serve need

us to be at our best and our most resolute We welcome you to the ongoing

struggle to promote human well-being and dignity

Trang 22

Professional Identity

Ethical Practice

Critical Thinking

Diversity in Practice

Research Based Practice

Human Behavior

Policy Practice

Practice Contexts Engage, Assess,

Theory and Practice in Social Work:

Connecting the Dots 7

Theoretical Range 9

Theories as Maps: Grand, Middle Range, and Focal Theories 10

Summary 12Practice Test 13Mysearchlab Connections 14

C h a p t e r O u t l i n e

Introduction

1

Trang 23

HuMAn BEHAvIoR THEoRy AnD SoCIAl WoRk PRACTICE

Human behavior is, to put it mildly, a puzzle All around us we see daily dence that people are alternately kind and cruel, wise and foolish, generous and selfish We are bombarded constantly with conflicting images of human nature Consider the following headlines as illustrations:

evi-Hero Fireman Saves ChildrenFather Convicted of Child AbuseEarthquake Orphans Find New Homes in U.S., France

No Aid for Growing Numbers of RefugeesYou have seen similar headlines on a daily basis Thoughtful readers are left shaking their heads at the paradox of human nature, on the one hand inex-plicably cruel, on the other inspirationally brave and selfless Our efforts to un-derstand and predict human behavior seem to be hopeless in the face of such contradictions Social work practice exposes us to the best and worst in human nature on a regular basis Despite the apparently irreconcilable extremes, it is our nature to seek some framework to understand and manage human behav-ior This book is dedicated to that quest, and to providing an overview of the myriad theories that have been developed to help bring order to the apparent chaos around us

One of the oldest attempts to understand the apparently contradictory truths of our existence is the allegory of the blind men and the elephant You know the outlines of the story There are versions of it in all of the world’s great religious and moral traditions In the Jain version, six blind men are asked to describe an elephant Each touches some part of the elephant, and then relates his understanding of the animal The man who grabs the tail believes the el-ephant resembles a rope The man who strokes the elephant’s ear believes the beast is like a fan The man who touches a leg believes the elephant is like a post, and so on Afterward, a wise man explains that each of them is correct:

The elephant has all the properties described (Jain, 2006)

In this story, the wise man (presumably one with sight) represents the tegration of various perspectives on the truth In our study of theories of hu-man behavior, we will encounter many blind men holding firmly to their own piece of the elephant, believing their own truths and discounting the theories

in-of others We hope that by the end in-of this book, you will have made peace with the fact that no one theory encompasses all of human nature Each theory, as

we will discuss, has some grasp of the truth None has a complete or exclusive handle on the understanding of human beings We hope that if we put together enough different partial truths, we can get at least a general picture of human nature In epistemology (the study of knowledge in philosophy), this process

of patching theories together to cover gaps is called syncretism (Merton, 1968).

The hodgepodge of theories relating to human behavior, like the blind men’s data on the nature of elephants, leaves us with the need to develop

what is called an eclectic perspective Eclectic is derived from the Greek eklektikos, meaning to select (World Book, Inc., 2010) One of the goals of

this book is for you to develop a systematic framework for your own tic view of human behavior This will require the development of skills in

eclec-critical thinking as you consider each theory in turn, and the uses to which

you will put that theory in your social work practice What will almost

Trang 24

What will almost surely emerge is a unique and personal view of human nature, influenced by your own experience and your own critical integration of existing theory and practice.

surely emerge is a unique and personal view of human nature, influenced

by your own experience and your own critical integration of existing theory

and practice It is our hope that by organizing your view according to some

common principles, you will be better able to share your view with others,

and test your perspective against the new approaches that will continue to

emerge as long as you practice social work

In order to foster the skills of critical thinking and the use of a common vocabulary, this book is organized around the guiding premises of social work

education These premises are developed by the Council on Social Work

Edu-cation (CSWE), which is the organization charged with the accreditation of all

social work programs in the United States Central to the mission of CSWE is

the idea of core competencies Core competencies are the actual skills that are

required for generalist social work practice (Council on Social Work

Educa-tion, 2008)

There are ten core competencies required by CSWE, and whenever one of these competencies is addressed in this text, there will be a marginal note in-

serted The appearance of this symbol (see Figure 1.1) will be accompanied by

questions for reflection on the content and the application to the competency

in question

CSWE CoRE CoMPETEnCIES

Listed below are the ten core competencies required of all social workers by the

Council on Social Work Education (2008) Each competency represents an

observ-able skill that should be mastered at the foundation level of social work education

1 Identify as a professional social worker and conduct oneself ingly Social workers serve as representatives of the profession, its

accord-mission, and its core values They know the profession’s history Social workers commit themselves to the profession’s enhancement and to their own professional conduct and growth

2 Apply social work ethical principles to guide professional tice Social workers have an obligation to conduct themselves ethi-

prac-cally and to engage in ethical decision-making Social workers are knowledgeable about the value base of the profession, its ethical stan-dards, and relevant law

3 Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate professional judgments Social workers are knowledgeable about the principles of

logic, scientific inquiry, and reasoned discernment They use critical thinking augmented by creativity and curiosity Critical thinking also requires the synthesis and communication of relevant information

4 Engage diversity and difference in practice Social workers

under-stand how diversity characterizes and shapes the human experience

and is critical to the formation of identity The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersectionality of multiple factors including age, class, color, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, immigration status, political ideology, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation Social workers appreciate that, as a con-sequence of difference, a person’s life experiences may include op-pression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege, power, and acclaim

Figure 1.1

CSWE Core Competency

Trang 25

5 Advance human rights and social and economic justice Each person,

regardless of position in society, has basic human rights, such as freedom, safety, privacy, an adequate standard of living, health care, and educa-tion Social workers recognize the global interconnections of oppression and are knowledgeable about theories of justice and strategies to promote human and civil rights Social work incorporates social justice practices

in organizations, institutions, and society to ensure that these basic man rights are distributed equitably and without prejudice

6 Engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed

re-search Social workers use practice experience to inform research,

employ evidence-based interventions, evaluate their own practice, and use research findings to improve practice, policy, and social ser-vice delivery Social workers comprehend quantitative and qualitative research and understand scientific and ethical approaches to building knowledge

7 Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social

environ-ment Social workers are knowledgeable about human behavior

across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in main-taining or achieving health and well-being Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development

8 Engage in policy practice to advance social and economic well-being

and to deliver effective social work services Social work

practitio-ners understand that policy affects service delivery, and they actively engage in policy practice Social workers know the history and cur-rent structures of social policies and services; the role of policy in ser-vice delivery; and the role of practice in policy development

9 Respond to contexts that shape practice Social workers are

in-formed, resourceful, and proactive in responding to evolving zational, community, and societal contexts at all levels of practice

organi-Social workers recognize that the context of practice is dynamic, and use knowledge and skill to respond proactively

10 Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities Professional practice in-

volves the dynamic and interactive processes of engagement, ment, intervention, and evaluation at multiple levels

assess-Adapted with the permission of the council on Social Work Education.

GEnERAlIST PRACTICE

Generalist practice is the perspective that forms the foundation of social work

practice and is the point of departure for refining practice skills at more vanced levels It is also the educational model that forms the foundation of all social work programs Generalist practice is rooted in the traditions of the pro-fession, based on the early need for social workers who could do whatever was needed for clients in a time of patchy social services and few human resources

ad-Today, generalist practice dictates that all social workers be familiar with the various intervention methods of the profession, and have the ability to work

Trang 26

with social systems of all sizes The following definition of generalist practice

comes from the Council on Social Work Education:

Generalist practice is grounded in the liberal arts and the person and vironment construct To promote human and social well-being, generalist practitioners use a range of prevention and intervention methods in their practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communi-ties The generalist practitioner identifies with the social work profession and applies ethical principles and critical thinking in practice Generalist practitioners incorporate diversity in their practice and advocate for hu-man rights and social and economic justice They recognize, support, and build on the strengths and resiliency of all human beings They engage in research-informed practice and are proactive in responding to the impact

en-of context on pren-ofessional practice BSW practice incorporates all en-of the core competencies (Council on Social Work Education, 2008, p 7)

From Education Policy and Accreditation Standards, Generalist Practice pp 7–8

Social workers are required to have the knowledge and skills to practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities Most of

these social systems have a body of theories that address the specific range of

phenomena that define that system This book is organized so that the theories

that relate to each level of social system are grouped together However, it will

become quickly apparent that there are a number of theories that have

applica-tions to multiple levels of systems (Merton, 1968) For example, role theory

ap-plies to almost all system levels to a greater or lesser extent So also do theories

such as behavioral learning theory and psychodynamic theory For this reason,

you will find that some theories are presented in a number of chapters as they

relate to the system being discussed

Embedded in the CSWE description of generalist practice is a reference to

what is usually referred to as the strengths perspective (Saleebey, 1996) This

is a general disposition that views differences between people and groups as

a potential source of benefit, rather than as a sign of defectiveness or

weak-ness A major example of this is found in the difference between the strengths

perspective and the diagnostic approach to mental illness The diagnostic

ap-proach collects individual behaviors into clusters of “symptoms” that are then

used in applying a pathological behavior label to a client In the past, this

la-beling process was used in ways that have significantly restricted or injured

people to whom the label was applied For instance, a person whose quick

mind and creative energy might seem a strength to a social worker is at risk of

being diagnosed as having “attention deficit disorder.” The assignment of this

label might well result in loss of educational opportunities and/or

prescrip-tion of drugs such as Ritalin or Adderall These medicaprescrip-tions in turn may pose

unwanted and unwarranted risks to some clients (Szasz, 1977)

It is important that we discuss one other note about the CSWE definition before we proceed The generalist practice definition states that social workers

engage in research-informed practice We believe that this has a special

mean-ing for the theoretical content in this book Usually, research-informed practice

would mean that social workers use only practice techniques that have been

shown to be effective with a client problem

This example might illustrate the point A woman who suffers from traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) might be expected to benefit from a technique

post-such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), an approach

Trang 27

that has been widely and positively reviewed in application to this type of problem At this time, the underlying theory of the way that EMDR works is still unclear As there are positive clinical indicators for this technique, we might still feel it is worthwhile to identify this technique as supported by re-search even though our understanding of its restorative process is still being developed By comparison, a technique called Critical Incident Stress Debrief-ing, widely used to prevent PTSD, has been shown to be relatively ineffective (Mitchell, 2003) and therefore would not be utilized.

In this book we will discuss and describe some theories or techniques whose use is not supported by current research in or-der to illustrate the process of validating theories and techniques through research Sometimes there is much to be learned from a good idea that didn’t work out Finally, we will include in our dis-cussions of all theories a reference to the current status of empiri-cal support for the theory Note that this will be an uneven process, since some theories do not lend themselves readily to empirical (scientific) validation by their very nature

In order to accomplish the mastery of the generalist practice competencies, social work educators have developed a uniform approach to the organization of the curriculum All accredited schools of social work employ some variant of the following ele-ments in developing their curriculum The following content areas are present in all social work curricula:

• Values and ethics The curriculum prepares the student to understand

personal and professional values, the role of professional ethics, and the application of the NASW Code of Ethics

• Diversity The curriculum prepares students to recognize the interaction

between culture and personal identity, and to foster culturally relevant programs and practice methods

• Social and economic justice and human rights The curriculum

pre-pares students to understand the dynamics of at-risk populations, and the impact of this status on access to productive interventions In addi-tion, social work is committed to combating injustice and oppression and advocating for human rights Students are prepared to practice and advocate for nondiscriminatory social and economic systems

• Human behavior and the social environment Theories link the person

to the environment and provide the empirical base to social work ventions This includes information on life span development, the full spectrum of social systems (individual, family, group, organization, and community) and the impact of social systems on promoting or deterring the achievement of well-being

inter-• Social welfare policy and services Programs provide content about

the history of social work, the history and current structures of social welfare services, and the role of policy in service delivery, social work practice, and attainment of individual and social well-being Under-standing and skills in policy analysis or promotion of effective services

is stressed

• Social work practice Social work practice content focuses on strengths,

capacities, and resources of client systems in relation to their broader environments Students learn practice content that encompasses knowledge and skills to work with individuals, families, groups,

Critical Thinking

Practice Behavior Example:

Distin-guish, appraise, and integrate

mul-tiple sources of knowledge, including

research-based knowledge, and

prac-tice wisdom.

Critical Thinking Question: What is the

relationship between human behavior

and social environment theory and

critical thinking?

Trang 28

organizations, and communities This content includes engaging clients;

identifying issues, problems, needs, resources, and assets; collecting and assessing information; and planning for service delivery It includes applying empirical knowledge and technological advances; evaluating program outcome effectiveness; developing, analyzing, advocating, and providing leadership for policies and services; and promoting social and economic justice

• Research This content prepares students to develop, use, and

commu-nicate empirically based knowledge and evidence-based interventions

Research knowledge is used by social workers to provide services; to initiate change; to improve practice, policy, and social service delivery;

and to evaluate their own practice

• Field education Field education occurs in settings that reinforce

stu-dents’ identification with the purposes, values, and ethics of the sion; fosters the integration of empirical and practice-based knowledge;

profes-and promotes professional competence Field education is cally designed, supervised, coordinated, and evaluated to promote the achievement of program objectives (Council on Social Work Education,

systemati-2008, p 8)

THEoRy AnD PRACTICE In SoCIAl WoRk:

ConnECTInG THE DoTS

This is a book about theories of human behavior, and it is worth our time to

take a moment to discuss the role and value of theories in social work In

ev-eryday conversation, many people use the word theory in contrast to practical,

as in, “That’s nice in theory, but that isn’t how it works in real life!” Social

work is a practical profession, so what need do we have for theories?

Trang 29

Good theories are intimately tied to their practical applications The pose of theory is the prediction and control of events This is accomplished

pur-by using theories to explain the relationship among observed variables As the world becomes more complicated, we need theories as a road map to under-stand how things are connected For a simple example, we observe that some men beat their wives We observe that many of these men drink a lot of alco-hol It is tempting to conclude that alcohol abuse leads to spouse abuse That explains the relationship between two observed variables and constitutes a simple theory of wife beating

Obviously, our alcohol theory is pretty basic and leaves out a lot of other variables For example, not all men who drink also beat their wives Moreover, not all men who beat their wives drink Hmmm, now what? Like so many the-ories of human behavior, this theory does not account for all of the observed behaviors In applying theories to human behavior, we almost never get perfect prediction The gold standard for any theory is the ability to identify the key variables out of all the myriad possibilities that meet two requirements: A key variable will always predict the behavior, and the behavior will never occur in

the absence of that variable When we have that degree of relationship, we are pretty sure that a cause-and-effect rela-tionship exists between the two variables

In theories of human behavior, we rarely see clear-cut cause and effect, where one variable alone causes the oc-currence of another Most of the time, theories of human behavior describe contributing variables rather than cause-and-effect relationships Thus, alcohol abuse might contrib-ute to spouse abuse, but it is neither necessary nor sufficient

to cause spouse abuse

The process of identifying, describing, measuring, and testing the variables and their relationship is the heart of theory building Our example leads to

a conclusion: Good theory building involves careful observation, measurable

description, and testing of our hypotheses about the variables we observe An hypothesis is simply a hunch; based on our observations, we think that we

have an idea about which variables contribute to or preclude certain iors We then put that hunch to a test by creating conditions under which we can manipulate the variables and observe the outcome

behav-In science, the best method for hypothesis testing is to conduct ments This is common in the so-called hard sciences such as physics and chemistry In the behavioral sciences, concern for the well-being of the sub-jects limits our ability to use experimental tests of hypotheses Imagine the outcry if we took a group of men and randomly had some drink alcohol heav-ily and some not, then observed the effect on the incidence of spouse abuse

experi-In addition, the factors involved in human behavior are so subtle and varied that it would be virtually impossible to control them all As a result, we rely on sample size and statistical methods in many cases to provide the rigor that we lose by not using classical experiments

As in the physical sciences, behavioral science gives rise to both grand ories and focal theories of limited range The definitions of these terms vary, but the essence is clear Some theories are useful for a wide range of subjects and situations, such as the notion that behavior is shaped by the positive and negative consequences that follow This is the so-called Law of Effect, which

the-is more properly a theory that can generate testable hypotheses Other theories apply only to a narrow range of subjects or situations Many focal theories of

Good theories are

intimately tied to their

practical applications.

Human Behavior

Practice Behavior Example: Utilize

concep-tual frameworks to guide the processes of

assessment, intervention, and evaluation.

Critical Thinking Question: What are your

views on the causes of human behavior?

Trang 30

limited range exist and have value in social work, and many are in conflict

with grand theories that dominate the field

When we have tested an hypothesis (or a number of related hypotheses) a number of times and the results consistently confirm the expected results, we

arrive at a theory A valid scientific theory then generates new hypotheses that

are testable In this way, science continually challenges its own beliefs The

scientific method, to be effective, must involve open communication of the

tests and results The values of science demand that no theory ever be

consid-ered proven Some explanations are found to be generally useful, even when

they do not strictly describe reality These useful aggregates are sometimes

re-ferred to as models, which aid our understanding of events without precisely

describing them Useful as models are, it is theory that advances science

THEoRETICAl RAnGE

Generalist practice, you have no doubt noted, covers a lot of territory For that

reason, social work practice has always ranged broadly in search of promising

ideas that offer clues on how to help clients These theories have come from

med-icine, religion, philosophy, sociology, psychology, management, economics, and

a host of other places As you would expect, the varied sources of these theories

makes it pretty much inevitable that they do not “speak the same language.” One

of the most common frustrations for beginning students of human behavior is to

realize that almost everyone has different names for things, even when they seem

to be addressing the same things The process of constantly translating from one

theoretical vocabulary to another is both frustrating and potentially confusing

The variety of theories employed in social work is one reason that we continually

seek a unifying language that allows us to communicate more effectively about

the disparate systems with which we work We have chosen role theory as an

intermediary for two reasons: First, it addresses the whole range of human

so-cial interactions with which we are concerned; and second, the language of role

theory is intuitively familiar to most of us As Shaw and Constanzo (1970) noted,

Role theory is a body of knowledge and principles that at one and the same time constitutes an orientation, a group of theories, loosely linked networks of hypotheses, isolated constructs about human functioning in

a social context, and a language system which pervades nearly every cial scientist’s vocabulary (p 295)

Selecting theories for inclusion in the social work curriculum depends in part on the conformity of the theory with the philosophy of the profession A

theory is comprised of a set of concepts and dynamics that define and explain the

subject matter If the application of the theory is consistent with the purposes and

values of the profession, it may become part of the canon of practice Some

theo-ries, however valid and useful, may be untenable as foundations for social work

practice For instance, if it were learned that beating a child regularly would

in-crease school achievement (decidedly not true in light of current knowledge), it

would be a valid predictive model However, such treatment is inconsistent with

the values and ethics of the profession, and could not be used to guide social

work practice due to the value and ethical problems such a position would pose

Trang 31

THEoRIES AS MAPS: GRAnD, MIDDlE RAnGE, AnD FoCAl THEoRIES

Levels of theories can be thought of as maps that guide our practice Let us sume that you are driving from New York to San Francisco for a job interview

as-You start off with a general idea of direction and distance as-You are heading west, and it is a long, long way If you access Map Quest on the world wide web, the first map you call up will show you the cross-country route With this you can rough out the route, calculate the travel time expected, and plan your stops Along the route, you may encounter construction or bad weather

in Kansas, and you look for alternate routes You need more detail than can be provided by the big map, but you are not interested in the street layout in each town you pass through You adjust your route, zoom in, and make efficient ad-justments to local conditions Finally, you get to San Francisco You find you have only the address where you are supposed to go for the interview Now you need the detailed local map, with streets, landmarks, and addresses The local map allows you to hone in on the address you need, and to get there with mini-mal fuss Each map relates to the others, and each guides you to your destina-tion with maximum efficiency Obviously, if the map is wrong, out of date, or poorly linked to the other maps, it interferes with your trip So it is with theo-ries Theories provide the intellectual framework and reference points needed

to guide our practice They work best when they are integrated into an overall vision of the trip, comparable to our professional vision for social work

The eclectic nature of theory in social work today can be understood as

a stage in the development of a unified practice theory Merton (1968) noted

that in social science there is a tendency to create grand theories, which are

highly abstract These theories are internally consistent and often elegant, but they are often rather removed from day-to-day realities The day-to-day stuff is

not theoretical, it is empirical Empirical simply means things that can be

ob-served or experienced directly: Consider the difference, for example, between

a concept like nurturing, which is an abstraction, and giving your child a hug,

which is empirical The advantage of a grand theory is that it can group lots

of different empirical events under one category (hugs, praise, kisses, ments) in order to help us understand common processes The disadvantage

compli-is that when theory becomes too abstract, it may lose relevance for real-world application

Middle range theories serve two purposes First, they hold grand theories accountable to the facts on the ground, the realities of life Second, they provide

a kind of collecting basin for similar theories, which in turn allows, as Merton proposed, that grand theories need to spawn middle range theories (Merton, 1968; Mills & Gitlin, 1959) Middle range theories deal with empirical events, and offer ideas that can be tested in practice Middle range theories, in turn, may draw upon even narrower and more specific theories One purpose of middle range theories is to coordinate the varied terms used by those who create focal

or limited range theories Middle range theories can collect common threads in focal theories and help us understand them by means of a common vocabulary

All theories have a defined range of application In general, the broader

a theory’s range, the less specific its coverage The narrower the range of the theory, the more detail it offers There are three levels of theory discussed in this book These serve as a guide to our understanding and the selection of our practice intervention techniques (Merton, 1968) Let us reverse the order of our travel example, and begin with the detailed map

The eclectic nature

Trang 32

Focal theories are narrow in scope and address the behaviors that are

distinc-tive to a particular class or level of social system phenomena For example,

Bowl-by’s theory of reactive attachment disorder addresses the problem of children who

never form an attachment to parents, and whose entire life is skewed as a result of

this distortion in an early primary social relationship (Bowlby, 1969) The theory

focuses on a single type of relationship, a narrow window of time, and a limited

number of variables While it is narrow in focus, it is extremely valuable for those

who are concerned with this issue in child development and family behavior

Middle range theories bridge two or more focal theories Focal theories are

often so focused on the subject matter that they do not utilize a common set of

constructs or terms in describing their topic In fact, theory builders are noted for

insisting on their own definitions for many concepts that may be addressed in

re-lated theories Middle range theories provide the vocabulary and context needed

in order to integrate the focal theories into an orderly professional approach to

problem solving In social work, role theory fulfills this important function For

example, reactive attachment theory grows out of the psychoanalytic tradition and

employs many constructs from that perspective The theory of separation anxiety

used in psychiatry is similar, but uses different language and addresses different

events Role theory can embrace these overlapping ideas, but relates the issues of

attachment disorder to broader constructs (such as mother-child roles, role

prepa-ration, interactions, and appropriate social functioning) Role theory is uniquely

suited to this middle range function and is discussed extensively in this text as a

basis for a common professional language in theory selection and development

Grand theories are broad theoretical generalizations that deal with the

wide-ranging aspects of social phenomena We treat social systems theory as

a grand theory, having sufficient scope and flexibility to accommodate many

narrower-range theories These broad theories are often too general to provide

explicit direction to practice with specific issues The overall dynamics of

liv-ing systems share certain properties that are the focus of social systems theory

In order to integrate social work practice across a range of systems from

indi-viduals to communities, we employ systems theory to orient our practice to the

appropriate level of specificity In addition, social systems theory reminds us

constantly that all social phenomena are related and interdependent Change at

one system level reverberates across all levels, and this must be taken into

ac-count in practice Figure 1.2 illustrates the hierarchy of theories by system size

GRAND THEORY (Social Systems)

MIDDLE RANGE THEORY (Role Theory)

FOCAL THEORY (Individual Development &

Behavior)

FOCAL THEORY (Family Theory)

FOCAL THEORY (Group Theory)

FOCAL THEORY (Organization Theory)

FOCAL THEORY (Community Theory)

Figure 1.2

Hierarchy of Theories by Focal System Size

Trang 33

This is a good place to mention a couple of troubling points The first has to

do with social work and social theory By now it is apparent that grand theory

in particular is concerned with finding the patterns and regularities that ist among all social phenomena The problem for social work practice is that while theories search for the rules, social workers deal all the time with people

ex-and problems that break the rules By its nature social work

is concerned with exceptions and uniqueness For this son, social work is constantly trying to find new models of understanding why the grand theories don’t work for some people and some problems but do work for others The his-torical tendency has been to develop focal theories to ad-dress the practice problems, and then over time to wedge these exceptions into the larger theories This is one of the inductive processes by which social work theory is con-stantly renewed

rea-The second problem is that the concept of grand theory itself was nally proposed as an insult In particular, it was an insult aimed at Talcott Parsons’ functional theory The insult was prompted by the belief that Parsons was more interested in creating a theory that was internally consistent and elegant In order to do this, he was charged with ignoring the everyday facts of social life that were supposed to be explained by theory This is a case where Parsons was charged with caring more about the elegance than the relevance

origi-of his theory There may be some validity to the charge, since Parsons did not engage in a great deal of empirical validation of his theory Despite this charge,

we feel that there is an important, even vital, role for grand theory The micro level work of developing theories to address the problems and exceptions en-countered by social workers is constant At the same time, the body of knowl-edge that informs social work practice is continuously massaged to embrace the new data, search for patterns, and provide a medium of language and con-cepts across a broad range of social systems and social issues

Now that you have an introduction to theory and its role in social work practice, we will discuss the foundations of social systems theory in Chapter 2, before presenting social systems theory and the systems cycle in Chapter 3 See Figure 3.1

Practice Behavior Example: Attend to

professional roles and boundaries.

Critical Thinking Question: What role

does theory play in making professional

judgments?

Trang 34

The following questions will test your knowledge and understanding of the content found within this chapter For additional assessment, including licensing-exam type questions on applying

chapter content to practice behaviors, visit MySearchLab.

1 A form of professional practice competently conducted in

a variety of settings with client systems of various sizes at

several levels of prevention using a transferable body of

knowledge, values, and skills is a definition of

a casework

b psychotherapy

c community practice

d generalist practice

2 Research-informed practice means that social workers

use only practice techniques that

a have been shown to be effective with a client problem;

b use inductive reasoning;

c use deductive reasoning;

d are proven.

3 Curriculum that prepares students to recognize the

interac-tion between culture and personal identity is referred to as

a values and ethics

b social work practice

d human behavior theories

6 Theories that are narrow in scope and address the haviors that are distinctive to a particular class or level of social system phenomena are

Trang 35

Watch and review

Watch these Videos

* Applying Critical Thinking

read and review

Read these Cases/Documents

∆ Human Behavior

Reinforce what you learned in this chapter by studying videos, cases, documents,

and more available at www.MySearchLab.com.

explore and assess

Explore these Assets

Social Science Research Center: http://www.ssrc.msstate.edu/

Society for Judgment and Decision-Making: http://www.sjdm.org/

Society for Social Work and Research: http://www.sswr.org/

assess Your Knowledge

Assess your knowledge with a variety of topical and chapter assessments

Conclude your assessment by completing the chapter exam

* = CSWE Core Competency Asset

∆ = Case Study

Trang 36

Ethical Practice

Critical Thinking

Diversity in Practice

Human Rights

& Justice

Research Based Practice

Human Behavior

Policy Practice

Practice Contexts

Engage, Assess, Intervene, Evaluate

The Nature of Theory 16

Social Systems Perspective 18

General Systems Theory 19

Ecological Theory 24

Generalist Social Work Practice and Person in

the Environment 25

Functional Theory 27Symbolic Interactionism and Role Theory 30Summary 35

Practice Test 37MySearchLab Connections 38

Trang 37

THE NATURE OF THEORY

A scientific theory is a set of interrelated concepts, definitions, and statements about relationships that can be tested empirically The purpose of theory is to increase our ability to predict and control events It further seeks to aid un-derstanding of the world by a systematic process of inquiry and validation of knowledge Robert Merton (1968) suggested that scientific knowledge requires four conditions to be met within the scientific community:

• Disinterestedness—belief that the development of knowledge should

be distinct from the interests of the scientist; that knowledge should be pursued for its own sake

• Communalism—belief in the value of sharing work among scientists.

• Organized skepticism—systematic disposition to challenge the claims

of knowledge; a critical posture toward claims that demands objective assessment

• Universalism—systematic agreement on the nature of knowledge and

knowledge development (methodology)

Thomas Kuhn (1970) speculated that science advances best when ciplines have a shared set of theories and methodological assumptions, which

subdis-he termed paradigms Social systems tsubdis-heory is an application of tsubdis-he general

systems paradigm to social phenomena While it is a high-level theory, it must and does relate directly to the observed world of social interactions

There are three essential elements to all scientific theories: perceptions, conceptions, and syntax

• Perceptions are the observable (empirical) events that are the focus of

the theory Perceptions refer to concrete phenomena (facts) in the real world For example, spanking a child is observable behavior

• Conceptions are the fundamental building blocks of scientific theory

They consist of carefully defined abstractions that are drawn from rience They are abstract rather than concrete and thus are distinguished from facts For example, punishment is an abstraction that defines a cat-egory of behaviors that might include spanking a child

expe-• Syntax refers to the relationship among concepts, particularly causal

re-lationships Statements about the expected relationship between A and

B constitute the syntax of a theory and are considered hypotheses when they are subjected to scientific inquiry For example, spanking a child for screaming might be based on the hypothesis that this punishment will prevent screaming in the future

In order to be considered a theory, a set of percepts, concepts, and syntax must

be capable of generating empirically testable hypotheses For example, the ment that spanking a child immediately after the child is observed screaming will reduce the frequency of the child’s screaming, is a syntactical statement It posits that spanking (punishment) will cause a child to cease a behavior (screaming)

state-Most theories are more than a single statement about relationships There

are two primary types of statements in a theory The first is called an existence statement This defines the exact meaning of each concept in the theory Defi-

nitions as such cannot be empirically tested; thus, they must be carefully ified for inquiry One indication of a weak theory is that it rests upon poorly defined concepts

Trang 38

spec-The second type of statement is the relational statement This must specify

to some degree the association between two or more defined concepts These

statements can be empirically tested An example of a relational statement is

that there is a positive relationship between social disorganization and drug

abuse in a population

Statements can be arranged hierarchically according to both their level

of abstraction (an existence consideration) and their degree of truth (a

rela-tional consideration) The hierarchy of theoretical knowledge consists of the

following:

• Laws—the observed regularities in nature

• Axioms—knowledge assumed for some purpose to be true

• Postulates—essential precursors in a train of reasoning

• Propositions—statements affirming or denying a truth subject to proof

• Empirical generalizations—summaries of empirical findings

• Hypotheses—propositions that are empirically testable

Theories require precise definitions of terms They also require consensus

of usage among scientists The degree to which there is agreement within a

community of scientists on the definitions in a theory is termed the semantic

agreement Obviously, if everyone uses a term differently, knowledge building

is impaired Lower-level concepts lend themselves to operational definition,

which solves this problem

The primary opposition to classifying social systems as a theory lies in the level of abstraction of the concepts High levels of abstraction do not preclude

theory development However, high levels of abstraction may affect what is

called the empirical import of a theory, that is, the degree to which the

con-cepts in a theory relate to observable realities in the world

There is an important distinction between the terms abstract and vague

Scientific knowledge will not admit vagueness However, a great deal of our

knowledge exists at a medium to high level of abstraction For example,

spank-ing is a concrete and observable behavior Punishment is more abstract

Spank-ing is an observed event, punishment is an inferred relationship This does

not mean that punishment is vague If we carefully define punishment as any

event that reduces the frequency of a behavior, then it is a precise relational

statement What if we spank a child and the child screams more loudly? For

our theory, we must reconsider whether all spanking can be considered

pun-ishment as we have defined it

What Durkheim (1897) described as “social facts” constitute the focus of systems theory These phenomena exist outside the individual acts of units

within a system, but are characteristic of the system as a whole (Timasheff,

1967) It is our belief that systems concepts and syntax, while highly abstract,

have direct empirical referents in the world of the social work practitioner In

addition, the theory serves to provide a connective matrix to the wide range of

situations and systems with which social workers are daily engaged

A basis for opposing social systems as a theory lies in the varied usage

of the key concepts among professionals Part of the purpose of this book is

to help students move toward consensual usage of terms to permit more

sys-tematic knowledge building using systems concepts Therefore, we have

at-tempted to develop carefully the definitions of key systems concepts to allow

for consistent usage in the profession In addition, we have endeavored to

de-fine the relationship among these concepts in such a way as to form a

founda-tion for systematic percepfounda-tions of social realities Our goal is the development

Trang 39

of systems knowledge that is germane in practice, robust enough to withstand skeptical assessment, and capable of generating testable hypotheses that ad-vance social work knowledge and practice.

SOCIAL SYSTEMS PERSPECTIvE

Our position is that all theories, at least in the human and behavioral sciences, start with a set of assumptions about humans and the world in which they live

We believe that the nine assumptions comprising the social systems tive are widely held by social workers and by social scientists generally

perspec-The order of the following assumptions suggests a hierarchy beginning with an assumption of the existence of a general order and ending with a fea-ture of that order evident in the generalist practice of social work (Pincus &

Minahan, 1973)

1 There is an underlying intelligible general order in the world

Sci-ence is predicated on this assumption with the scientific method being the approach to the discovery of the various features or characteristics

of this order

2 Social ordering is a dynamic and constant process that arises out of conditions existing in the environment The forms and common pat-

terns exhibited by all forms of human organization have their origins

in (a) the social and physical environment in which they are found and (b) the genetically based need structure found in all humans

3 All human social behavior is purposeful Our approach to knowledge

building starts with this assumption—social behavior is purposive havior and is conducted through social relationships This assumption holds for the social behavior of an individual as a member of a group, family, formal organization, or community

be-4 When fully developed, all forms of social organization display maintaining and development characteristics Social organizations go

self-through a development process and reach a stage at which they display self-maintaining characteristics

5 A social organization, when viewed as a whole, is greater than the sum of its parts The social organization is a whole consisting of func-

tionally related parts You cannot understand a social organization through disassembly

6 Well-being is the natural state of all humans and the various forms of social organization A state of well-being is characterized as a healthy

or harmonious balance that exists between the individual and that person’s social environment

7 All forms of social organization, when fully developed, can be acterized and studied as social systems Individuals, families, groups,

char-organizations, and communities are dynamic systems of interacting parts The functioning of these systems can only be understood in the context of the system’s environment

8 The social relationship is the principal structural unit of all social systems Knowledge about relationships and the ability to use the rela-

tionship define the social worker’s professional domain

Trang 40

9 Generalist practice is a formalization of a natural discovery process that has its origins in human relationships The basic tool of the gen-

eralist practitioner is the relationship We characterize the generalist practitioner as a system creator The helping process begins with estab-lishing a relationship with the client system This causes a new system

to be created and through the professional use of this new system, the helping process proceeds

With the nine assumptions as a backdrop, we can review general systems and ecological, functional, and symbolic interaction theories These four theo-

ries provide most of what we consider to be the conceptual foundations of

social systems theory

Our discussion starts with the person generally recognized as the major contributor or founder of each specific line of theory We will identify what

we consider to be the major assumptions and concepts associated with that

theory We believe that knowledge building is both personal and exciting; its

aim is to learn more about the world in which we live For the helping

profes-sional, the focus is on understanding why people behave as they do and on

developing ways of assisting people to live more personally satisfying and

so-cially useful lives

GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY

General systems theory emerged in the early twentieth century It was

pro-posed as a metatheory (a theory about theories) intended to shape the

construc-tion of theories in all fields of science (von Bertalanffy, 1968) General systems

theory arose in response to the perceived weaknesses of classical scientific

theory During the preceding years, the hard sciences (chemistry, physics, and

biology) had made remarkable advances, and all fields of intellectual inquiry

were influenced by the advances in these disciplines The hard sciences, in

contrast to the soft sciences such as social science, were characterized by the

precise measurement of phenomena, rigorous research methods, and

quantita-tive analysis The inevitable consequence was that the social sciences began to

imitate the precision of the hard sciences

During the 1920s, young Ludwig von Bertalanffy was beginning a career in theoretical biology His work would lead him and his son to develop innova-

tive methods in research with cancer cells However, it was von Bertalanffy’s

philosophical bent that would lead him to his major contribution

Ludwig von Bertalanffy was an Austrian, and very much the model of the European intellectual He had little time for frivolous interests His idea of a

good time was to listen to Mozart and Beethoven, or to settle down to read the

works of Goethe He was absorbed by his work, and was noted for his dark

sense of humor As a philosopher, he became convinced that empirical

reduc-tionism was a movement that missed the point of complex phenomena He

em-braced the notion of wholeness, and his goal was nothing less than to reshape

the focus of science

One trait of the hard sciences that facilitated the precision of methods and

measurement was called reductionism Reductionism was the proposition that

complex things can be understood by breaking them down into simple

com-ponents that can be analyzed and understood Precise measurement required

that the phenomena to be studied must be things that could be observed As a

Định dạng
Số trang	456
Dung lượng	23,08 MB