•—y -rJ ti r p ™"""~T|-- Tir-ij c y j: název kursu („předmětu"): ÚVOD DO STUDIA SOCIÁLNÍ POLITIKY A SOCIÁLNÍ PRÁCE vyučující: doc. PhDr. Libor Musil CŠc. obor: sociální politika a sociální práce typ studia: presenční stupeň studia: bakalářský, magisterský rozdílový ukončení kursu („předmětu"): zápočet počet kreditů: EK 2 požadavky zápočtu: dotazy k literatuře, esej (5 stran) cíl a obsah kursu („předmětu"): Cílem kursu („předmětu") je seznámit studenty: 1. s pojetím oboru „SPSP", které usifuje o propojení práci s Idienty a tvorbu politiky sociálních služeb, 2. s profilem absolventa oboru SPSP a východisky koncepce studia sociální politiky a sociální práce. metoda studia: Tyto cíle lze dosáhnout: 1. samostudiem předepsaných textů, 2. využitím konzultací a zpracování eseje jako nástrojů vyjasňování pojmů oboru, 3. samostatným promýšlení vybraného případu z hlediska pojmů „životní situace" a „kognitivní podmíněnost vnímání situace klienta", 4. využitím specializované literatury k problematice vybraného případu při zpracování eseje. program kursu („předmětu"): 1. TÝDEN - ÚVODNÍ SETKÁNÍ, OBSAH KURSU („PŘEDMĚTŮ") Předpokladem udělení zápočtu je písemné vypracování eseje. Při jeho vypracování budou studenti postupovat v následujících, v programu kursu („předmětu") rozepsaných krocích: - četba předepsané literatury, - vypracování dotazů k literatuře, - konzultace k literatuře, - formulace tématu eseje, - konzultace k návrhu tématu eseje, - vypracování první verze eseje, - konzultace k první verzi eseje, -vypracování končené verze eseje. ' í . zadání: do 4. týdne prostudovat níže uvedenou, předepsanou literaturu a odevzdat 1 až 3 dotazy k ní: Předepsaná literatura k otázce: „Co je sociální práce a co je sociální politika?": BARTLETT, H.M.: The Common Base of Social Work Practice. NASW, Washington 1970., s. 86-104,115- 117,146-154. BRIAR, S.: The Current Crisis in Social Casework. In: Gilbert, N., Spetch, H., The Emergence of Social Welfare and Social Work, F.E. Peacock Publishers, Itasca 1976, pp. 407-411. NAVRÁTIL, P., MUSIL, L.: Sociální práce s příslušnílq> menšinových skupin. In: Sociální studia, 5/2000, 138-145. NEČASOVÁ, M.: Životní situace obětí domácího násilí. (Bakalářská práce.) FSS MU, Brno 2001.' HILL, M.: Understanding Social Polic)'. Basil Blackwell, Oxford 1988, pp. 3 (od „T.H. Marshall...")- 5 (po „ ... economic policy.") CHYTIL, O.: O charakteru sociální práce, USA a profesionalitě. Sociální práce, 1/98, s. 2-4. NOVOTNÁ, V.: Co Vás k tomu vedlo? Sociální práce, 0/98, s. 2-4. POTŮČEK, M.: Sociální politika. SLON, Praha 1995, s. 30-33. ■/f Předepsaná literatura k dílčím oblastem sociální práce a sociální politiky: ABEL, E.K.: Benevolence and Social Control: Advice from the Children's Bureau in the Early Twentieth Century. Social Service Review, 1994, Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 5-14. DAVIES, A.D.: Settlement Workers in Politics, 1890-1914. In: Mahaffey, M., Hanks, J.W.: Practical Politics. Social Work and Political Responsibility. NASW, Silver Spring, Maryland 1982, pp. 32-44. FRANCOVÁ, P.: O projektu občanských poraden. Sociální práce, 0/98, s. 21-24. HILL, M.: Understanding Social Policy. Basil Blackweil, Oxford 1983, pp. 148-158. KABÁTOVÁ, L: Probace. Sociální práce, 1/98, s. 26-30. KUBĚNO VÁ, K.: Kurátori si mnohdy připadají jako v pohádce. Sociální práce, 3/98, s. 27-29. MORRISSEY, M.H.: The Downtown Welfare Advocate Center: A Case Study of a Welfare Rights . . Organization. Social Service Review, 1990, Vol. 64, No.'2, pp. 193-201. OUŘEDNÍČKOVÁ, L., VESELÝ, M.: Úvod do alternativních trestů v trestním soudnictví. Sociální práce, 3/98,s. 3Qr37. PILAŘ, J^: Referát o terciální prevenci laiminality. Sociální práce, 4/98, s. 62-66. POTŮČEK, M.: Sociální politika. SLON, Praha 1995, s. 55-57, 59-61. PŘIDALO VÁ, M.: Umírání a smrt. Sociální práce, 1/98, s. 14-19. ŘEZNÍČEK, I.: Metody sociální práce. SLON. Praha 1994, s. 11-12, 25-28, 57-58. STUCHL, V.: Zdání klame. Sociální práce, 3/98, s. 22-26. STROBL, J.: Sociální asistent ajeho přínos k sociální prevenci. Sociální politika, 6/95, s. 10-11. Předepsaná literatura ke vzdělávání v sociální práci Minimální standardy vzdělávání v sociální práci. (Dokument Asociace vzdělavatelů v sociální práci.) CHYTIL, O., MUSIL, L.: Ještě jednou k problematice minimálních standardů vzdělávání v sociální práci. Sociální politika, 3/98, s. 9-10. Profil absolventa oboru sociální politika a sociální práce. (Dokument Katedry SPSP FSS MU.) 2. TÝDEN - PŘEDNÁŠKA: SOCIÁLNÍ POLITIKA A SOCIÁLNÍ PRÁCE V PROCESU INTERVENCE DO ŽIVOTNÍCH SITUACÍ („pomáhající profese", „životní situace", podobnosti a rozdíly sociální politiky a sociální práce) • 3. TÝDEN - PŘEDNÁŠKA. SOCIÁLNÍ POLITIKA A SOCIÁLNÍ PRÁCE V PROCESU INTERVENCE DO ŽIVOTNÍCH SITUACÍ (interakce sociální politiky a sociální práce, „kognitivní podmíněnost vnímání situace klienta") 4. TÝDEN - ZADÁNÍ ESEJE: „SROVNÁNÍ ČINNOSTI SOCIÁLNÍHO PRACOVNÍKA A TVŮRCE PROGRAMŮ SOCIÁLNÍ POLITIKY Z HLEDISKA STUDOVANÉHO OBORU" kontrola: odevzdat dotazy k literatuře zadání 1: Vypracujte návrh kategorie klientů, specializované role sociálního pracovníka a specializované role ' tvůrce programů sociální politiky, jejichž reflexe bude předmětem eseje (viz obsah eseje bod 1) a odevzdejte jej 5. týden (max. 1 strana A4). zadání 2: Vypracujte první verzi eseje a odevzdejte ji v 11. týdnu. zásady vypracování eseje: 1. téma eseje zní:.„Vnímání životní situace vybraného klienta sociálním pracovníkem a tvůrcem programů sociální politiky." 2. cíle eseje jsou: - Pochopit komplexněji pojem „životní situace" a „kognitivní podmíněnost vnímání situace klienta". - Aplikovaťpojmy „životní situace" a „kognitivní podmíněnost vnímání situace klienta" na vybraný případ a hledat odpověď na otázlcu: „Kteralc je možné využít uvedené pojmy při poznávání situace konlcrétního klienta, při reflexi přístupu různých aktérů procesu intervence ä při sebereflexi vlastní interpretace potíží klienta?" - Promyslet zvolený případ z hlediska pojmu životní situace, porozumět podobnostem a odlišnostem ve způsobu vnímání případu sociálním pracovníkem a tvůrcem programu sociální politiky. - - Naučit sáodlišovat: a) „kognitivní východiska", to je hlediska interpretace životní situace klienta/ů a otázky o této situaci z nich plynoucí, b) definici životní situace konlaétirího/ch klienta/ů, to je odpovědi na otázicy „a", c) cíle intervence, to je očekávané změny životní situace klienta/ů, které plynou z odpovědí „b", d) postupy zvolené pro dosažení těchto cílů. .Klíčová je schopnost sociálního pracovníka uvědomit si hlediska a otázicy „a". Ta jsqu totiž většinou uplatňována bezděky, se samozřejmostí, jejímž důsledkem je, že pracovník ví, jak postupuje, ale neví proč to dělá - neví, jaká kognitivní východiska ho k tomu vedla. Schopnost rozpoznat vlastní kognitivní východiska intervence dělá z laika odborníka, umožňuje tato východiska měnit a volit různé přístupy k intervenci podle toho, co vyžaduje situace kienta/ů. 3. postup práce: 3.1 Vyberte jednu specializovanou roli sociálního pracovníka a jednu specializovanou roli tvůrce programů sociální politiky, které znáte z vlastní zkušenosti, z vyprávění věrohodného svědka nebo z literatury. Obě role volte tak, aby intervence sociálního pracovníka i tvůrce programů sociální politiky byla zaměřena na stejnou kategorii klientů. Příklady takových dvojic mohou být: - sociální pracovník v domově důchodců a tvůrce zákona o sociálních službách, - sociální pracovník pečovatelské služby a tvůrce obecní koncepce služeb pro seniory, - streetworker a tvůrce zákona o sociálně právní ochraně,. - terénní pracovník v problémovéromské komunitě a tvůrce programu romského bydlení městské části Brna, - sociální pracovník na oddělení péče ö dítě a tvůrce zákona ö rodině, - sociální pracovník na oddělení péče o dítě a tvůrce regionálního systému vyhledávání dětí ohrožených syndromem CAN, - probační pracovník a tvůrce novely navrhující zavedení alternativních trestů do trestního zákoníku, - pracovník centra protidrogové prevence a tvůrce ndvely navrhující trestní postih držení určitého množství nelegální drogy, . , ■ - pracovník centra protidrogové prevence a tvůrce místního programu prevence HIV/AIDS, -atd., 3.2 Sami za sebe popište a co nejkomplexněji promyslete životní situaci, kterou se ze svého hlediska zabývají. (mohou zabývat) oba specializovaní pracovníci (viz 1). Součástí tohoto popisu musí být: (3.2.a) popis situace jako komplexu dílčích potíží a problémů, které klientovi brání zvládat jeho situaci, (3.2.b) popisu situace klienta(ů) z hlediska konceptu „životní situace", kterou uvádí Bartlett (1970); prvky životní situace lclienta(ů) vymezte tak, aby Vám to umožnilo postíhnouť všechny důležité „nerovnováhy", se kterými se klient(i) potýká(ají), (3.2.c) popis klíčových nerovnováh (překážek), jejichž nezvládání podvazuje možnost klienta(ů) zvládat ostatní potíže a celou situaci a od nichž je třeba při intervenci začít. 3.3 Nad rozdíly a podobnostmi mezi přístupem sociální práce a sociální politiky se zamyslete při pojednání o otázce: „Jaké otázky si o situaci (ne o cílech postupu intervence ) klienta klade sociální pracovník a tvůrce programů sociální politiky?": . ._ (3 3 .d) popište z jakých hledisek bude situaci vymezenou v bodech „a" až „c" u nás (v ČR) podle Vaší zkušenosti, Vašich poznatků nebo podle Vašeho názoru vnímat, posuzovat nebo hodnotit Vámi vybraný sociální pracovníkj čili: „Jaké otázky si bude o situaci klienta klást vybraný sociální pracovník?", (3.3. e) popište z jakých hledisek bude situaci vymezenou v bodech „a" až ,,c" u nás (v ČR) podle Vaší zkušenosti, Vašich poznatků nebo podle Vašeho názoru vnímat, posuzovat nebo hodnotit Vámi vybraný tvůrce programu sociální politiky, čili: „Jaké otázky si bude o situaci klienta klást vybraný tvůrce programu sociální politiky?;", (3.3 .f) srřjvnejte hlediska/otázky sociálního pracovníka („d") a hlediska/otázky tvůrce programu sociální politiky („e") a vysvětlete v čem spočívají rozdíly a podobnosti mezi těmito otázkami; odpovídejte na otázku: „Kterých dimenzí životní situace klienta si všímají sociální pracovník atvůrce programu současně, kterých jeden na rozdíl od druhého a proč?" Neuvádějte, že sociální pracovník vidí situaci klienta bezprostředně a konkrétně, kdežto tvůrce'programu zprostředkovaně a obecně; Porovnejte otázky obou a uveďte, které aspekty situace klienta jsou předmětem pozornosti jednoho a druhého, a pokuste se zdůvodnit, proč tomu tak ve Vámi vybraném případě je. (3.3.g) uveďte stručně, čeho by si na situaci klienta(ů) měli podle Vašeho názoru oba experti všímat. V bodě „d" a „e" zejména zdůvodněte zda a proč se pracovníci dané specializace zabývají jen některými dimenzemi nebo dokonce jednou z dimenzí komplexnější situace, ve Icteré se klient/i nachází. Všímejte si, zda se pracovníci při realizaci těchto úkolů zaměřují především na osobnost klientafu) nebo na podmínky, ve kterých žije/í. 4. Text esej bude v návaznosti na uvedený postup zpracování rozdělen do sedmi kapitol: - Váš vlastní popis životní situace klienta/ů jako komplexu dílčích překážek sociálního fungován (viz 3.2.a)j - Váš vlastní popis životní situace klienta/ů z hlediska konceptu „životní situace", kterou uvádí Bartlett (viz 1970)(viz3.2.b), - Váš vlastní popis klíčové/ých nerovnováhy/h, jejichž nezvládání podvazuje možnost zvládat ostatní potíže a celou situaci a od nichž je třeba při intervenci začít (viz 3.2.c), ' - otázky, Icteré si bude pravděpodobně o životní situaci klienta/ů (ňe o cílech a postupu intervence) klást Vámi vybraný sociální pracovník (viz 3.3.d), 1 - otázky, Icteré si bude pravděpodobně o životní.situaci klienta/ů (ne o cílech a postupu intervence) klást Vámi vybťaný tvůrce programu sociální politiky (viz 3.3.e), - srovnání otázek sociálního pracovníka a otázek tvůrce programu sociální politiky o životní situaci klienta/ů (ne o cílech a postupu intervence) (viz 3.3.f), - Váš názor na to, čeho by si na životní situaci klienta měli podle Vašeho názoru oba experti všímat (viz 3.3.g). 5. To vše se musí vejít nejvýše na 5 stran textu. 5. TÝDEN - PŘEDNÁŠKA: DÍLČÍ OBLASTI SOCIÁLNÍ POLITIKY A SOCIÁLNÍ PRÁCE kontrola: odevzdat návrh tématu eseje 1 Případně jasně odlište otázky, Icteré se týkají životní situace klienta, a otázky, Icteré se týkají cílů a postupu intervence. 6. TÝDEN-PŘEDNÁŠKA: KOMUNITNÍ PRÁCE A POLITIKA OSOBNÍCH SOCIÁLNÍCH SLUŽEB (průniky sociální politiky a sociální práce) 7. TÝDEN - KONZULTACE K NÁVRHŮM TÉMAT ESEJŮ 8. TÝDEN - PŘEDNÁŠKA: POZNÁVÁNÍ V SOCIÁLNÍ POLITICE A SOCIÁLNÍ PRÁCI 9. TÝDEN - PŘEDNÁŠKA: „TEORffi INDIVIDUALIZACE" A ÚLOHA SOCIÁLNÍ PRÁCE V PROCESU ADMINISTRACE PROGRAMŮ SOCIÁLNÍ POLITIKY • A' - literatura: GIDDENS, A.: Důsledky modernity. SLON, Praha 1998, s. 26-33, 39-45, 111-112. MUSIL, L.: O významu mikrosveta pro fungování sociálního stáru. Sociológia, roČ. 32, 2000, č. 1, s. 98-102. MUSIL, L.: Sociální dávky jako součást komplexní intervence do situace klienta. In: Mareš, P. a kol, Dávky sociálního státu: nastavení systému -jeho ekonomická i sociální efektivita a sociální konselcvence pro klienty sociálního státu i společnost, FSS MU a Nakladatelství Georgetown, Brno 2001, s. 128-137. SIMMEL, G.: Dobrodružství. In: Simmel, G., Peníze v moderní kultuře a jiné eseje, SLON, Praha 1997, s. 44 - 60. . ■. i ■ - j;; ■ ■ 10. TÝDEN - PŘEDNÁŠKA/DISKUSE: DILEMATA PODPŮRNÝCH PROFESÍ 11. TÝDEN - PŘEDNÁŠKA.: CÍLE STUDIA SOCIÁLNÍ POLITIKY A SOCIÁLNÍ PRÁCE V ČR A PROGRAM STUDIA OBORU NA FSS MU V BRNĚ kontrola: odevzdejte první verzi eseje 12. TÝDEN - KONZULTACE K PRVNÍ VERZI ESEJŮ zadání: vypracujte konečnou verzi eseje a odevzdejteji ve 13. týdnu 13. TÝDEN -PŘEDNÁŠKA: CÍLE STUDIA SOČÍÁLNÍ POLITIKY A SOCIÁLNÍ PRÁCE V ČR A PROGRAM STUDIA OBORU NA FSS MU V BRNĚ kontrola: odevzdejte konečnou verzi eseje OPRAVNÝ TERMÍN: Autoři neakceptovaných esejů mají ve zkouškovém období druhou možnost esej přepracovat. Termín k tomuto účelu určené individuální konzultace bude dohodnut na poslední přednášce. Termín odevzdání přepracovaného eseje je 30. ledna. ' Ľ- ' L ' - - '' Ü--* u_J d. J 1 _l 86 THE COMMON BASE OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE work, whose members must be able to deal with intricate social situations, cannot—and will not—attain its full strength and become a fully functioning profession until its members can identify their area of central concern and define the nature of the problems, situations, and social phenomena with which their helping process and professional actions are concerned. Further, change and complexity in the area of social relationships today make It harder for social work to do this than other professions that deal with older and more easily understood areas of human need or func-' tion, such as health, education, and law. The helping process in social work, which demands the capacity to influence social behavior and social conditions, depends.upon adequate understanding of their nature. The practitioner must command and use relevant knowledge. The building of such a body of professional knowledge requires identification pf the particular phenomena with which the profession deals and concepts for organizing thinking regarding these phenomena. For a profession like social work to be effective in today's society, it must identify an area of central concern that is (1) common .to the profession as a whole, (2) meaningful in terms of the profession's values and goals, (3) practical in terms of available and attainable knowledge and techniques,, and (4) sufficiently distinctive so that it does not duplicate what other professions are doing. To do-this demands readiness to work as intensively on understanding social phenomena and social situations as on understanding processes, methods, and action. It calls for the kind of integrative thinking that will draw from social work's past the ideas that.are relevant, combine them with new ideas, and build the essential components into powerful, comprehensive concepts regarding the profession's focus, which will demonstrate convincingly to its members and to society where the profession stands and what it has to offer.. Early Concepts If asked to describe their profession, most social workers would probably emphasize two central ideas: (1) it is a helping profession and (2) it is concerned with the social functioning of people. What is meant by the notion of a helping profession? It is a profession that brings services to people, with the aim of modifying VuCUS cir-^CttliLlCTIllíw ÍL 3__J J___,' |___j situations to improve the welfare of individuals and society. Thus it is change oriented. Since change involves doing something about a situation, the professional worker is a participant in the change process.- The social worker who helps a client change his attitudes or a group of agencies to co-ordiinate their services is necessarily a part of the situation as -long as the change process is going on. Each service profession gives special meaning to the idea of helping according to its own perspective, particularly its values and ways of working with people. What, then, is added by the notion that social workers offer help in the area of social functioning? Obviously no one profession can claim this as its exclusive domain because it is too broad. Understandably, others are already moving in to stake their claim. If the idea of social functioning is to be used as a starting point, it must be defined further.. As now used in social work, the idea is too vague and is being used with too many varied meanings. Throughout most of its history, social work has had no central concept to describe its area of responsibility and expertise. Some ■ social workers have.stressed their concern with social problems, others with the skilled process. Still others have concentrated on . a particular field of practice, such as family welfare, health, or . corrections. In spite.of these apparently varied interests, certain consistent and cumulative trends in thinking can be traced. In earlier days social workers were concerned equally with problems of individuals and population groups. One interest took the form of social casework and the other resembled what is now called "social action." Although the thirties and forties showed a marked «wing toward service to individuals, the interest in broadep social conditions and problems calling for social .work's concern was never lost and reappeared strongly toward the rnidcentury, restoring the old balance. Furthermore, in their literature, practice, and teaching, social workers characteristically perceived the individual as a person functioning in a social situation. Even though the -concepts developed in social casework centered on personality, social workers never gave up iheir concern for the environment and its impact on the individual. The term "psychosocial" was increasingly used to describe the social work focus.1 i.Jee the following references in Cora Kasius, ed.. Social Casework in the Fifties (New York: Family Service Association of America, 1962): \ .•'í J» . —....._Jb í I 88 -IľT"!___1—|___J 1 ti. 1 THE COMMON BASE OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE Certainly it may be said that for a considerable period interest centered on the psychic aspects, the significance of the social environment was devalued, and a serious effort to bring the "psychic" and the "social" together was not made. Yet in spite of its ambivalence, the young profession persisted in asserting its continuous interest in both the person and his environment and recognizing that to fullnll its purpose as a helping profession it must eventually come to grips with the whole pérson-in-situation phenomenon, in all its facets and with all its implications. Regrettably, early efforts at such conceptualization were not picked up and used. In her discussion of social evidence, Richmond placed the client in his family and neighborhood and suggested the key questions relevant to a number of typical social situations, such as the immigrant family and the widow with children.2 This part of her thinking, however, was lost to casework teaching and theory when psychotherapy claimed primary interest. In 1935 Cannon presented an interpretation of the social work focus that is equally relevant more than thirty years later. She said: No longer in the mind of the social case worker is poverty a sort of moral failure or even a disease of personality; it is a discrepancy between individual capacity and environmental demand upon it. No longer is rehabilitation of the dependent the social case worker's concept of cure, but rather the restoration of balance by strengthening environmental support on the one hand and releasing resident energies in the individua] on the other.* In 1937 Sheffield suggested that the unit with which social casework deals should be the "need situation," as defined by a "so- Gordon Hamilton, "The Role of Social Casework in Social Policy," pp. 33 and 43, and Samuel Finestone, "The Scientific Component In the Casework Field Curriculum," pp. 315-320. See also Isabel L. Stamm, "Ego Psychology in the Emerging Theoretical Base of Casework," in Alfred J. Kahn, ed., Issues In American Social Work (New York: Columbia University Pr«w, 1958), pp. 84-87. »Mary E. Richmond, Social Diagnosis (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1917). 1 M. Antoinette Cannon, '"Where the .Changes in Social Caw Work Have Brought Us," in Fem Lowry, ed., Readings In Social Case Work: 1920-JPJ*.(New York: Columbia University Přen, 1939), p. 112.' IJ^^jPjJ^jp^P^jp^JP g. ,1 a___ FOCUS ON SOCIAL FUNCTIOKHSu irJ tL_J o-j_ dally developing purpose." * Thus the concepts of environment and situation keep appearing in the literature. In 1946 Pray carried on-with the theme. Social work comes into play, he said, when familiar, satisfying social relationships are threatened, weakened, and broken and when people seek help in finding more meaningful relationships or in replenishing their strength for meeting the difficulties and "realizing the potentialities of their social situations." Other professions are also interested in the individual but, unlike the others, social work is never primarily concerned with the separate, inner personal life but always With the individual in his social relationships.6 By this time there was greater readiness for such thinking and'Pray's formulation Was widely used. In 1951 Hamilton, on the opening page of her well-known tett on social casework, spoke of two nuclear ideas that distinguish social work as one of the humanistic professions. "The first," she said, "is that the human event consists of person and situation, or subjective and objective reality, which constantly interact." • This.idea of person and situation interacting is elaborated throughout her book. In. 1958 the Working Definition described ihe practitioner's concern with the interaction between the individual and the social environment but did not develop the concept further. It was Boehrrt who, in discussing the nature of social work, formally presented the concept of social functioning, which was being used at {hat time, and clarified its meaning by relating it to social interaction. sThe primary focus of social work is on social interaction, he pointed out. The individual and his environment should r}0t be Viewed a? two separate entities but as an interactional field. In explaning this further, he said: The nature of any problem in the area of social interaction is determined both by the individual's potential capacity for • Ada Eliot Sheffield, Social Insight in Case Situations (New York: D. Applelon-Cenlury Co., 1937), pp. 96-97. • Kenneth L. M. Pray, Social Work in a Revolutionary Age (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1949), pp. 236-237. • Gordon Hamilton, Theory and Practice of Social Case Work (New York: Columbia University Press, 1951), p. 3. social resources he uses to satisfy his needs for self-fulfillment. Hence, the social worker focuses at one and the same time upon the capacity of individuals and groups for effective interaction and upon social resources from the point of vrew ■ of their contribution to effective social functioning. In the light of this dual focus the social worker initiates (alone or with related professional. or nonprofessional community • groups) steps (1) to increase the effectiveness of individuals' interaction with each other, singly, and in groups; and (2) to mobilize appropriate social resources by coordinating, changing, or creating them anew.T Boehm's interpretation was first published concurrently with the Working Definition and later included in the Social Work Curriculum Study of the Council on Social Work Education in 1959.8 His interpretation of social functioning in terms of role performance, a conceptual approach, used by many social workers, is not pursued in this discussion because other concepts that ap^ peared later seem more promising for social work. An Example from One Field Meanwhile other streams of thinking—not recognized as significant at the time—were gathering and flowing together. One of these began in one of the oldest fields of practice, medical social work. Early in this century social workers were drawn into hospitals and clinics by socially minded physicians. This field of practice was based upon a large scientific body of knowledge, centering around the reality problems of illness and medical care, which have a sharp disruptive impact on individuals and families. The physicians, accustomed to scientific thinking and orderly processes in dealing with patients, encouraged social workers to examine and clarify their own practice. A pioneer study, published when medl- * Werner W. Boehm, Objectives of the Social Work Curriculum of the Future (New York: Council on Social Wort Education, 1959), pp. 47-48. *See Werner W. Boehm, "The Nature of Social Work," Social Work, Vol. 3, No. 2 (April 1958), pp. 10-18; and Ibid. it began with the central phenomenon—that of iliness—and described it from a social work viewpoint. In this study and one that followed later, Thornton identified the hospital social worker's concern as those "social conditions which bear directly on the health of the patient, either inducing susceptibility to ill-hcäith, oř helping or hindering the- securing' arid completing of nicdical care." » Social problems created by the illness for other members of the family were also included. This concept, which was later defined as the social component in illness and medical care, encompassed factors in the personality as well as the environment. Thus from the beginning there was recognition of spcial worjeers' responsibility to apply their own thinking to their area of practice and to conceptualize the central problem in social work terms. As psychiatric thinking spread through social work and psychosomatic medicine developed, the term "social component" was less used, but the basic concept persisted. At this stage the meaning of illness to the patient and family was particularly emphasized. Beginning in the thirties, a considerable literature dealing with the psychosocial aspects of illness developed. In these discussions, social workers clearly identified with the patients and families and endeavored to understand the impact of illness on them, their feelings about it, their difficulties with medical care, and their responses to the situation. The concepts of stress in psychosomatic medicine, prevention in public health, and disability in rehabilitation, all contributed to this thinking.10 By the early fifties considerable progress had been made. Starting from the original concept of disease, social workers had moved a long way toward a concept of the psychosocial implications of • The Functions of Hospital Social Service (Chicago: American Association of Hospital Social Workers, 1930), p. 59; and Janel Thornton, The Social Component in Medical Care (New York: Columbia University Press, 1937). 10 Some representative papers arc Irene Grant, "Sochi Work with Tuberculous Patients," The Family, Vol. 13, No. 6 (October 1932), pp. 190-197; Ethel Cohen, "The Social Component in Heart Disease," American Heart Journal, Vol. 16, No. 4 (October 1938), pp. 422-430; Alice A. Grant, "Medical Social Work In an Epidemic of Poliomyelitis," Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 24, No. 6 (June 1944), pp. 691-723; and Caroline H. Elledge, "The Meaning of Illness," Medical Social Work, Vol. 2, No. 2 (April 1953), pp. 49-65. ''' '%%r ■'■''\'f1,>-f'''^"Í'.í' ~«^— p ..... , L' 1 QM................i H'!™""™™"| EJ"........""'" I d ..... i 92 .THE COMMON BASE OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE Ulncss as perceived by social work. There were factors in the situation, however, that were limiting further progress. In working on the various medical services in the hospital, social workers became familiar with one or another medical condition, observed the psychosocial problems presented to patients, and set out to describe them. Working in continuous collaboration with physicians as they did, it was natural to start from the medical condition. After a while, however, it began to appear that some of the problems described as characteristic of one condition were also found to be associated with other conditions. There was increasing overlapping and duplication of ideas. What was happening was that social workers, writing about medical problems in this way, were still under the influence of the medical frame of reference. It was pointed out in Chapter 2 that social work was growing through its fields. Here it seemed that the growth had gone as far as possible within the field. How then could the necessary steps be taken to break through and move clearly into a social work frame of reference? If we re-examine this stream of thinking about the psychosocial aspects of illness, we can see that it was steadily moving toward a concept of social functioning as related to illness. But a social work concept was needed that could be applied to any field. When the medical social workers found themselves hemmed in within the medical frame of reference, the idea of social functioning was still too vague to be useful. Nevertheless, some progress toward such a concept was made. These social workers had not allowed themselves to be confined by "casework," "skill," and "setting," but had used a broader social work approach for understanding and describing the problems regarded as central to their practice. Their ideas encompassed both the personality and the environment. There was continuous concern for both the emotional aspects and the socioeconomic impact of illness on individuals and families. In seeking to analyze and describe the problems presented to patients and their families by illness and medical care, social workers began to recognize recurrent experiences—such as mutilation of the body, physical helplessness, uncertainty of outlook, and fear of death—which present difficulties for all persons who must go through them. Thus there began to bo movement away from concentration on specific diseases (the medical approach) or on ___I FoWoN SOCíÍl FíkľťWlrWJ i~n y j r FOCUS ON SOCIAL runuiunuw unique reactions of individuals (the casework approach) toward identification of common psychosocial problems of illness viewed within a social work perspective. • Emerging Social Work Concepts The next step—to move from the confines of one particular field of practice toward the definition and use oE basic social work concepts in any field of practice—has been facilitated by two directions of thinking that were stimulating to social workers. One was the conceptualization of human growth and development as the successive mastery of the particular problems presented to the individual by each new life cycle through which he passed. The second was the crisis concept, first formulated in mental health and further developed by social workers and behavioral scientists. Here the problems presented by crucial life situations—whether the life cycles of individual growth or specific traumatic episodes like iliness—are conceived as tasks that must be met and dealt with in some way.- The aspect with which social workers are most concerned is repeatedly described as the coping efforts of people to deal with these tasks. A related concern is the consequences of crisis for people in terms of their opportunity for further growth.11 In examining these converging ideas further, we should have in mind the requirements for such concepts, if they are to identify the focus of the profession. They should have high relevance and applicability to the essential elements of social work, particularly its "Values. They should concentrate on a few related phenomena to avoid diffuseness and yet be general enough to cover the range of phenomena found in social work practice. They should hav(: , theoretical interest so that they can stimulate research and be tested. They should move social work thinking toward greater integration." « Ruth. M. BuUer, An 'Orientation to fCnowledge of Human Growth and Behavior In Social Work Education (New York: Council on Social Work Education, 1959); and Howard I. Parad, ed.. Crisis Intervention: Selected Readings (New York: Family Service Association of America, 1965). " William B. Gordon, "Knowledge and Value: Their Distinction and Relationship In Clarifying' Social Work Practice," Social Work, Vol. 10, No. 3 (July 1965), PP.-32-39. «ji intervention, agency programs, or the field of social welfare. These are, of course, all related matters. But we are at this point concentrating on the effort to identify social work's centraI#QCUS—■ the problems, situations, and phenomena with which it is primarily concerned. The Concept oj Task Taking the ideas that had been emerging from social work, we shall see how, used in combination with concepts from other professions, they led toward an integrative concept. The concept of life tasks is one of these." As has been shown, the idea that there are situations which present problems to groups of people and must be dealt with by them in some way began to develop rather early in social work. This was implicit in the concept of "the social component in illness" as developed in medical social work. In 1940 the writer, in discussing the meaning of illness to the patient, described "recurrent situations in Illness or medical care that are difficult for many patients,"' such as entering the hospital or . having some part of the body removed, and the manner in which the problem is revealed through the patient's difficulty in taking ' the necessary step in relation to his medical care.14 Social workers in other fields were exploring similar ideas, such as the meaning of money, family breakdown, and marital friction. They were not, . however, able to move toward the kind of general concept needed for social work because of their concentration on the uniqueness of the individual and emotional aspects of behavior. It was the psychiatrists, because they also individualized patients but through their scientific medical training were accustomed to generalize, who pointed the way. Men like Lindemann and Bowlby recognized that there were life situations, such as bereavement and separation, which presented problems to most people, and that "In the social work literature the tuk concept Is also used to refer to the professional task of the social worker. Here it is used only In relation to the people who are coping with life problems. " Harriett M. Bartiett, Same Aspects of Social Casework in a Medical Setting (Chicago; American Association of Social Workers, 1940), pp. 117 and 123. In his' discussion of ego identity, Erikson described what he caljed "psychosocial crises" at each maturalional stage." It is not clear when the term "task" first came to be used in social work. Writers in psychiatry used such terms as "syndrome" and "crisis," Rapoport, a psychologist, in a study of the critical transition points in the normal family life cycle, such as getting married, described the "inherent tasks" and related them io the coping process.17 ' Austin, a social worker, alsd bronght together the ideas of tasks and coping.18 The crisis model was originally developed in the mentdj health field and was concerned with the prevention of mental disorders. It directed attention primarily to emotional disturbances and psy* chological problems." At first, social workers tended to follow this lead, with an emphasis on ego psychology. They also dis-1 cussed the task-crisis concept in terms of their customary methods framework and wrote about "short-term casework," "preventive casework," and "crisis intervention."2D However, to develop the task concept effectively within a social work framework requires some shift in emphasis. Tasks refer to social phenomena, not techniques. The task is a way of describing critical and demanding situations that confront people.' Social workers, must be equally concerned with the psychic and social implications of situations for the functioning of people in their social relationships " Erich Llndemann, "Symptomatology and Management of Acute Grief," in Parad, ed,, op. dr., pp, 7-21; and John Bowlby, Maternal Care and Mental Health (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 1931). " Erik H. Erikson, "The Problem of Ego Identity," In George S. Klein, ed., Psychological Issues (New York: International Universities Press, 1950), p. 166. "Rhona Rapoport, "Normal Crises, Family Structure, and Mental Health," In Parad, ed., op. ctt., pp. 75-87. 11 Lucille N. Austin, Foreword, in Parad, ed., op. cit., p. xii. "See Gerald Caplan, "General Introduction and Overvfew," pp. 8-10, and Donald C. Klein and Erich Lindemann, "Preventive Intervention in Individual and Family Crisis Situations;" pp. 283-305, in Caplan, ed.. Prevention of Mental Disorders in Children (New York: Basic Books, I96I). " Parad, op. cit. ■L-f i _j L. |----1 | | j I j | j ,j | j J—, |—, | _-^ —^ j—-, f——y y—-y J> « Elizabeth P. Riep, "Concept« of Prevention as Applied to the Practice of Social Work," American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 52, No, 2 (February 1962), pp. 266-274. »»Harriett M. Bartlcll, Social Work Practice in the Health Field 'Ktvr York: National Association of Social Workers, 1961), pp. 150-168. J 96 THE COMMON BASE OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE —which is a somewhat different approach from that of psychiatrists.21 As used in social work, the task concept is a way of describing the demands made upon people by various life situations. These have to do with daily living, such as growing up in the family, learning in school, entering the world of work, marrying and rearing a family, and also with the common traumatic situations of life such as bereavement, separation, illness, or financial difficulties. These tasks call for responses in the form of attitude or action from the people involved in the situation. They are common problems that confront many (or all) people. The responses may differ but most people must deal with the problems in some way or other. Thus progress in identifying the characteristics of such tasks will lead to better understanding of the problems that people face in their daily living. The task concept is not a comprehensive theory like Erikson's theory of human maturation but a single concept referring to one aspect of psychosocial behavior with which social workers are concerned. Thinking about tasks leads to such questions as: What are the tasks presented to individuals and families in meeting the shock of serious illness, the attendant anxiety, and the permanent physical handicap that frequently results? 2a What task faces the delinquent in prison if he is'to move from the restricted prison environment toward a responsible role in community life7 Sometimes the steps to be taken in dealing with tasks are sequential, in that later steps depend on earlier ones. For example, the child must accept separation from home in order to attend school.. The adult must give up the protection of the hospital or prison in order to carry family responsibilities. Since the task concept directs attention to common problems and life situations that many people face, it cuts across old barriers which fragmented social work thinking. It is concerned with the nature of the situation to be dealt with rather than the social worker's skill and activity. By centering interest on common .....J ť _ 5í .„J '»......,J 2---J -J97 FOCUS ON SOCIAL FUNCTIONING (rather than unique) problems, it moves social work toward jls area of central concern, away from the divisive thinking so frequently found in earlier days. It broadens the scope of thinking. For social work it is a new avenue to understanding Human behavior and leads to developing new clusters of knpwledge.?8 The Concept of Coping The idea of task leads directly to the idea of coping. They go together. Haying identified and described the nature of life tasks, we must then try to answer the question of how people actually deal with these tasks. Again, the concept is a broad one, having to do with typical patterns of response and action applicable to many people. Social work thinking in general and casework in particular have directed attention to problems and problem-solving, with special concern for people who have difficulty in solving their problems of living. Because of the dependence on psychiatric theory, there has been an emphasis on emotional, irrational, and unconscious aspects of behavior, which frequently result in evasion and denial and thus temporary or prolonged avoidance of life tasks. In contrast, the emerging concept of coping now emphasizes the conscious, cognitive, and rational aspects of behavior also. In such behavior there is usually a direct engagement with the situation and coping can then be described as relative mastery of the tasks involved in the situation.24 It is recognized that most people will »» After the approach to the concept of social functioning presented in this chapter had been developed and formulated, the writer read a paper by" Elliot Studt, "Social Work Theory and ImpllcaUons for the Pract.ce of Methods," Social Work Education Reporter. Vol. 16, Nb. 2 (lune 1968) pp. 22-24 and 42-^J6, which discusses theory about social work practice derived from research done in a special correctional unit for young offenders. In her paper Studt presents concepts of tasks and situation, regarded as relevant for aU social work practice, lhal have many points of similarity with those developed independently by the writer of this mono- *"« Lois Barclay Murphy and collaborators, The Widening World of Childhood (New York: Basic Books, 1962); and Lydia Rapopor^ QüMH-ented Short-Term Casework.'.' Social Service Review. Vol. 41. No. 1 (March 1967), pp. 39-40. HSIn sufíer stress in dealing with the tasks but that some will be able to take the necessary sleps without becoming excessively disturbed or disorganized. It is further recognized that other peopfefail in life tasks, not through any weakness in themselves, but through lack of opportunity to learn the appropriate betiavior or essential . social skills, that is, from not having had the kind of life experiences that would prepare them to take the necessary steps. The Head Start projects, which provide such missing experiences for deprived preschool children, aim to fill this gap through direct teaching and learning in order to increase the coping capacity of the children when they move into formal education.28 When the demands of the environment are excessive in relation to the coping capacities of the people involved in the situation, then coping becomes ineffectual and the people become helpless and overwhelmed. Poverty, racial discrimination, lack of access to jobs, and other societal problems subject large segments of the population to stress, anxiety, deprivation, and alienation. Here, of course, major efforts for social change must be directed at the environment. In spite of the recognized inadequacy of people's coping in such situations, social workers want to make sure that the people themselves have a part in the planning and action that affect their welfare so that they can maintain positive interaction with the social environment. As the pressures of the environment can be lessened, the coping efforts of the people can become more effective and successful. Some social workers, recognizing the inadequacy of society's provisions for large groups in the population, might consider the concept of coping irrelevant because these people are helpless in dealing with their own situations. The concept is important, however, even in extreme situations, because it emphasizes a concern and respect for people's strivings toward attainment of their' own potential, in line with social work's basic values. It underlines the importance of people's being active and sharing in planning for their own future. Lacking such a concept, social workers could again fall into the error that plagued the field in the early " These projects, developed as part of the federal antipoverty programs during tbe Johnson Administration, offer special'opportunities and training, to preschool children from deprived homes with the aim of preparing them belter for entrance into school. '' days of casework, namely, that of doing for people, which leads to manipulation and domination. The manner in which these concepts of task and coping are being incorporated in practice is demonstrated by the writing of Silverman. Describing services for the widowed during bereavement, she says: "The conceptual scheme by which most of us examine the problems of our clients leads us to seek the etiology of these problems in their early childhood experiences." The service that has been available—casework—is designed to help the client with his malfunctioning, which is viewed as a reflection of personality or interpersonal difficulties resulting from his psychosocial development. She then goes on to analyze the experience of bereavement as a "critical transition" with a beginning and end, between which the individual dots "the work of the transition." Traditionally, casework has emphasized the client's defensive behavior and emotional state. To deal with these problems in terms of the individual's past adjustment, Silverman points out, will not be as effective as dealing with them as a stage in the transition that he will experience and with which—with time and mastery of the current situation—he will be able to cope.*8 Silverman demonstrates progress from casework's earlier emphasis on the psychogenetic history of the individual to a concern with current coping efforts directed toward life tasks-—what she calls "the work of the transition"—that are common lo many or all people. The change of focus a|Ibws social work thinking to move beyond the single idea of ind!vid|ializing the client to generalizing about people's coping efforts, as in relation to widowhood, and thus toward a broader view of behavior. A Concept of Social Functioning for Social Work Now it is possible to return to the question raised at the beginning of this chapter regarding the central focus of social work as a profession. The emerging concepts of task and coping are ■•Phyllis Rolfe Silverman, "Services for (he Widowed During the Period of Bereavement," Social Work Practice, 1966 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1966), pp. 170 and 177. Ti—' " ■ . suitable for social work, the concept may be elaborated and expressed thus: People Coping Exchange Balance "I Environmental Demands These ideas bring together several basic themes for the profes-sion's focus. If the concept is to be genuinely integrative for the profession, it must be comprehensive. Until now most of the social work discussion of social functioning has centered around individuals and families.'«' In this monograph the suggested concept u extended to refer to "people" (whether as individuals or as groups) m order to cover social work practice more fully." To be comprehensive, the concept must also tie social work's central concerns more closely together. It was the failure to bring he ideas of people and environment together and hold them there ttat produced such a long lag in social work thinking. In the past there was a hiatus between the idea of the person and the idea ■ of environment that blocked integrative thinking about the pro-fcsions focus. In individual situations, for instance, social workers talked of using ego psychology on the one side and knowledge of community resources on the other; but they are of different chmenstons. We make progress in. closing the gap when the mteracuon between people and environment is perceived as an active exchange. Often intensive effort will'be required to identify the nature of the exchange between people and environ-"ent that » cruciaI i*1 lhe particular situation. Having obtained "° Alary, op. clt. «After lUs chapter was written, the writer found a paper by Mariorle íí;n w?h T' ™e ?Sl0 °f lhe Social Worker m *■ Reflation VnBV P-tcd to find that our thinking should come togeieV lľL w™. such understanding, the social worker can then move to improve the balance between the people's coping efforts and the environmental demands. This may be done by working with people or environment but most frequently with both and always with concern for the interaction between them. It should be remembered that the ultimate goal of all this social work activity is the growth of the individual. Several theoretical concepts are relevant and important for the refinement of this concept of social functioning. The idea of balance between the demands of the environment and the coping efforts of people is related to the concept of homeostasis, which was developed by Cannon and others to describe the maintenance of a steady state in the internal environment of the human body, through adjustment to various inner and outer threatening events." This steady state is essential for the growth of the human organism, since sudden changes beyond the capacity of the system for self-regulation are disruptive, as has been shown in'studies of stress." Similarly in our concept of social functioning, if there is imbalance in the people-environment exchange, stress may result for people, environment, or both. The interaction of people with their social environment may also be perceived as an open-ended social system. Thus social workers interested in systems theory can explore its contribution to the development of the social functioning concept. Since social workers are concerned with the consequences of interaction, the idea of feedback from systeins theory is useful. In presenting systems theory for social workers, Heáŕn quotes Wiener's statement that "feedback is the property of being able to adjust future conduct by past performance." It may be used not only to regulate specific movements but also wider aspects of behavior." «Waller B. Cannon, The Wisdom of the Body (2d ed.; New York-W.W.Norton 4 Co., 1939). „/«í*80* Se,ye■ The S,reM o/ Ufe