CH 1 OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL WORK

REVIEW

History of Social Work

Definition of Generalist Practice

Purpose & Mission of Social Work

Social Work Theories: Systems & Ecological Perspective

Generalist Intervention Model Overview

HISTORY OF SOCIAL WORK….. Outstanding social leaders in 1800s and early 1900s worked to bring innovative solutions to social conditions. Basically, governmental responses were ill-equipped to handle problems of the poor, mentally ill, immigration, housing and child welfare systems as our nation was growing and changing. Private and religious entities stepped up to help, and Social Work was born.

Began with group work, advocacy, and social activism, social leadership as they began to evoke change on personal and broad spectrum. Birth of settlement houses, YMCA, YWCA, Girl Scouts, Red Cross, Jewish Community Centers. First organizations were called Association for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor and Children’s Aid Society.

Mostly upper-class women and men from faith-based or secular groups performed social work. Following Civil War, industrial growth caused social needs to arise (mini Depressions, racism, discrimination, immigration).

HISTORY CONT’D 1877 American Charity Organization Society (COS) was born to address issues on large scale. Enter cultural diverse needs = desire for more personalized services by own people.

Birth of Settlement Houses (1889- Hull House, Chicago): focused on environmental causes of poverty and employment concerns for poor; research; established juvenile court system; widow’s pension, addressed legislative issues on child labor, health care reform, and social insurance, women’s rights, civil rights = GROUP WORK/COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION

Individual case work vs. Group Work MICRO & MACRO PRACTICE

Columbia University had first School of Social Work in early 1900s (MSW)

SW shifted into practice-based models in 1910s and its “branch” flourished…

WW2, Great Depression, Roosevelt’s New Deal-explosion of social needs and services

CSWE 1952, NASW 1955 SOCIAL WORK!!!

1960s War on Poverty Pres. Johnson—Head Start, Economic Opportunity Act, Job Corps, Neighborhood Youth Corps, Community Action, Food Stamps, Elem/Secondary School Education Act, Peace Corps, VISTA

1970s Nixon/Ford/Carter eras—Social Security Amendments, focus on welfare dependency, child abuse, increase of poverty numbers, cultural awareness, gender awareness, BSW degree, growth of private practice, block grants to curb state expenditures on social services

1980s Reagan—social programs reduced or frozen, reliance on private organizations, tax increases, poverty numbers increased, war on drugs, HIV/AIDS epidemic, domestic violence, homelessness

1990s Clinton—TANF shift from feds to state control, put emphasis on private sector services, low coverage for health care for kids, baby boomers aging, prescription drug costs increasing, welfare reform, schools of SW increased research on mental health, aging, domestic violence and child welfare

http://ssw.umich.edu/about/history/brief-history-of-social-work

KEY PLAYERS IN EARLY SOCIAL WORK

Jane Addams

Florence Kelley

Ellen Gates Starr

Dorothea Dix

Abraham Lincoln

Samuel Gridley Howe

Ida M. Cannon

Grace Abbott

Grace Coyle

Mary Ellen Richmond

Eleanor Roosevelt

WHAT IS GENERALIST PRACTICE?The application of an eclectic knowledge base of professional values, and a wide range of skills to target systems of any size for change. Emphasis on client empowerment, working within organizational structures, wide range of roles, and utilizing effective critical thinking skills to plan change

PURPOSE AND MISSION OF SOCIAL WORK Enhance the problem solving and coping capacities of people

Link people with systems that provide them with resources, services, and opportunities

Promote the effective and humane operation of these systems

Contribute to the development and improvement of social policy

ROLES OF GENERALIST PRACTICE

Counselor/ Therapist

Educator

Broker

Case Manager

Mobilizer

Mediator

Facilitator

Advocate

Spokesperson

Organizer

Consultant

Supervisor

BIG SOCIAL WORK CONCEPTS

Target Systems (Figure 1.2, p. 9)

Micro Individual

Mezzo Families, Small Groups

Macro Communities, Organizations

Systems Theory- the “parts” of a whole- work together in relationship for a function- ex. car

Ecological Perspective- how organisms adapt to their environment-person-in-environment, coping, transactions- living & dynamic interactions

******Group Eco-Map**********

Generalist Intervention Model (GIM)

Goal: to empower change through a 7-step planned change model

CRITICAL THINKING AND PLANNED CHANGE

What is critical thinking? Ask questions Be inquisitive about how interventions work & their effectiveness Examine & evaluate statements Use scientific reasoning

“Critical thinkers question what others take for granted.” (Gambrill and Gibbs, 2009)

What is planned change?Development & implementation of a strategy for improving or altering “some specified conditioning, pattern of behavior, or set of circumstances that affect social functioning.”

GENERALIST INTERVENTION MODEL

1. Engagement

2. Assessment

3. Planning

4. Implementation

5. Evaluation

6. Termination

7. Follow-up