Social workers need knowledge in order to understand
the dynamics of human behavior and conduct client assessments.
The social work process involves helping clients identify and
evaluate available alternatives to select the best plan of action.
The life span is divided into 4 phases:
1) infancy and childhood
2) adolescence
3) young and middle adulthood
4) later adulthood
Biological, psychological, and social (bio-psycho-social) aspects of
development portray common life events, normal developmental milestones, and relevant issues for each phase of life.
13 differences among groups in human diversity are:
1) age
2) class
3) color
4) gender
5) culture
6) disability
7) ethnicity
8) gender identity and expression
9) immigration status
10) political ideology
11) race
12) religion
13) sex and sexual orientation
Cultural competency is the 'mastery of a particular set of knowledge, skills,
policies, and programs used by the social worker that address the cultural needs of individuals, families, groups, and communities.'
Discrimination:
the act of treating people differently because they belong to some group rather than on merit (Discrimination)
Oppression involves putting unfair and extreme limitations and
constraints on members of an identified group.
A population-at-risk is any group of people who share some identifiable
characteristic that places them at greater risk of social and economic depravation and oppression than the general mainstream of society.
Empowerment:
the process of increasing personal, interpersonal, or political power so that the individuals can take action to improve their life situations (Empowerment)
The strengths perspective is an orientation that focuses on client resources, capabilities, knowledge, abilities,
motivations, experience, intelligence, and other positive qualities that can be put to use to solve problems and pursue positive changes. (The strengths perspective)
Empowerment based on strengths can occur at the individual,
group, organizational, and community levels.
EP:
Educational Policy (EP)
CSWE:
Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
EPAS:
Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS)
Cultural Competency:
the mastery of a particular set of knowledge, skills, policies, and programs used by the social worker that address the cultural needs of individuals, families, groups, and communities (Cultural Competency)
Cross-Cultural Understanding:
the ability to appreciate and compare differences and similarities between and among different cultures, including your own (Cross-Cultural Understanding)
Oppression:
putting unfair and extreme limitations and constraints on members of an identified group
Population-at-Risk:
any group of people who share some identifiable characteristic that places them at greater risk of social and economic deprivation and oppression than the general mainstream of society (Population-at-Risk)
Power:
the ability to achieve one's goals despite the opposition of others (Power)
Privilege:
entails special rights or benefits enjoyed because of elevated social, political, or economic status (Privilege)
Prestige:
the amount of social respect or standing given to an individual based on occupation (Prestige)
Prejudgments:
predetermined assumptions made without assessing facts (Prejudgments)
Stereotypes:
standardized views about people who belong to some group that do not take into account individual qualities and differences (Stereotypes)
Promoting empowerment means believing that people are capable of making
their own decisions and choices.
Strengths Perspective:
focuses on client resources, capabilities, knowledge, abilities, motivation, experience, intelligence, and other positive qualities that can be put to use to solve problems and pursue positive changes (Strengths Perspective)
Every individual, group, family, and
community has strengths.
Trauma and abuse, illness and struggle may be injurious, but they may
also be sources of challenge and opportunity.
Every environment is full
of resources.
6 individual strengths can include:
1) educational background
2) work history
3) problem-solving and decision-making skills
4) personal qualities and characteristics
5) physical and financial resources
6) positive attitudes
Resiliency:
the ability of an individual, family, group, community, or organization to recover from adversity and resume functioning even when suffering serious trouble, confusion, or hardship (Resiliency)
Resiliency emphasizes the use of strengths to cope
with adversity and survive, despite difficulties.
Values:
perceptions and opinions held by individuals, professions, and cultures about what is good and desirable (Values)
Ethics:
principles based on values that guide behavior and determine what is right and correct (Ethics)
Values are concerned with ideas while values
have to do with appropriate behavior based on the ideas valued.
6 basic ethical principles to guide practitioners; behavior according to the NASW Code of Ethics are:
1) Social Workers' primary goal is to help people in need and to address social problems
2) Social Workers challenge social justice
3) Social Workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person
4) Social Workers recognize the central importance o
NASW:
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
CASW:
Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW)
IFSW:
International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW)
(www.ifsw.org)
IASSW:
International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW)
(www.iassw-aiets.org)
Critical Thinking:
the careful examination and evaluation of beliefs and actions to establish an independent decision about what is true and what is not (Critical Thinking)
Theory:
a coherent group of principles, concepts, and ideas organized to explain some observable occurrence or trend (Theory)
Human Diversity:
the vast range of human differences and the effects they have on human behavior (Human Diversity)
Population-at-risk:
any group of people who share some identifiable characteristic that places them at greater risk of social and economic depravations and oppression than the general mainstream society (Population-at-risk)
Human Rights:
the premise that all people, regardless of race, culture, or national origin, are entitled to basic rights and treatment (Human Rights)
Social Justice:
the idea that in a perfect world, all citizens would have identical rights protection, opportunities, obligations and social benefits (Social Justice)
Ethical Dilemmas:
situations in which ethical principles conflict and all other solutions are imperfect (Ethical Dilemmas)
The person-in-environment perspective is bases on the belief that the profession's basic
mission requires a dual focus on the person and the environment and a common structures approach to the helping process.
System:
a set of elements that are orderly and interrelated to make a functional whole (System)
Boundaries:
are the borders or margins that separate one entity from another (Boundaries)
Subsystem:
a secondary or subordinate system that is a component of a larger system (Subsystem)
Homeostasis:
the tendency for a system to maintain a relatively stable, constant state of balance (Homeostasis)
Role:
the culturally established social behavior and conduct expected of a person in any designated interpersonal relationship (Role)
Relationship:
a reciprocal, dynamic interpersonal connection characterized by patterns of emotional exchange, communication, and behavioral interaction (Relationship)
Input:
involves the energy, information, or communication flow received from other systems (Input)
Output:
is the response of a system, after receiving and processing input, that affects other systems in the environment
Outco0mes are specified variables that are measured for
the purpose of evaluation.
Feedback:
a special form of input in which a system receives information about its own performance (Feedback)
Negative Feedback:
involves problematic function- the system can then choose to correct any deviations or mistakes and return to a more homeostatic state (Negative Feedback)
Positive Feedback:
involves a system's receiving information about what it is doing correctly in order to maintain itself and thrive
Interface:
the point at which 2 systems come into contact with each other to communicate (Interface)
Differentiation:
a system's tendency to move from a simpler to a more complex existence (Differentiation)
Entropy:
the tendency of a system to progress toward disorganization, depletion, and death (Entropy)
Negative Entropy:
the process of a system toward growth and development (Negative Entropy)
Equifinality:
refers to the fact that there are many different means to the same end (Equifinality)
Social Environment:
involves the conditions, circumstances, and human interactions that encompass human beings (Social Environment)
Transactions:
the communication and interactions with others in their environments (Transactions)
Energy:
the natural power of active involvement between people and their environments (Energy)
Adaptation:
refers to the capacity to adjust to surrounding environmental conditions (Adaptation)
Coping:
a form of adaptation that implies a struggle to overcome problems (Coping)
There are at least 5 types of
coping skills important for people to develop.
The 5 types of coping skills important to develop are:
1) solicit and obtain the types of information they need to function well
2) thinking and planning about the future
3) how to control emotions
4) the ability to control their needs for immediate gratification
5) how to identify alternative ways of approac
Interdependence:
the mutual reliance of each person on every other person (Interdependence)
Community:
a number of people with something in common that connects them I some way and that distinguishes them from others (Community)
Organizations:
structured groups of people who come together to work toward some mutual goal and perform established work activities that are divided among various units (Organizations)
Organizational theory:
includes specific attempts to understand how organizations function, what improves or impairs the ability of an organization to accomplish its mission, and what motivates people to work toward organizational goals (Organizational theory)
Community Theory has 2 primary components, they are:
1) the perspectives on the nature of the community
2) how social workers practice within the community context
Structure:
refers to the boundaries that define and the rules that govern any particular community (Structure)
The 3 dimensions emphasized in communities are:
1) communities are political entities
2) being related to the political is power
3) the geographical organization
Sociopsychological Perspective:
involves how its members feel about themselves and interact with one another (Sociopsychological Perspective)
Human Ecology Perspective:
focuses on the relationship of populations to their environment, especially in regard to spatial organization - how people and services are distributed.
The ecological approach considers how the environment affects
human development, interaction, and quality of life.
Competition:
concerns how community members vie for the use of land and seek an advantage of place for commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential purposes (Competition)
Segregation:
the detachment or isolation of some group having certain common characteristics (Segregation)
Integration:
the process of bringing together and blending a range of groups (Integration)
Social Class:
refers to the inequalities among people measured in such terms as socioeconomic status and life style (Social Class)
Social Systems Perspective:
emphasizes analyzing how the various social subsystems within the community interact with each other (Social Systems Perspective)
A strength of the systems perspective on communities is
the emphasis on interconnections.
Community Development Model:
seeks to improve a broad cross section of people in identifying and solving their problems - asserts that community change can best be brought about through broad participation of a wide spectrum of people at the local community level (Community Developme
Social Planning Model:
emphasizes a technical process of problem solving - it assumes that community change in a complex industrial environment requires highly trained and skilled planners who can guide complex change processes (Social Planning Model)
Social Action Model:
assumes there is a disadvantaged (often repressed) segment of the population that needs to be organized, perhaps in alliance with others, in order to pressure the power structure for increased resources or for treatment more in accordance with democracy o
Community Capacity Development:
assumes that change is best accomplished when the people affected by problems are empowered with the knowledge and skills needed to understand their problems, and then work cooperatively together to overcome them (Community Capacity Development)
Community Capacity:
the potential use of the community's inherent strengths, resources, citizen participation, and leadership (Community Capacity)
Advocacy:
involves stepping forward on the behalf of the client system in order to promote fair ad equitable treatment or gain needed resources (Advocacy)
Policy Advocacy:
policy practice that aims to help powerless groups (Policy Advocacy)
Social Agency:
an organization providing social services overseen by a board of directors and usually staffed by various personnel including social workers members of other professions, paraprofessionals, and clerical staff (Social Agency)
Organizations are social
entities - they are made up of people with all their strengths and failings. (concept 1)
Organizations are goal-directed - they exist
for some specified purpose. (concept 2)
Organizations are deliberately structured and
coordinated activity systems. (concept 3)
A 4th concept inherent in the definition of organizations is linkage to
the external environment. (concept 4)
Accountability:
a practitioner's responsibility to clients, community, and agency for ethical and effective practice (Accountability)
Enabler:
helps a client cope wit various stresses ranging from crisis situations like divorce or job loss to community issues like inadequate housing or daycare - micro, mezzo, or macro level (Enabler)
Mediator:
resolves arguments or conflicts among micro, mezzo, or macro levels - micro, mezzo, or macro level (Mediator)
Integrator/Coordinator:
integration is the process of bringing together various parts to form a unified whole/coordination involves bringing components together in some organizes fashion (Integrator/Coordinator)
Manager:
involves having some level of administrative responsibility for a social agency or other unit in order to accomplish the following goals (Manager)
Educator:
involves giving information and teaching skills to client and other systems (Educator)
Analyst/Evaluator:
determines whether a program, agency, or policy is effective (Analyst/Evaluator)
Broker:
helps link clients (individuals, groups, organizations, or communities) with community resources and services (Broker)
Facilitator:
guides and directs a group encounter or gathering (Facilitator)
Initiator:
calls attention to an issue (Initiator)
Negotiator:
represents an organization, a group, or an individual that is trying to gain something from another group or system (Negotiator)
Advocate:
one who speaks out on behalf of individuals, groups, or communities to promote air and equitable treatment or gain needed resources (Advocate)