As a result of applying appropriate theory the organisation and structure of social work practice may be enhanced (Howe 1993).
Social workers use theory to inform practice and provide a sense of direct and guidance in their professional engagement with service users.
The problem areas that intervention will attempt to address in this case study are; John’s aggression, ineffective disciplinary methods, lack of attention, labelling, the family’s needs, parenting skills, financial constraints, educational concerns, behaviour of other children, marital relationship, power imbalances in the home, and oppression in general. The mother in finding it difficult to cope with the demands of hectic family life and discipline at the moment is ineffective; John is sent to his room and then climbs out the window. There are discrepancies in discipline as John is less obedient in his father’s presence. Intervention will attempt to assist the family to function at an acceptable level, to promote members of the family to respect each other and have renewed esteem at an individual and group level.
Looking at the family as a system implies that individuals, society and the family are interrelated. The functioning of one part in turn affects other parts (Pincus and Minahan 1973).
When parts are defective and need repair the entire system may be thrown into disarray. The worker may act as mediator between different parts and reunite the conflicting parts of a dysfunctional system. Intervention by the worker in this case may clear communication channels that have perhaps become blocked in the course of boisterous family life.
The Term Paper on In Our Societys Criminal Justice System Justice Equals Punishment You
In our society's criminal justice system, justice equals punishment. You do the crime, and you do the time. Once you have done the time, you have paid your debt to society and justice has been done. Because our society defines justice in this manner, the victims of crimes often seek the most severe possible punishment for their offenders. Society tells them this will bring justice, but it often ...
The point of using systems theory is to repair the system to working accord, to try to recognise those significant systems which the mother has to deal with i.e. children, husband, parents, in-laws, GP, school and siblings. Instead of focusing only on one problem area the worker is interested in communication between all the related systems. This may be; the quality of the bond between mother and son (Bowlby 1969), the dynamics of the marriage and any evidence of abuse within these relationships. There will also be emphasis on how well John integrates with his systems; his peers, siblings, teachers, the community in general and his parents.
The result of these interactions will be influenced by his contribution but
other parts will be also affected by the responses of the relevant systems (www.ClinicalSocialWork.com/systems.html).
Awareness of the context in which interactions are taking place is vital. It is necessary to consider any underlying issues; mum may be depressed and may feel powerless in her social environments. It may be necessary to empower the mother to improve other interactions within the family system. She may be suffering from the classic double oppression of gender and class (Schulman 1992:7).
Feelings of powerless by the mother in turn may affect behaviour elsewhere, perhaps leading to marital rows which in turn may lead to John’s difficult behaviour. The worker should seek to identify problems which are the symptoms of failure in system interaction and not as a consequence of oppression.
The difficulties the family are undergoing may actually emphasize unmet needs in the systems of the local area such as; a lack of community and voluntary services, no adequate play are for children, poor public transport, poor housing or inadequacies in health care. Normal family tensions are certainly prone to aggravation when under economic stress (Bryer 1998:15).
Nevertheless the worker cannot, even with the full co-operation of the family solve all the problems in the area. She may be able to bring a measure of alleviation to the situation but on the whole this lack of resources will remain. The emphasis instead may be on how the family accepts the lack of resources and lessens the negative impact on them. However this could prove quite difficult if the family remain powerless. A theoretical approach that offers more chance of empowerment may be more suited to this case study.
The Essay on Blended Family Problems
But if another parent assigns regular household jobs to children, these children would hate their new step siblings who don't do anything. That's unfair and they may argue, complain or even fight together. The last main problem is about the house space. When new family members move into the other's home, the adults and children may have to share the bedrooms, etc. Sometimes the teenagers are ...
Systems theory involves viewing clients and how they interact in their social environment; the stressed system are studied, identified and then treated. The social worker mediates between the change system, the client system, target systems and the action system. It may not be appropriate to apply this theory solely as it feels like a cold medical model; the worker not the service user identifies the faulted part and predominantly social work skills and knowledge are applied to repair it. The task centred model with emphasis on service user participation and empowerment, may have a greater chance of improving the lives of this family.
The task centred model draws from a number of backgrounds. Amid influences from social learning and behavioural, it can also accommodate other approaches such as counselling (Davies 1997:1995).
Task centred work encompasses a basic hypothesis that most people have the means and the want to resolve their problems. The participatory nature of the task centred model allows clients to identify problems as they understand them and recognise how improvement may possibly be accomplished. In effect, the worker evens the power imbalances by passing power to the service user. Power is an inevitable feature of the relationships between social workers and clients as well as the inequalities that produce our social structure (Thompson 1997:132).
The power of social workers in terms of statutory powers and influence over other agencies is also important. The worker’s power can be used in an oppressive way. It can be abused or the worker may not be sufficiently sensitive to issues of oppression and thus involuntarily disengage clients because of social location, gender, race and age.
The Essay on Information Systems Barrier analyses: Task Information Systems
Design of an organization is an important facilitator of strategic information systems schemes. Yet ancient IS structures are not aligned with the age of information systems since they cannot cope with the ever increasing change and the fast horizontal indulge and usage of expansive information technologies (Boar, 2001). A design of an organization that takes into account the ideas of internal ...
As a contrast to systems theory, the task centred approach informs the worker exactly what the problems are as identified by the client and then offers a prescription on how to address such problems. The family in this case study could benefit from the implementation of a task centred model as they are exhibiting a specific range of problems; family conflict, difficulty in role performance and behaviour problems (Reid and Shyne 1969).
However it may be useful to incorporate some systems theory. It is evident that there has been a collapse in the ‘system’, with the family not functioning proficiently. There may be many underlying problems; interaction with governmental systems, education systems, group or individual systems. The task centred model on the whole may still enhance practicability as it may give the family, clear basic guidelines on how to bring about improvement in important interactions with the systems in their lives.
The task centred model is characterised by identifying problems, selecting target problems and then using tasks to address them. Continuous review and negotiation between service user and social worker creates an enabling and empowering environment. The family should be clear that they are willingly participating in a time limited process, with marked phases that will attempt to work out some of the problems presented. Like behavioural work, task centred practice is short term, lessening dependence (Epstein 1988:165).
There is flexibility to allow a new contract for extra sessions if needed, although time limits cannot be lengthened excessively in an attempt to avoid aimless drifting and reliance on the worker.
During the course of problem exploration and assessment, problems may be identified by the client, may materialise via discussions or the worker may identify problems, being careful not to lesson the client’s expertise. Problems are unmet needs or unsatisfied wants as perceived by the client. They can be articulated into a commonsense arrangement so the client can see them rationally. They may decide with guidance from the worker initially to target John’s behaviour or to work on positive parenting skills. Mutual clearness is fundamental; the client being fully aware of the process and the worker empathising with client goals and motivation throughout (Reid 1978).
The Essay on Balancing family and work
With very little time in a day that we spend awake, life can seem like a complicated juggling act. Most of us have more balls in the air than we can handle. We drop a ball from time to time even more or less depending on how balanced or unbalanced our life is. Some of the balls are more important than others, dropping the important ones can be disastrous. While dropping the less important ones ...
However the work may not always agree with client’s goals or their interpretation of problems. To ensure this does not destroy the process explanations and negotiations surrounding contentious issues should be encouraged with the family.
It may be necessary to look at factors which are present in the surrounding context i.e. alcohol abuse, marital rows , misbehaviour of other children, scape-goating, labelling – John, labelled by his mother as ‘difficult’ child and now is indeed living up to that label. Perhaps tasks may incorporate changes in contextual factors that influence the problem. To the parents this may look like ‘We will cut alcohol consumption by a third’. In addition resources may be needed to bring about improvement; childcare, a family support worker or some form of family counselling. The clients should be encouraged by the worker to avail of services autonomously. It would be ineffective for the worker to carry out tasks related to the allocation of services if the family are able themselves (Bryer 1998:57).
The very resolve of the mother to ask for assistance in the form of social work intervention should be promoted. Families often fear asking for statutory help but many who do find it beneficial and that it has a positive impact on their lives (Radio 1 9th Nov 2005).
Early tasks need to contain a realistic level of achievement as task centred work is most successful when problem solving goes well from the beginning (Doel and Marsh 1995:51).
However, each person involved may have different perspectives leading to different views about the best options. Equipped with this and information about the interactions in the household, the worker and family will negotiate and agree on a target problem, this being the focus of the work they will do together. It will be based on the mother’s initial concerns but may change and develop during problem identification. Mum perhaps identified John’s behaviour as the target problem but then further investigation may prompt her to challenge her contribution or lack of responsiveness to such behaviour. There may be a string of problems needing ranked according to importance by the family, i.e. discipline, finances, marital interactions, behaviours or educational issues. The worker has an obligation to explore why John’s behaviour has worsened recently. Has something significant happened, a death, a loss or bullying at school? The worker would need to employ sensitivity and good communicative skills to get to the core of the problem (Epstein 1985).
The Research paper on Commercial Sex Workers Work Industry
Introduction 3 1. 1 Definitions of Commercial Sex 3 1. 2 History of Commercial Sex 3 1. 3 Types of Commercial Sex 3 1. 3. 1 Unorganized Prostitution 3 1. 3. 2 Organized Prostitution 4 1. 3 Features of Commercial Sex 4 1. 4 Hazards of Commercial Sex 4 1. 5 Reasons for engaging in commercial sex 4 1. 5. 1 Biological Phase 4 1. 5. 2 Psychological 4 1. 5. 3 Psychiatric Explanation 4 1. 5. 4 Economic ...
Suitable tasks may also arise out of this exploration such as a meeting with teachers or seeking counselling for John. Tasks for John may involve him drawing up a wish list to help him identify what he perceives the problems to be.
Problems must be acknowledged in a manner which reflects the concern of the client but does not overwhelm them with negativity. The worker could encourage constructive problem solving by suggesting how John could behave in another way to obtain what he wants. Tasks may not initially meet with the individual want but the person undertaking it can be supported and encouraged so that they come to see it ash such. If the initial task develops towards a goal then motivation can be strengthened. Incentive is then present for the next task which may be a more difficult one. Failures can also be motivating offering explanations and creating new ideas.
Sizeable goals may need condensed into more achievable sub goals. If bedtimes are a problem in the household sleeping arrangements may be discussed. A task could be ‘we will buy an extra bed’. However the simplicity of the task is lessened if there are financial constraints or if Mum has become reclusive. The task may have to be broken down again, ‘we will ask St. Vincent de Paul for a second hand bed’. It might be beneficial to rehearse a telephone call to St. Vincent de Paul with the worker offering guidance and support. Roles may be reversed so that the worker can show the desired behaviour, and to offer the worker insight into the client experience. The prospect of role plays enables the service user to rehearse and learn new problem solving skills (Rooney 1988).
The aim of task centred practice is to improve problem solving techniques of service users for future reference. To achieve this, task undertaken by the family should encompass decision making and aspects of self guidance. The model may assign power to the family by showing them the purpose of the contracted task and how it may positively affect the target problem. If the work goes well they could then progressively make use of more control over the implementation of task which will increase their capability to work out future problems autonomously (Doel and Marsh 1995:71).
The Term Paper on Sweatshops Workers Work
How do Sweatshops tie into our Nation s Products Many companies and schools in the United States buy their products from factories that have their workers working in horrible conditions. That is employing over 50, 000 workers to work in these conditions. They have the workers work from 5 A. M. until nighttime inhaling dangerous chemicals and working in temperatures that get as high as 130 degrees. ...
It is critical that the service user’s confidence is encouraged and their strengths and abilities are acknowledged (Bricker-Jenkins 1990).
This would apply to all family members, Mum may appreciate being told her strong points in raising the family, or John may benefit from being reminded about a positive past achievement. With renewed confidence the parents may decide to implement tasks incorporating new routines. It may also be decided to give John or the other children more responsibility in the home by including light chores in the task performances to build their self-reliance and esteem. Of course motivation to undertake the task needs to be reinforced so it is greater than anxieties (Reid 1985).
The creativity of this method can help overcome previous failed attempts at problem solving and offer service users new optimism. Ideas for possible tasks may be formed through discussion, with the worker inviting the rest of the family to participate, stressing open practice and the rights of individuals and groups to know what is happening to them (Goldstein 1973).
As a result the worker and family may be able to strengthen each others enthusiasm and motivation but it is essential the worker and service user anticipate potential obstacles to performing tasks. An obstacle may transpire to be a target problem. The social worker will have to use a lot of ‘what ifs’ to try and foresee how obstacles will be tackled i.e. what if John ignores the new rules, what if mum and dad row, how will John react? This type of thinking may encourage discussion and reveal obstacles no one has considered. It is important that the worker is aware of potential obstacles that might hinder completion of tasks. The father may not recognise that there is a problem and therefore demonstrate a lack of commitment which leads to incompleteness of tasks. Hostility may be exhibited by some family members and the worker may have to be flexible to find methods of working that will be acceptable to all.
At the end of the planning sessions, the worker with the family could review the task plan. It is especially important in this case because there are a lot of people involved and many of the task performers are children. It may be useful for a family to have something visual such as a flip chart page, to be able to refer back to. A contract may be drawn up for all involved to work together to resolve the problems stated. It is necessary to allay fears that while a contract may appear official it does have the benefit of being easer to refer to and to review later on (Doel and Marsh 1995:53).
This is especially important for a family who may have faced oppression. It would also be useful to find out how each family member interprets the task plan.
The family may work on their agreed tasks individually or with each other: the worker may work on tasks by advocating on behalf of the family, with the education board or local council. Likewise the worker and the family may work on tasks together. It is vital however that a progress of implementing agreed tasks takes place, offering a measurement of any changes and the problem solving abilities of the family (Larson and Mitchell 1980).
Task accomplishment and progress made by the family should be recognised and praised. The review of tasks could possibly lead to inspiration for the next task.
There should be an ongoing examination of the problem including its rate of recurrence, severity and the service user’s feeling of any changes that are happening as a consequence of the work or other contributory factors. The worker could ascertain how much change has occurred, if it is likely to be a lasting change, and is it enough to improve the lives of all concerned. It would also be necessary to reflect with the family on the factors which have caused any changes. The family may decide enough change has occurred and that there are no other pressing problems hence the work may be finished early by moving directly into the final phase. Alternatively if there has been sufficient change in the prioritised target problem the work may move on to the next problem.
An evaluation of all task accomplishments and a review of development in tackling target problems take place in the final session. It is important to acknowledge what the family has accomplished by highlighting any achievements. i.e. John will now sit at family meals, there is now a routine in the home, mum feels more confident in her parenting techniques. The review of accomplishments may lead immediately to the recognition of improved problem solving skills. The worker should help the family evaluate those skills so that they may be applied to future problems. Hopefully the family will by now have enhanced abilities in their individual situations along with skills on how to deal with future problems on the basis of positive achievement and the experience of improved problem solving skills.
Task centred practice is also reliant upon the worker’s ability to develop a relationship with the family. The success depends on the ability of the social worker to enable and empower the family throughout. There are a range of skills and values which would influence intervention; respect for the right to private family life, anti-discriminatory values, and effective communicative skills. Empathy and sensitivity must also be employed when working with families suffering distress (Reid and Epstein 1972: Chapter 6).
The task centred model portrays a fairly simple view of client problems. It suggests problems can be solved in a straight forward fashion, in a short space of time. It is a very practical approach concentrating on the here and now. While this may be a positive attribute, it may limit the possibility of selecting complicated situations as the focus of treatment. For more complex problems where tasks do not seem appropriate, the worker may need to bring in other theories. An unforeseen incident may mean that crisis intervention is more appropriate. Discussion with the family may throw up issues from the past and perhaps counselling may be needed alongside tasks. The worker may also dip in and out of psychodynamic theory, perhaps using it to study the parents’ development of the id, ego and super ego, enlightening her of their parenting capabilities. The social worker must overall, realise that she need not be rigid in the application of one particular theory but perhaps use a combination to effectively intervene.
Bibliography
Bateman N. (1995) Advocacy Skills, Arena, Aldershot
Biestek F P (1961) The Casework Relationship, Allen and Unwin, London
Bowlby J (1988) A Secure Base: Clinical Applications of Attachment Theory, Routledge, London
Bowlby J (1969) Attachment and Loss, Volume 1 Hogarth Press, London
Bricker-Jenkins M (1990) Another Approach to Practice and Training, Public Welfare,
Spring 11-16
Bryer M (1998) Planning in Child Care: A Guide for Team Leaders and their Teams, BAAF, London
Davies M (1997) Blackwell Companion to Social Work, Blackwell, Oxford
Doel M and Marsh P (1995) Task Centred Social Work, Ashgate, Aldershot
DOH (2000) Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, The Stationery Office, London
DOH (1976) Race Relation Act, HMSO, London
DOH (1998) Human Rights Act, HMSO, London
Epstein L (1980) Helping People: The Task Centred Approach, C V Mosby, St Louis
Epstein L (1985) Talking and Listening: A Guide to the Helping Interview, C E Merrill, Columbus Ohio
Epstein, L (1988) Helping People: The Task Centred Approach 2nd ED, C E Merrill, Columbus Ohio
Erikson E H (1959) Childhood and Society, Norton, New York
Fortune A E (1985) Task Centred Practice with Families and Groups, Springer Publishing, New York
Freud A (1965) Normality and Pathology in Childhood: Assessment of Development, International Universities, New York
Goldstein A (1973) Structured Learning Therapy, Academic Press, new York
Golan N (1978) Treatment in Crisis Situations, Free Press, New York
Gray J (2001)The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, Child Psychology and Psychiatry Volume 6 number 1 2001
Hardiker P & Barker M (1981) Theories of Practice in Social Work, Academic Press London
Howe D (1993) An Introduction to Social work Theory, Arena, Aldershot
Larsen J & Mitchell C T (1980) Task Centred Strength Oriented Group Work with Delinquents, Social Casework 61 p 154-159
Lishman J (1994) Communication in Social Work, Macmillan, Basingstoke
Maslow A (1970) Motivation and Personality 2nd Edition, Harper & Row, New York
Payne M (1997) Modern Social Work Theory 2nd Edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke
Pincus A, Minahan A (1973) Social work Practice Model and Method, Peacock Itasca, Illinois
Radio 1 2nd November (2005), Annual Report by Child Line
Reid W J (1985) Family Problem Solving, Columbia University Press, New York
Reid W J Shyne (1969) Brief and Extended Casework, Columbia University Press, New York
Reid W J (1978) The Task Centred System, Columbia University Press, New York
Reid W J & Epstein L (1972) Task Centred Casework, Columbia University Press, New York
Reid W J (2000) The Task Planner, Columbia Press, New York
Reid W J (1997) Research on Task centre Practice: Research in Social Work 21, 132-137
Rooney R H (1988) Measuring Task Centred Training Effects on Practice: Results of an Audiotape Study in Public Agency, Journal of Continuing Social Work Education 4, 1-6
Schulman L (1992) The Skills of Helping 3rd Edition, Peacock Itasca, Illinois
Thomson N (1997) Anti-Discriminatory Practice 2nd Edition, Macmillan Press, Hampshire
Thompson N (1993) Anti-Discriminatory Practice, Macmillan Press, Hampshire
www.ClinicalSocialWork.com/systems.html accessed 20th March 2006
