LECTURE 2: Theories And Perspectives In The Context Of The Social

Environment

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the chapter you should be able to:

1. Explain the perspectives and practice frameworks in assessing the related factors, issues, and
dynamics of families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Social Work Theories And Perspectives

The social work profession draws on theories of human development and behavior and
social systems to analyze complex situations and to facilitate individual, organizational, and
social and cultural changes

Reasons why we need theories in social work

 They teach social workers how to perceive people through their resources available, not
to classify them according to their problems
 The use of theories makes social workers feel more safe and competent in their practice,
reduces feeling of being unsure
 They make social work practice more professional and efficient as the more social
workers use theories, the less they use their personal intuition

Theory can help to address a key question such as “what can I and others say or do to make a
difference?” Theory can illuminate the understanding of people and their circumstances in 5
key areas:
1. Observation: To tell us what to see and what to look out for
2. Description: Provides a conceptual vocabulary and framework within which observations
can be arranged and organized
3. Explanation: suggests how different observations might be linked and connected; it
offers possible causal relationchips between one event and another
4. Prediction: Indicates what might happen next
5. Intervention: Suggests things to do to bring about change

 General Systems Theory

- Developed by biologist Ludwig von Bertalanfy in 1936
- It is an inter-disciplinary field of science which examines nature of complex systems in
nature, society, and science

Principles Of General Systems Theory

 The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
 All systems are made up of subsystems
 All parts of the systems are interconnected

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  All systems have boundaries
 The systems must be understood as a whole
 All systems seek stability and balance
 The systems and their environments affects each other through feedback (input and
output)
 A change in any part of the systems affects all other parts
 Systems are heuristic, offering a way of looking at phenomenon but are not real
objects

Key Concepts Of General Systems Theory

Wholeness
- Means that the object within a system produces an entity that is greater than the additive
sum of its separate parts
- We should not seek to understand the object (the person) alone without considering their
interaction and relationship with the environment

Relationship
- Asserts that there is a pattern or structure in the interaction of the different elements within
a system
- Social workers should focus on helping elements (ex husband and wife) change their
interaction and communication pattern to improve the relationship rather than focusing on
the psychological make-up of any individual

Homeostasis
- Suggests that most living systems seek a balance to maintain and preserve system

 Ecological Perspectice
- By Brofenbrenner
- Is a focus on inter-relational transaction between systems, and stresses that all existing
elements within an ecosystem play an equal role in maintaining balance of the whole
- In social work practice, applying an ecological approach can be best understood by looking at
persons, families, cultures, communities, and policies, and identify and intervene upong
strengths and weaknesses in the transactional processes between these systems
- Holistic thinking can provide a paradigm for understanding how systems and their
interactions can maintain an individual’s behavior

5 Systems

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 Microsystems: Most basic system, referring to inddividual’s most immediate environment
Mesosystem: More generalized system referring to the interactional processes between multiple
microsystems. Comprises connections between immediate environments (ex effect of spousal
relationship upon parent-child relationship)
Exosystem: Settings on a more generalized level which affect family interactions indirectly on the
micro and meso levels (ex the effects of parent’s employment on family interactions)
Macrosystem: The most generalized forces affecting individual and family functions (political,
cultural, economic, and social)
Chronosystem: The patterning of environmental events and transitions over the course of life

Person-In-Environment (PIE)
- “person-in-situation”
- was coined by Florence Hollis in 1964 to describe the three-fold interaction of the person,
situation and the interaction between them
- The person is a multi-dimensional entity, a being who is a product of their past experiences,
being shaped by the socio-politico-economic realities, and equipped with capacities,
potentials and motivations for becoming.

PIE focueses on 3 elements

1. Focus on the person and seek to develop his problem-solving, coping and developmental
capabilities
2. Focus on the relationship between the person and the systems they are interacting with
and link the person to needed services, resources and opportunitirs
3. Focus on the environment and seek to reform and change it to meet the needs of the
individual more effectively

 Strengths Perspectives
 Emphasizes people’s abilities, values, interests, beliefs, resources, accomplishments and
aspirations
 Is closely related to the concept of “empowerment”

5 Principles Of Strengths Perspectives

1. Every individual, group, family, and community has strength. The strengths perspective
is to identify these strengths and resources.
2. Trauma and abuse, illnesses and struggles may be injurious, but may also be sources of
challenges and opportunities. Hence we can help clients to focus on their growth and
opportunities in such events.
3. Assume what you do not know as the upper limits of the capacity to grow and change
ans take the individual, group, and community aspiration seriously. This principle
means workers need to hold high the expectations of their clients and form alliance with
their visions, hopes, and values.
4. We best serve our clients by collaborating with them. A helper is more effective as a
collaborator than being an expert or professional

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 5. Every environment is full of resources. The strengths perspectives seeks to identify
these resources to make them available to benefit their clients.

 Structural / Functional Perspective

- Is a perspective in sociology that sees society as a complex system whose parts work
together to promote solidarity and stability
- Asserts that our lives are guided by social structures which are relatively stable patterns of
social behavior
- Functionalists use the terms functional and dysfunctional to describe the effects of social
elements on society
Functional: if they contribute to social stability
Dysfunctional: if they disrupt social stability
- Some aspects of society can be both functional and dysfunctional. For example crime is
dysfunctional in that it is associated with physical violence, loss of property and fear.
However according to Durkheim and other functionalists, crime is also functional for society
because it leads to heightened awareness of shared moral bonds and increased social
cohesion

Sociologists have identified 2 types of functions:

Manifest Functions: are consequences that are intended and commonly recognized
Latent Functions: are consequences that are unintended and often hidden

Example:
The manifest function of education is to transmit knowledge and skills to society’s youth. But
public elementary schools also serve as babysitters for employed parents, and colleges offer
a place for young adults to meet potential mates. The baby-sitting and mate-selection
functions are not the intended or commonly recognized functions of education, so they are
latent functions.

 Rights-Based Perspectives
- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights
- Human rights based approach means that individuals and communities should know their
rights. It also means they should be fully supported to participated in the development of
policy and practices which affect their lives and to claim rights where necessary.

 Gender And Development Perspectives

- Focuses on the socially constructed differences between men and women and the need to
challenge existing gender roles and relations
- Is not just focused on the biological inequalities among sexes but on how social roles,
reproductive roles and economic roles are linked to gender inequalities of masculinity and
femininity
- Is participatory and empowering, equitable, sustainable, free from violence, respectful of
human rights, supportive of self-determination and actualization of human potential

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Limitation To Theories
1. Recognize that there is no signle theory that can explain everything in the varied
situations a social worker may face
2. Recognize that some theoretical approaches do not work with some people or in certain
situations or environment
3. Much of the theory used in social work is drawn from practice outside the direct
profession of social work

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