Exam Review SWP 331

1. Identify the grand theories/ philosophies

There are four grand philosophies and they are: modernism, structuralism, post-
modernism and critical realism.
2-What is enlightenment?
The enlightenment refers to an array of intellectual, cultural and political forces that
emerged in Western Europe during the eighteenth century. People who adopt this thought
promoted ideals of objectivity, rationality and individualism as providing for the
foundation of progress, progress being linear, rather than something that might happen in
a variety of ways.
3-Name and describe three kinds of feminism
Radical feminism considers the male controlled capitalist hierarchy, which it describes
as sexist, as the defining feature of women’s oppression. Radical feminists believe that
women can free themselves only when they have done away with what they consider an
inherently oppressive and dominating patriarchal system.
Liberal feminism asserts the equality of men and women through political and legal
reform. It is an individualistic form of feminism, which focuses on women’s ability to
show and maintain their equality through their own actions and choices.
Post-structural feminism uses the insights of various epistemological movements,
including psychoanalysis, linguistics, political theory (Marxist and post-Marxist theory),
race theory, literary theory, and other intellectual currents for feminist concerns.[
4-Some strengths of anti-oppressive practice
It places the value of social justice center stage, and encourages social workers to adopt a
multidimensional analysis which recognizes the personal, cultural and structural
dimensions of oppression being experienced by the service user. Also promotes the
contribution local change processes can make to achieving social change. This way of
thinking also encourages us to constantly reflect on the subjectivities that shape our
capacity to practice in an anti-oppressive manner.
5-Name and describe the problem-solving approaches:
Problem-solving approaches are highly structured, time-limited, collaborative
(sometimes), and problem-focused often a staged process framework working on parts of
a whole.
Task-centred approach: more progress shown in brief interventions, greater concentration
in problem-solving effort, problems in living(social isolation, problems with formal
organizations, difficulty in role performance, etc)
Principles are to: seek mutual clarity, aim for small achievements, focus on the here and
now, promote collaboration, build capacities, planned brevity, systematic and structured
approaches to intervention, and adopt a scientific approach to practice.

Step 1: Defining target problems (session 1)

Purpose is to identify the issues of the service user in order to begin to narrow down the
focus of intervention.
Step 2: Contracting (session 2)
This step is for the worker and service user to reach and explicit agreement about the
target of their intervention and how the target problem(s) is to be addressed.
Step 3: Problem-solving implementation (3-7 sessions)
The change work occurs in this step of the model.
Step 4: Termination (last session)
Making the service user able enough to survive without treatment by putting treatment to
an end and not leaving it open ended.

6. What is a discourse?
Discourse and examples
(Healy, p. 8-10)
• Structures of knowledge, claims and practices through which we understand,
explain and decide things
• Can influence who is regarded as the expert and who is the client
• Discourses can compete against each other, offering different interpretations of
clients’ needs, expert knowledge, nature of social work role, and kinds of
intervention that will best address the concerns of service users
• Discourses can influence the social work practice
• Social workers can use discourse analysis to contest established views and
responses to client needs.
(Lecture notes, Week 9)
• Discourse deconstruction of our chosen theory and grand theory
• Discuss the rules of theory
Examples
• Medical
• Education
• Entertainment
• Governments
• Fitness
 • Church
• Psychology
• Legal
• Rights
• Social Work

7. What is theory?
(Healy, p. 10-11)
• Theories shape our practices as social workers
• Theories form a base and provide guidance for professional practice
(Healy, p. 93)
• Theories draw on discourses drawn from other disciplines and fields
• Theories for practice are created by transforming ideas from service discourses
for practice in specific contexts of social work practice.
Why theory matters (Healy, p. 96)
• Basis of our assumptions
• Accountability to service users, employers and funding agencies – must be able to
explain the assumptions underpinning our practice.
• Improving service quality – theory enables us to critically review assumptions and
accepted ways of doing things that work to the disadvantage of service users.
• We all share a responsibility for developing this base – general transferable
knowledge is indispensable.
(Lecture slides, Week 2)
• Theory is devised to analyze, predict or otherwise explain the nature or behaviour
of a specific set of phenomena that could be used as the basis for action.
• Theory is an attempt to explain, describe or justify what social workers do
(Payne:2)
• Theories are socially constructed/produced by the contexts in which they arise.
• We make them, question and abandon them.
• Influenced by forces that construct the occupation, client hood and social contexts
in which we work.
• Theories are NOT laws.
• Theories are usually imperfect, usually Western, and often overlap
• Prone to fashion
• Inform what we value, do, fund, and evaluate as successful
• Always informed by grand theories or philosophies
Approaches to using theory
• Empirical or evidence based
• Reflective
• Reflexive

8Difference between grand theory and a practice theory:

Lecture slides, Week 2)
• Practice theories are born out of, or informed by, the overarching grand theories
or philosophies
• Philosophy is a lens through which we may see a problem and its solution,
different lens = different problem and solution
• Philosophies are woven through practice, funding, evaluation, and research
• Can illuminate issues that perhaps we were not aware of or interested in
• Philosophy is a particular lens with particular followers and critics
• Prone to trends, fashions, and discourses. Tied up with values, beliefs, and
preferences

9. What would the development of Healy’s “framework of practice” involve for you?
What does yours ‘look’ like now
(Healy, Chapter 11)
• Framework for practice refers to the combination of formal and
informal knowledge and skills developed by social workers in practice;
meaning out framework develops over time and through practice. Social work is
practiced in context and practice is constructed within environments. Our
frameworks, however can also be enriched by the informed and creative
use of formal theories for practice. Through experience, formal and
informal, and through critical analysis of how we use and develop
knowledge in practice we can understand the weaknesses to our embedded
framework.

10.What are three markers of structuralism?

(Lecture slides, Week 2)
• Marginalization
• Inequalities
• Anti-racism
• Focus on class or gender
• Advocacy
• Community development

11. What might an indigenous approach to knowledge entail?

Notes from class:

 relationships
 focus on story-telling
 bottom-up (oppression)
 particular reading/ Billy Allen
 • From the article, 'the spiritual imperative of Native Epistemology: Restoring
Harmony and Balance to Education”

- Sacred circle; the circle of life speaks of the interconnectedness and

interrelationships of all life. All are looked on as being equal and interdependent,
part of the great whole & this view permeates the entire Native vision of life and
the universe.

- The sacredness of relationships is an important aspect

- All relationships on earth are symbolic of the true and great relationship which
always exists between man and the Great Spirit or between man and Earth
understood in its principle.

- Sacred circle brings everything into its reaches & understanding. It is a discussion
of the whole or wholeness; “Beauty is wholeness, health is wholeness, goodness
is wholeness” (213)

- Elders; keepers of wisdom, the libraries of Native communities. 3 areas that elders
are attuned to; 1. Stories, 2. Ceremonies & 3. values

- Elders bring this knowledge and teachings home to the community, and more
especially to the children. Age & wisdom are held in high esteem in Native
culture vs. the western culture (youth & vigor)

Indigenous approaches to knowledge

 what you ‘hear’ is what you hear (no right or wrong answer) (208)
 Learning is not linear, but iterative & circular
 another word for ‘iterative’ is repetitious

 Focus is not on progress but on being here & now

 Power is not control but living energy
 Ideal is not youth but wisdom of elders
 Respect for matricentric thought
 Focus on relationship, wellbeing, wholeness and spirituality
 Learning happens in the sacred circle

12.What are the waves of system theories? How are they different?
Jennifer Poole said she was interested in the second part of this question.
She wants both similarities & differences.
Each wave of system theories has different reactions by different social workers (more
popular with some, others not so much).

1. General System Theories

2. Ecosystem Perspectives
3. Complex System Theories

1. General System Theories a.k.a. GST

- derived from the work of Ludwig von Bertalanffy, a biologist and from
sociological attempts 2 apply biological systems theories to the world
- some core concepts included transaction, homeostasis, entropy, equifinality and
feedback
- using a general systems approach, social workers focused on identifying states of
‘entropy’ (or disorder) and working towards achieving a steady state, or balance
between the individual and their social system, espec. their family system.

Different from other waves, because…

- Draws heavily on biological discourses
- GST relies on abstract concepts and the ‘mechanistic, nonhuman nature of much
of its language’ – alienated most practising social workers
- Maintained a narrow focus on the interaction btwn the individual & their
immediate environment
- Doesn’t address the impact of macrostructure on service users live
- GST theorists suggest that, typically, social systems are stable

Similar with the other waves, because…

- Power, ( they all look at systems/contexts/structures)
- Help us to perceive the person-in-environment as a unity

2. Ecosystem Perspectives
- 1970’s: Germain and Gitterman’s life model (137- 139), Meyer’s ecosystems
work
- Kept some bio-language, but suppose to improve and expand 1st wave
- Goal: use ecology to help individuals focus on and improve transactions with &
across systems, make short & long-term change
- Central idea: the person IS their environment (136) or “person: environment” to
‘repair the conceptually fractured relationship between person & environment’
between person & environment
 - Encourages social workers 2 recognize that problems arise because of a ‘poor fit
btwn a person’s environment & his/her needs, capacities, rights & aspirations
- The Life Model: 3 stages, 1. Initial phase, 2.Ongoing phase, and 3.Ending phase
- Mapping Ecosystems; occurs in the ongoing phase; assessing the impact of
different systems on the service users problem & develop a plan for action
directed @ each of these systems (Micro, Meso, & Macro)

Different from other waves, because…

- it does not propose specific intervention methods
- it is the focus on enhancing system transactions, rather than on improving the
functioning of isolated systems
- focuses on the ‘reasons’ why there is a lack fit between the person & their
environment, i.e., chronic environment stressors (such as poverty);
macrostructures
- Life Model of Social work practice

Similar with the other waves, because…

- Help us to perceive the person-in-environment as a unity
- focuses on person & environment, person: environment transactions are complex
& non-linear
- encourages social workers to focus on person: environment exchanges
- it brings together GST & an ecological view to expand the focus & revelance of
the systems perspectives to direct social work practice
- Power, ( they all look at systems/contexts/structures)
- like the GST, the ecosystems perspective guides assessment & offers general
directions for intervention
- The ecosystems perspective retains the GST notion of environmental wholeness;
recognition that the parts of the system can never be entirely separated from each
other.
- Believe person: environment transactins are NON-LINEAR; complex systems are
known by non-linearity;

3. Complex Systems Theories

- started in disciplines of maths, physics
- brought to social work by Peile (1988)
- Idea: Systems much more complex than we thought, transactions non-linear,
changing
- Systems also very sensitive: butterfly effect; relevant to a globalized world, where
changes in 1 part of the world have immediate & substantial impact on other
parts.
- Argument: behaviour of the whole system is greater then the sum of its parts
(143)
- Criticized for math focus, simplistic application
Different with other waves, because…
- draws extensively from maths & physics discourses
- complexity theorists argue that change is a usual feature of complex social
systems
- mathematical language
- complex system theorists use the notion ‘phase change’; refers to the moment a
which the system switches from 1 pattern of complexity to another
- Case Management; another application of person-in-environment approach;
language borrowed from business management, highly-relevant, much used,
many social workers being re-defined as case managaers

Similar with other waves, because…

- Similar to Ecosystem perspectives: non-linear relationships, a change in one
variable or a set of variables, will be associated w/disproportionate changes in
another variable, or set of variables.
- Help us to perceive the person-in-environment as a unity
- Complexity systems theories believe that the complexity of relationships within
systems is amplified by ‘repeatedly self-reinforcing feedback’: similar to the
concept of positive feedback in GST
- The recognition of the complex interactions btwn individual systems & social
structures is consistent w/social workers’ longstanding on ‘person in
environment’ approaches.

13. Which authors/scholars write about AOP? How

Things Jen Poole discussed about this question in lecture.
Start with who we actually covered this year.
What is the landscape of AOP?
Who do you follow? What kind of practitioner are you?

 Key scholars: Healy, Dalrymple and Burke, Dominelli, Baines, Benjamin, Hakua,
Jennifer Poole, Strager,

 From Healy
- AOP draws on received ideas from service discourses and insights from specific
practice contexts
 - AOP draws on sociological discourses espec, movements 2 construct
understanding of client ‘needs; & appropriate social work responses 2 them
- In AOP, oppression arises from unequal power across social divisions
- AOP, social workers argue that social division shape relationships and, further
that we can reduce the disempowering effects of structures
- AOP theorists require social workers 2 constantly reflect on ways in which social
structures associated with capitalism, patriarchy & imperialism contribute 2 &
interact w/the personal & cultural levels of oppression
- AOP social workers recognize & seek to support a broad range of intervention
strategies. A key strength of anti-oppressive theories is that they recognize
interpersonal & statutory practice as legitimate sites of social work practice & in
doing so, seek 2 develop the potential for critical practice at these sites
- Critical social work includes feminist, structural, radical social work, anti-racist
(Healy, p. 173) and African-centred work
- Critical social work can be divided into modernist approaches and postmodern
approaches

- AOP as defined by Healy,

A form of practice which addresses social divisions and structural inequalities in the
work that is done with clients or workers…it aims to provide more appropriate and
sensitive services by responding to people’s needs regardless of their social status…it
embodies a person-centred philosophy, an egalitarian value system and a focus on
process and outcome… (Healy, p. 179)
- Core assumptions and beliefs of AOP:

 There are multiple forms of oppression (ageism), they interact with each other
and all are harmful.
 Oppression is tied to unequal power relations and divisions in society.
 Critical reflection is paramount.
 Social work is always political and must include a broad range of interventions.
 There is no time-limit on the work, no enforced optimism or focus on fixing….

14. What is subjectivity?

 Multiple selves
 Student/partner/daughter
 They change
 Don’t always get along (not the same); conflict
 Constructed and reconstructed over time

Key ideas shared by practitioners:

Subjectivity: we all have multiples selves that may change, conflict and be ‘under
construction’
From Healy pg.200-202

 Subjectivity, refers to our sense of ourselves

 Reject descriptions of ‘identity’ as fixed & unified; instead they insist that our
identities are shaped by discourses & thus vary context to context

An example of this is,

As a young social worker, Healy exercised power & authority associated w/her
statutory role, yet she also experienced powerlessness & vulnerability associated with
her low status w/in the bureaucracy, her age, gender & non-parenting status. All of
these subjectivities affected how she experienced herself and how she was seen by
others, as well as the kinds of power and authority.

- We must also recognize service users multiple & often contradictory

identifications, i.e., w e may come to understand a ‘violent offender’ also as a
‘victim of child abuse’, ‘an abusive parent’, ‘a loyal son’, a ‘person battling
addiction’ and so on.

- Poststructural feminists challenge us to recognize ourselves & others as embodied

beings. They also encourage us to recognize how bodily differences shape the
way we inhabit different subjectivities.

- Poststructural feminists invite us 2 consider how bodily differences associated

w/age, height, skin colour, ethnicity & gender complicate one’s identification &
thus one’s capacity to exercise professional power

- Postmodernists argue that the unified notion of self, central 2 many critical social
theories & progressive social movements, requires us to embrace identifications
that are the source of oppression in the 1st place

- The challenge seems 2 be that of recognizing both how categories such as

‘women’ or ‘person w/disability’ can explain our, or service users’, experiences &
form a basis for collaborative action, while recognizing how these categories limit
change activity.

15. What practice theorist influenced the development of Narrative therapy?

 Michael White (large part to the influence of narrative therapy), & in

collaboration with David Epson. Other theorists; Freedman & Combs,
 Parry & Doane, Zimmerman & Dickerson, McLeod, Jenkins, Gilligan &
Price, March & Mulle

 Narrative Therapy Centre

On Michael White…
- within in Michael White’s narrative therapy, the therapist adopts a position of
consultant to those experiencing oppression @ a personal level from their
problems & @ a political level from a mental-health discourse & set of practices
which permeate western culture

- For White, the following are among the more important practices central to
narrative therapy:
(These are only some)

• Help clients view themselves as separate form their problems by externalizing the
problem
• Thicken clients description of these unique outcomes by using landscape of action
& landscape of consciousness questions
• Let others who are trapped by similar oppressive narratives benefit from their new
knowledge through brining-it-back practices

- White draws on the work of the French philosopher, Focault – people are
unconsciously recruited into the subjugation of their own lives by power practices
that involve continual isolation, evaluation & comparison.

- Within White’s narrative therapy, there is openness about the therapist’s working
context, intentions, values & biases. There is a privileging of the client’s language
rather than the therapist’s language. There is a respect 4 working at the client’s
pace that finds expression in regularly summarizing & checking that the client is
comfortable w/the pace.

- Externalizing the problem is the central therapeutic technique used by Michael

White to help clients begin to define their problems as separate from their
identities.

- ‘Outsider Witness Groups’  White, drawing on the work of Myerhoff (1986),

refers to these people as the client’s outsider witness group. This group may
contain members of the client’s social network who understand their problem &
 who may be able to advise or coach the client w/relevant knowledge or skills in
how 2 manage the problem.

- White & Epson (1989-1990), have shown how letters of invitation, redundancy
letters, letters of prediction, counterrefferal letters, letters of reference, letters of
special occasions, self-stories, certificates, declarations & self-declarations may
be used in the practice of narrative therapy.

- Skilful expert therapists like Michael White, in certain instances seem to be quite
directive in the leading questions that they ask & appear to contribute more than
50% to the re-authoring of clients lives & their scripts about how 2 manage
problems.

16.What is minimal intervention?

- Means that social workers should aim to intervene in the least intrusive and least
oppressive ways possible.
-Social workers should focus on early intervention with the primary aim of preventing the
escalation of risk of harm to the service user.
Ways in which we can implement minimal intervention include:
-adapting existing services to increase their accessibility ex. Service users may adopt an
outreach model of practice that increases service user’s knowledge and options to access
a particular service.
-linking existing services. For example, when working with a group of young parents a
social worker might move beyond a focus on their parenting needs to increase their
access to services such as literacy and educational services to address long-term barriers
to social and economic participation.

17.Given two examples of a theory we did not cover this semester and reasons for why
we should.
Queer theory- This theory would have been interesting to learn about because we do
not thoroughly discuss gay and lesbian studies. It is also incorporates feminist
theories, which I found very interesting learning about. In addition, not only does it
covers issues of gender but also examines identities and sexuality. Queer theory was
also influenced by Michel Foucault, who provided a great deal of input into the
practice of social work by examining power relations.
Critical Theory- This theory would have been fascinating to cover in class because it
was prominent in the 1970s as a means to study social problems. Within this theory,
the social problems that people face are attributed to the favouritism over certain
 groups (class, gender, race etc.) within social structures. This theory also recognizes
that these oppressed or subordinate groups are susceptible to other social problems.
This links well with what we learned in class about intersectionality. This theory also
reminds me of AOP and structuralism.

18.Who is Michael Foucalt?

- Michel Foucault (1926-1984) French philosopher, post-modernist, structuralist
-believed in subjectivity and multiple selves which was later used by Michael White in
Narrative therapy.

- Foucault also had AIDS, little was known about AIDS at the time, and was the first high
profile French personality that reported to have AIDS.

-his research looked at the various institutions of the modern era such as the modern
prison, school and hospitals and how these have become sites for the operation of power
to continue over subject populations.

- his work and research urges social workers to be cautious in our claims to ‘help’, ‘
empower’ and ‘emancipate’ as he shows that these practices can also be associated with
the ‘will’ to power’ over others. For example, when working with an individual a social
worker may try to raise the individual’s consciousness about the original causes of the
oppression(s) they may be facing. However, by doing so a social worker can be imposing
their truth of the nature of the oppression the individual is facing. As social workers we
must critically reflect in the ways in which our practices contribute to the control and
surveillance of people we are trying to help.

- His theories help social workers shift their analysis from the focus on who possesses
power and instead to look at how power is exercised from specific social locations and by
specific people. * Also power is NOT possessed, rather it is exercised
- a number of social work authors have taken a Foucauldian approach of power to
illustrate how empowering discourses can lead workers to ignore the ways in which
marginalised groups, such as homeless individuals, Indigenous people and young
mothers, exercise power even though they do not ‘possess’ it. A social worker instead
can try to support their service users by encouraging them to exercise power, rather
than focusing on their powerlessness.
- Foucault encourages individuals to see the productivity of power and the positive
features power can have, instead of solely focusing on the oppressive features.
- He also encourages social workers to analyse power from the local to the structural,
rather than the other way around. *Power is also produced in micro-contexts of social
work. It is not only produced in macro-structures like capitalism and patriarchy.
19.Explain the central tenets of AOP?

• Critical self reflection (how do you identify/what have you lived through, how
might that affect what you do/see/change? Can you do this now?)

i.e. the internal assessment- look at what are position is within social
structures-as social workers we can then begin to address power
differentials in practice

• Critical assessment of users’ experiences of oppression (think big picture, what

has been done to them (not by), what language is being used and why?) ex. The
external assessment

- Language--Terms like at risk, disturbed, in need are some terms

that can influence power dynamics.

• Empower service users (share their feelings of powerlessness, support

consciousness-raising/it’s not your fault talks, help develop skills and confidence,
incorporate user views in assessment/what they think, work for change at
structural level)

• Work in partnership (make it real not ‘token’, give away your

power/money/assets, be clear about your role/power, write it down)

• Minimal intervention: (only get involved if asked, focus on early intervention,

link, refer and educate users about what they can do for themselves and
community)

Other core tenets or AOP beliefs:

- Social divisions shape practice and relationships and therefore it is critical that we
critically reflect on our position.
- Multiple forms of oppression, all are harmful, various oppressions interact with each
other (intersecting oppressions)
- Oppressions are experienced differently
- Social work takes on a political role, in which the social worker has a privileged status,
at least in comparison to the service users. Therefore, social workers must adopt an
ongoing critical and reflective stance in order to avoid replicating oppressive ways of
practice.

20. How does Healy explain the “reflexive” approach? How is it different than
“reflective” approach?
 -Reflexive practice recognizes that social workers are always making knowledge in
practice
- Reflexive approach is can also be used as a way of overcoming the limitations of both
evidence-based and reflective traditions of knowledge use in practice.
- The reflexive approach recognizes that knowledge and theory use is constantly being
constructed in part through practitioner’s experiences, and also through sources such as
our practice context and formal theoretical base.
-Reflective recognizes that social workers construct knowledge, it prioritizes the
practitioner’s experiential and tactic knowledge over other formal knowledge, including
formal theories- the reflective approach can diminish the role of formal theories of
practice as a basis for critical reflection on our practice and it does not adequately
scrutinize practitioner’s accounts of the truths of their practice.
-The reflective approach places the practitioner, rather than the academic or researcher,
at center stage in knowledge development and use—it recognizes that social workers
are active creators and users of theory and other forms of knowledge.
Some notes I took in class when we were reviewing which may make it easier to
understand
Reflective- messy, subjective, not evidence based, follow gut, about you and the
moment, bottom up.
Reflexive- a mix of both research- bottom up and top down
Empirical- evidence-based—top down-science & research

21. Outline the steps of task-centered practice

Tasks - the vehicle through which target problems are addressed and clients' skills are
developed. The use of tasks is empowerment of the client enabling them to design and
carry out their own problem-solving actions
History and Development:

• Born of Modernist philosophy - Objective to develop scientifically valid SW

approaches, increase efficiency and effectiveness of direct service and increase
research for treatment practice
• A problem-solving practice (1970, Chicago, Reid and Epstein)
• Emerged during period of growing skepticism within SW about validity of
practice methods and external pressure for accountability; to promote credibility
of profession
• Originally designed for clinical practice with voluntary clients
• Aimed at "problems in living"
 • no more than 15 sessions - due to previous research (Reid and Shyne) showed that
some clients could do better with short term interventions - that time limited,
structured, and focused interventions would concentrate problem solving effort
for both SW and SU
• Example is CBT (Cognitive Based Therapy)
• Intended for therapeutic practice with individuals and families but now adapted to
community service, child protection
• No societal change, nor radical personal transformation (that pursuing this leads
to disappointment)

Proponents say:

• Offers unifying approach for social work

• Provides shell in which other practices can be incorporated as long as structure of
practice is kept intact thus offering SW and SU much discretion about the
approach (ie. aop)

Key Practice Principles

a. Seek Mutual Clarity with SU - agree on purpose and process of intervention; set
realistic expectations of outcome; SU and SW collaborate on focus, process,
establishment of goals and review of progress toward target goals.

b. Aim for Small Achievements rather than large changes - focus on small, local and
achievable change based on assumption that it is beyond the scope of SW practice to
produce large-scale change and not necessary to address all problems because successful
problem-solving experiences will have knock-on effects for other problems

c. Focus on the Here and Now - focus on max 3 problems to increase effectiveness and
efficiency of process (in contrast to psychodynamic models); little interest in personal
history

d. Promote Collaboration Between SW and SU - each takes an active and different role
in the problem solving process. SW are active, direct, teach, advise and instruct. SU
held accountable for developing, implementing, and monitoring change strategies.

e. Build Client Capacities for Action - troubles have two components-SU lacks resources
or skills. SW aim to help client develop their own problem solving approaches. SW
acknowledges unjust structural conditions and psychological problems but feels it is
beyond their scope to address these.

f. Planned Brevity - max 15 sessions over 3 months. Benefit to SW and SU because

deadlines motivate change and promote efficient focus on problems. Mostly benefits
service provider organization as this is cost effective

g. Adopt a Scientific Approach to Practice Evaluation - SW should systematically

review and monitor casework process using scientific methods rather than rely on
intuition and anecdotal evidence of progress

h. Promote Systematic and Structured Approaches to Intervention - standardized

approach promotes clarity between SU and SW, minimizes waste of time, effort and
money

Acronym of Principles
(SAFPBPAP) Some Assholes Find Prestige Being Petty And Puny…just a thought.
Five Phases of Practice
- should flow sequentially
Pre-Intervention Phase: Prior to Session 1
a) Understanding the context of intervention and reasons for referral

• is client there voluntarily or compelled by third party

• who is responsible for feedback to referral source

b) Clarifying limits to practice relationship

• address role of SW
• define legal, agency and reporting requirements in process
• discuss confidentiality and its limits
• client's expectations of the casework process
• what is negotiable (places and time for meeting) and what is not (abuse and
violence)

Step 1: Defining Target Problems (Session 1)

Why do this?

• Start where the client is at and build a relationship

• To ensure the client's view and that of SW, agency, courts etc. are all understood
before reaching a shared definition of target problem
• SW and SU understand issue of concern and narrow down focus of intervention
• Prioritize SU view of problem taking into account court and worker perspectives

a) The problem survey

• List issues in clients own words

• SW to ask "how long has this been a problem?, How severe is the problem?, What
is its impact on your life? What strategies have you used so far?"
• SW can challenge undesirable problem definitions which conflict with legal or
professional values
• If client is voluntary, then the client's definition should prevail

b) Problem ranking

• SW and SU prioritize areas of intervention (to a max of three)

• SW to ask "What is the most urgent problem?, What problem is the service user
most motivated to work on?, What problems are SW and SU externally mandated
to work on?"

Step 2: Contracting (Session 2)

• SW and SU reach an explicit agreement about the target of intervention and how
to address problem.
• Agreement forms basis of contract (oral and written) to ensure mutual clarity and
accountability
• Contract includes goals of intervention, a statement of tasks (to address problem
and to develop SU problem solving skills) and responsibilities of worker and
client

Step 3: Problem-Solving Implementation (Session 3-7)

Most of the change occurs in this step
a) Refining the problem and tasks

• review definition and tasks

b) Supporting task performance

 • SW fosters skill development through discussion and rehearsals

c) Reviewing task performance

• reviewing task performance acknowledges the gains made by SU and addresses

task non-performance

Step 4: Termination (Last Session)

• Clear deadlines are crucial to success of process

• "practitioner should be vigilant about the tendency to drift into open-ended
treatment without a clear contract"
• Last session important to review overall progress towards addressing the target
problem and to point to future use of skills learned
• Review of what was and was not accomplished

22 Which practice theory was not designed for S.W’s initially?

General Systems Theory

• First introduced in 1930’s (Hankins), re-emerged in 1960’s (Hearn)

• not initially developed for social work (133), but for biologists to understand
social and cultural factors in health
• Supposed to provide scientific credibility, challenge individualistic focus of
psychoanalytic work
Originators used biological terminology such as “homeostasis” (search for an operating
balance) and “feedback”

23.What is an eco-map? How do you use one?

Ecomap part of life model of social work practice and part of the second wave of systems
theories. It is a reaction to failure of First Wave General Systems theory to view
interactions of people in their environment and to address macro structures on SU.
An Eco-map is a graphical representation that shows all of the systems at play in an
individual's life. Eco-maps are used in individual and family counseling within the social
work profession. They are often a way of portraying Systems Theory in a simplistic way
that both the social worker and the client can look at during the session. These ecological
maps, or ecomaps, were developed by Hartman in 1975 as a means of depicting the
ecological systems (all the groups, networks, organizations that we are a part of…
anything that is bigger than us…the individual) that encompasses a family or individual.
Assesses the impact of systems on individuals.
Keeps "Person in environment" focus of Systems theory. The term ecosystem is useful to
highlight the interactions within and across systems and to aim for sustainable change.
SW see the problem as the relationship between the person:environment, and seek to
remedy this. Do not seek original cause but seeks to promote adaptation
Criticism - fails to address structural inequalities
Proponents - focus on improving relationships rather than fixing individual systems that
distinguishes SW; Recognizes complexity and avoids reductionism.
Like general systems theory it guides assessments and offers general directions for
intervention but does not propose specific intervention methods.
At the center of the eco-map is the client (this can either be a family or individual). They
are depicted in the center of the circle. Family connections are shown. There are also
connections from all of the relevant systems that are at play in the clients life. These
systems are connected to either individuals or the entire circle by line. (enviro can be
micro, mezzo or macro).
Three steps:
Initial Phase - Getting Started

• SW and SU develop mutual relationship recognizing each of their knowledge and

skills (SW has professional knowledge and SU has experiential).
• Highlights empathy.
• Then, SW and SU identify and prioritize life stressors.

Ongoing Phase - Working Toward Goals

• Promote adaptation in the person:environment relationship

• Goal clarification, facilitation, coordination and advocacy
• Ecomap
• Practice process - enhance and strengthen SU adaptive capacities and problem-
solving abilities

Phase 3 - The Ending Phase

• Like task-centered, well-planned termination is integral to overall structure of

systems theory.

24. What is case management?

Helping people help themselves.
Time and resource limited
Uses the business model
Cost effective
Neo-liberalism (conservative + contracting out + cost containment)
Application of person in environment
Devolution of responsibility to the individual
Highly relevant, much used, many social workers being re-defined as case managers
Focus is one person-many issues and how strengths, connections can be used to address
concerns
Goal: improve quality of life (Summers, 46)
Steps
1. Assess: SW assesses SU
2. Plan
3. Connecting Strategies (ie food bank for someone who cannot afford to buy food)
4. Continued planning
5. Monitoring

25.Choose favorite practice theory and explain its history/emergence and development:
Chapter 8 page 151

The strengths perspective builds on the service users capabilities and assets. Social
workers use service user’s hopes and dreams as their guide for practice

The Strengths Perspective Origins:

• First emerged among social workers in North America practicing mental health
contexts
• The origins of the strengths perspective in the USA is significant because north
American social work is more strongly aligned with profession of psychiatry and
psychology than is the case in other countries
• The origins of strengths perspective in mental health context is important also as
this provides the primary frame of reference for the development of the approach
• The original advocates challenged key concepts in biomedical discourses
• The strengths perspective core critical insight is that social work is based on a
deficit model that resonates with social workers across many countries.
• Fueled by worker optimism( YOU CAN DO IT!!)

Knowledge Foundations of Strengths Perspective

• Strengths perspective draws on theoretical and empirical research and is strongly
aligned with solution focused and empowerment approaches
• Bertha Capen Reynolds influential figure in the development of this approach.
She urged social workers to focus on client’s strengths and capacities rather than
concentrating on personal pathology. “ Recognition of what the client has to
work with is a better starting point than an attempt to make him accepts his failure
 • Erving Goffman, another influential figure, and he urged social workers to be
sensitive to their language use, particularly in the description of the clients
perceive capacities and deficits

Principles
1. Adopt an optimistic attitude
2. Focus primarily on assets
3. Collaborate with the service user/ community
4. Work towards the long term empowerment of the service community
5. Create community

26. What is black feminism and who is Audre Lorde?

Black Feminism
• Highlights multiple oppressions of gender, class, and race for women of color
• It rejects the notion that gender expression is experienced evenly by all women
• Argues that early feminists, analysis reflected the specific concerns of white
middle class women
• Emerged out of anger and disappointment of exclusion
• Intersectionality came from Black feminism

Audre lorde
• essayist, poet and novelist
• Lorde said, "I am a Black Feminist. I mean I recognize that my power as well as
my primary oppressions comes as a result of my blackness as well as my
womaness, and therefore my struggles on both of these fronts are inseparable."
• She refuses to be silent .I will not allow my work to be trivialized because what I
am writing is not only about me, it is about the lives of many voiceless people,
and the life of the planet that we share.
• I want all of my work--to engage, and to empower people to speak, to strengthen
themselves into who they most want and need to be and then to act, to do what
needs being done
• Audre Lorde claimed and celebrated all of her selves in order that others could
come to find their own voices. (Intersectionality- Black, Feminist, and a lesbian)

27. What is the difference between Postmodernism, post structuralism and post
colonialism?
Post modernism:
• Post modernism opposes the modernist concepts of the Enlightenment, which
aims towards a knowable, objective, factual truth.
 • Markers: multiple voices, critical analysis, gray areas, alternatives, unorthodox
writing, discourse, and concerns with how things are constructured
• Karen Healy, there are no absolute truths rather the utility of theories should not
be judged within specific practice contexts ( p.11)
• argued against this view declaring that reason is a political tool, used to privilege
the ideas of some groups, such as professionals, over those viewed in these
discourses
• Example: Men pregnant

Post structuralism
• Involved in the socialist movement
• Focus on power and capitalism
• Marxist notion of capitalism
• Strengths; AOP borrowed a lot from post
• Takes issues with language , power, and specifically discourse(LINGUISTICS)

Post colonialist
• Takes issues with notions such as “third world nation” and the binaries that
follow, they seek to remember, rewrite local narratives, languages, practices long
excluded by colonization’s.
• Interested in is there a middle between the have and the have not
• Starting where we are already at we do not need a colonialist. Celebrating
anything the colonialist took away from us.
• Sensitive to stories

28. How do you do narrative therapy?

a. Externalizing the problem; personalize the problem
b. Tell alternative good stories; what else is happening in your life? What are you
proud of?
c. Build a supportive team; who sees the other you?
d. Thicken the threat; building a box of evidence to prove to the service user that
their life are more than just the problem

29. What do feminist group workers assume?

Person is politicial, and experiences are important
1.(Non-hierarchical) relationships central to therapeutic process
2. Process as important as product
3. Women’s personal experiences must be recognized, voiced, integral part of work
4. Personal is political-individual issues always linked back to broader social
structures/oppressions
 embedded in four assumptions(Black 2000).

The first is that relationships are central to the therapeutic process. Thus, the feminist
group work model at ISIS is characterized by an approach that values women’s
differing input, emphasizes non-hierarchical relationships and places emphasis on
support and care.

The second is that the process is as important as the product. That is, the process
adopted in the group work is integral to and cannot be separated from the behavioural
changes women may be
seeking.

The third is that women’s experiences and expertise are recognized as valuable and
that these can be used as an integral aspect of women’s recovery. It is important
therefore that the process and practices of group work give voice and space to these
experiences and expertise.

The fourth is that the personal is political. The model thus recognizes that eating
issues are triggered by broader societal causes, rather than individual
psychopathology or ‘fat phobic’ Western cultures. Women in groups are encouraged
to make connections between their individual experiences and the broader position of
women within society.

Despite the large numbers of academic papers published on using group work with
women who have eating issues, only a small number have focused on feminist group
work and of this small number, very few have considered the clinical utility of a
feminist group work approach (Moreno1998).

30. What are some of the effects medical discourse?

Discourse: a collection of words, practices and rules, always have effects, some dominant
some subjugated, create power & new knowledge
The personal troubles that patients bring to doctors often have roots in social issues
beyond medicine. While medical encounters involve "micro-level" interactions between
individuals, these interpersonal processes occur in a social context shaped by "macro-
level" structures in society. Examining prior theories pertinent to medical discourse leads
to the propositions: (a) that medical encounters tend to convey ideological messages
supportive of the current social order; (b) that these encounters have repercussions for
social control; and (c) that medical language generally excludes a critical appraisal of the
social context. The technical structure of the medical encounter, as traditionally seen by
health professionals, masks a deeper structure that may have little to do with the
conscious thoughts of professionals about what they are saying and doing. Similar
patterns may appear in encounters between clients and members of other "helping"
professions. Expressed marginally or conveyed by absence of criticism about contextual
issues, ideology and social control in medical discourse remain largely unintentional
mechanisms for achieving consent.

31.Differences between task-centered and solution focused approach?

Task Centered
Small, local changes
No societal transformation
Although there is an acknowledgment
Could be used with conflict
FOCUSING on 3 problems
Focus on the present problem

Solution Focused
-Miracle Question
-No history, focus on the positive
-Focus on what the service user wants to achieve through therapy rather then the
problems that made them seek help.
Construct concrete vision on what they want for the future.

Miracle Question: Identify the problem, effective questioning, miracle question.

Go to sleep, wake up and all problems are gone. What would that look like? Ask
questions in relation to the picture (not in relation to the problem).
Is very cheesy, and the service user must have a certain level of optimism
Can allow the service user to think about something else then the problem

32.Which approach is particularily concerned with language/words?

All posts approaches but mainly post structuralist
“Post-structuralism, by contrast, is primarily focused the influence of language on power,
knowledge and identity. Poststructuralism derives, and deviates, from the work of
Ferdinand de Saussure, a structural linguist. De Saussure showed that language is not
merely a vehicle to reflect reality, but rather, language helps to create the things it
describes... Post structuralists argue that the relationship between language and the
objects it describes is not fixed by shaped by the different meanings that discourses make
available... For poststructuralists, language is a key site of political struggle as discourses
shape how core concepts such as 'rights' and 'needs' are understood within any context.
This has an enormous implication for modern social work practice... (because) different
discourses and theories for practice offer varying and sometimes conflicting ways of
understanding and responding to client 'needs'

33.If you worked in a shelter which approach would you use and why?
If you worked in a shelter which approach would you use and why?
This is based on personal opinion, so you may have to change the approach and the
reasons for why you want to use it. Other classmates viewed AOP; task centered, and
case management as important.
AOP - The service user knows how to solve their 'problem' best. Also take into
consideration that things are done to them, as oppose to the person taking responsibility
for their circumstance. You must do what the service user asks you to do.
Task centered – Focus on problem at hand, with little consideration for circumstances of
history. However, it solves the problem NOW.
Case management – Looking at all of the issues, and connecting the person with support
in the community in order for future 'wellness'. There is an importance given to the
client's history, and often time the case manager can result in advocating for their service
user. There is also a follow up that may allow the social worker to examine if their plan
works.
NOTE: You may want to consider mixing different approaches together to get the best of
both worlds.

34. In a mental health situation, which approach and why?

Again, this is a really personal answer, to it may be totally different. I believe that the
best practice approach to use, when working with adults with mental health issues, is the
strengths perspective. I mainly chose this practice approach because it was originally
developed in mental health practice contexts. However, it also embodies social work
values, especially its emphasis on respect and service user self-determination. The
strength perspective also emphasizes optimism and creativity (with both individuals and
communities) and, in doing so offers and alternative to increasingly
defensive and risk-averse practices that have become commonplace as a
result of the growing influence of the dominance discourses.

35 Name 3 examples of modernism, structuralism, and critical realism.

Modernism: Hierarchy within classrooms (student and instructor), Singular truths,
Money.
Structuralism: Drop Fees Rally, Women Against Violence groups, Social Democracy.
Critical Realism: the enterance to the ROM (diamond is postmodernist
but the rest of building is modernist), The pharmaceutical building at U
of T (modernist building with a tree in the middle to make it appear
more abnormal)

36. Which approach would you use tomorrow and why?

AOP or Narrative Therapy because…
37. Are aboriginal approaches a grand theory or practice approach? Explain
I don’t know…