What is a theory?

- What is a practice theory?

- The relationship between theory and intervention techniques

- Functions of Theory

- Selecting theories for practice

- Eclecticism (pros & cons)

Practice theories represent a subset of theories, as defined above, and are limited to perspectives on
intervention with individuals, families, and groups. One useful definition of a practice theory is a
coherent set of ideas about human nature, including concepts of health, illness, normalcy, and deviance,
which provide verifiable or established explanations for behavior and rationales for intervention (Frank &
Frank, 1993). Many other definitions are available, but this one is suitable as a basis for reflecting on
theories and their relevance to social work intervention. There are, of THINKING ABOUT THEORY 3
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and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect
the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any
time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. course, many theories that may be used in direct
practice, and social workers should feel challenged to decide which one or several ones will serve their
clients well. The value of utilizing any theory (with conviction) in clinical practice is that it provides the
social worker with a framework to (a) predict and explain client behavior, (b) generalize among clients
and problem areas, (c) bring order to intervention activities, and (d) identify knowledge gaps about
practice situations.

The Relationship Between Theory and Intervention Techniques It is important to emphasize that theories
and intervention techniques are not the same thing. Theories are abstract, and include concepts that
suggest to the social worker which intervention strategies may be effective with clients. Intervention
strategies are the concrete actions taken by social workers to help clients achieve their goals. There
should be consistency, however, between a practitioner’s working theory and interventions. For
example, the theory of ego psychology purports that it is often useful for clients’ goal achievement to
develop insight into their manner of addressing life challenges. One intervention strategy that derives
from this concept is “person-situation reflection,” a process by which the social worker asks questions to
stimulate the client’s self-reflection. In contrast, behavior theory suggests that client change occurs when
the person’s behavioral reinforcers are adjusted. An intervention strategy might include designing an
environmental plan (in a classroom or household, for example) to reward (encourage) some behaviors
and punish (extinguish) others. 4 CHAPTER 1 Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May
not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party
content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any
suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning
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The relationship between theory and intervention becomes complicated, however, because there is
overlap among the intervention strategies suggested by different theories. That is, not every theoretical
perspective includes a unique set of intervention strategies. This point is often confusing to students (so
please read this paragraph twice). An ego psychologist and a behaviorist might both use relaxation skill
training with a client, although their rationales for using this technique would be different. The ego
psychologist may hope to enhance the client’s ability to reflect, whereas the behaviorist may be helping
the client manage taskrelated anxiety. The reader will readily see this overlap among intervention
strategies throughout this book. How the same technique can have a different purpose will be discussed
in each chapter. The point above can be clarified in another way (see Figure 1.1). In my view, most social
workers tend to adopt a primary theory for the purpose of assessment. That is, if ego psychology,
cognitive theory, or some other theory “fits” a practitioner’s assumptions about human nature, he or she
will tend to assess clients from that perspective. For example, if I believe that unconscious processes
influence mental functioning, it will be hard for me to completely ignore that assumption even if I set out
to practice from a behavioral perspective. My practice model (guiding strategy for working with certain
types of clients), however, may rely heavily on behavioral methods when I work with substance abuse
clients. I may believe that these clients are not capable of effectively responding to “reflective”
interventions due to their denial and need for strict limits, and thus I put my “preferred” theoretical
perspective aside. My model may include the teaching of behavioral techniques for abstinence. I may
“Primary” Practice Theory (for Assessment) (Fits the practitioner’s assumptions about human nature)
Practice Model (A guiding strategy for working with certain types of clients) Practice Strategy (A guiding
strategy for approaching a specific client) Interventions (The implementation of practice strategies; what
we actually do to facilitate the change process) F I G U R E 1.1 The Relationship of Theory to Practice ©
Cengage Learning THINKING ABOUT THEORY 5 Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.
May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party
content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any
suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning
reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
hope to undertake reflective interventions with those clients following their termination of substance
use, but I may not assume that this is necessary for their recovery. My practice strategy for an individual
client will be based on my model, but individualized as I take into account that person’s particular
personal and environmental characteristics. One client may be receptive to self-help interventions while
another is not. Finally, my specific intervention will consist of activities undertaken by the client and
myself to achieve his or her goals.

THE FUNCTIONS OF THEORY Theory is important because it has a direct influence on how the social
worker approaches his or her practice. It serves the functions of (Nugent, 1987; Polansky, 1986; Tzeng &
Jackson, 1991): Simplifying complex phenomena, and focusing the practitioner’s attention on thoughts,
feelings, behaviors, and events in a client’s life that are relevant to explore Helping the social worker to
establish causal relationships and thus predict what will influence a client’s future behavior Simplifying
the task of selecting attainable intervention outcomes Guiding the social worker’s choices among
potentially effective intervention options Protecting against irrational procedures, because the
commitment to a body of thought “greater than oneself” bolsters professional self-discipline Mobilizing
sound interprofessional practice, as the ability to effectively coordinate the work of several service
providers depends on understanding one’s own theoretical base and that of others Making the social
worker’s development of knowledge cumulative from one practice situation to the next, and promoting
some level of generalization among clients

THE FUNCTIONS OF THEORY Theory is important because it has a direct influence on how the social
worker approaches his or her practice. It serves the functions of (Nugent, 1987; Polansky, 1986; Tzeng &
Jackson, 1991): Simplifying complex phenomena, and focusing the practitioner’s attention on thoughts,
feelings, behaviors, and events in a client’s life that are relevant to explore Helping the social worker to
establish causal relationships and thus predict what will influence a client’s future behavior Simplifying
the task of selecting attainable intervention outcomes Guiding the social worker’s choices among
potentially effective intervention options Protecting against irrational procedures, because the
commitment to a body of thought “greater than oneself” bolsters professional self-discipline Mobilizing
sound interprofessional practice, as the ability to effectively coordinate the work of several service
providers depends on understanding one’s own theoretical base and that of others Making the social
worker’s development of knowledge cumulative from one practice situation to the next, and promoting
some level of generalization among clients

Eclecticism: Pro and Con Many social workers describe themselves as “eclectic,” which means they draw
on a variety of theories, depending on the client’s presenting situation. It may be said that there are
three kinds of eclecticism (Borden, 2009a). Technical eclecticism is the application of procedures solely
on the basis of their prior demonstrated efficacy, as in evidence-based practice (discussed later). These
practitioners are not primarily interested in theory, but apply certain interventions to certain kinds of
presenting problems. Common factors approaches are based on a social worker’s assumption that all
theories exert their effects through similar underlying processes. These practitioners focus on core
elements shared by the major schools of thought, as discussed earlier. Finally, theoretical integration
represents the efforts of some practitioners to utilize a range of theories based on the particular
presenting issues of their clients. Although such flexibility is a positive aspect of one’s practice, it may be
difficult to achieve real mastery in the use of more than three or four theories (Turner, 2011). Further,
some theories contain assumptions that are incompatible with one another (object relations and
narrative theory, for example). Payne (2005) has summarized arguments for and against eclecticism in
theory selection. Its positive aspects are that clients stand to benefit from a range of ideas about
managing a problem issue; effectiveness is not directly related to theory selection; several theories may
contain common elements; and some theories do not apply to all practice situations. The negative
aspects of eclecticism are that a practitioner who attempts to use many theories may lack mastery of any
of them. The process may result in the practitioner’s loss of a common core of practice, and his or her
clients may suffer. The approach in this book is that a social worker will be well served by the mastery of
several theories with which he or she comes to feel comfortable