The Functional Model

Characteristics of the Functional Model

1. The functional model of casework was

developed at the Pennsylvania School of
Social Work in the 1930s.

2. It is defined as the method of engaging

clients through a relationship process
essentially one-to-one, in the use of
social services toward their own and
general social welfare.
3. This model considers casework as a
method for administering some specific
social service with psychological
understanding of skill in the helping
process so that the agency service
contributes to or promotes the
individual’s social welfare.
4. The primary purpose of this model is to
provide a social service which the
agency has and which the client needs.

 It utilizes the agency function (services)

as an integral part of the social worker’s
skill.
  The caseworker uses the helping
process to accomplish a specific social
purpose or to deliver a specific service
for which the agency has been
established.

5. Emphasis is on the relationship, the

dynamic use of time, and the “use of the
agency function.”
 Theoretical Base
 Will Psychology of Otto Rank
 Will refers to:

1. The individual’s ability to mobilize

him/herself toward a desired goal.

2. The deliberate use of time to

arouse an awareness of motivation.
 3. To focus on the immediate
present as the arena for mindful change.

4. The purposeful focus on the

active processes occurring within the
helping relationship.
 Premises of the Functional Model

1. The drive to life, health and fulfillment

is seen as basic to human beings.

2. The process of growth is the central

core of activity in working with
individual clients.
3. Humans use relationship, including
relationship with the worker and the
agency, to find and strengthen their own
purposes and to move to realize them.

4. The offer of service unites the person

with the skill of the social worker and the
function and services of the agency.
 Application
1. Emphasis is on the individual’s use of
choices in working on her/his problem.

2. The functional model stresses that the

source of healing and helping power is
part of the innate power to grow and
change.

3. Time limits are set for the help.

4. Empathy with the client in using help as
well as the honesty and openness of
worker communication are especially
important.

5. Treatment consists of support and

stimulation to use all of the client’s
available capacities for decision and
action, and the client determines the
final outcome.
6. The function of the agency rather than the
client’s need becomes the pivotal problem
in the helping process.

 Caseworkers are expected to know the

helping process only as it relates to the specific
agency setting (e.g., foster care, prisons,
elderly care, etc.)

 They are not expected to be knowledgeable

about helping situations unrelated to their
professional settings.
7. The client is not seen as sick or deviant,
but as a person requesting a specific
service.

8. No attempt is made to know the “total”

individual in his/her “total” situation;
rather, the focus throughout the
relationship is on the understanding of
the individual in relation to the service
offered.
 References
Brieland, Donald, Lela B. Costin and Charles
R. Atherton (1985). Contemporary Social
Work: An Introduction to Social Work and
Social Welfare, NY: McGraw Hill

Macht, Mary W. and Jean K. Quam (1986).

Social Work: An Introduction, Columbus:
Charles E. Merrill