This book aims to provide a link between theory and social work practice. It develops a theoretical foundation from which you can draw to serve your clients. Different lenses, or theories, are presented and coupled with practice situations, from assessment through evaluation, that are designed to assist you in increasing your understanding of the importance of linking theory to practice. In the beginning level of practice situations, you are called upon to be generalists; this means you should be able to respond to human need through micro practice, mezzo practice, or macro practice methods and should be able to respond to needs expressed by systems of all sizes, including individuals, families and groups, organizations, and communities. This is a pretty tall order. The Bachelor of Social Work curriculum ensures that you receive knowledge and skills, and understand the related social work values, across the spectrum of systems from conception to death. Inherent in the curriculum is an integrated understanding of general systems theory and the ecological perspective. Each system is within a particular context. Content areas include human behavior and the social environment, social welfare policy, diversity, economic and social justice, practice methods, ethics and values, research, and field experience. To ensure that you receive the knowledge, skills, and values and can use them in practice, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) develops academic standards by which programs measure their relative effectiveness in reaching student learning outcomes.

1. CHAPTER 2
ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS
THEORIES

2. A HISTORICAL DISCUSSION OF ECOLOGICAL AND
SYSTEMS THEORIES
• THE IDEAS ASSOCIATED WITH SYSTEMS THEORY WERE FIRST
DISCUSSED BY LUDWIG VON BERTALANFFY AS A WAY OF
UNDERSTANDING BIOLOGY AS AN ORGANIZED SYSTEM OF
INTERRELATED PARTS OF A WHOLE.
• MORE COMPLEX VIEW OF BIOLOGY THAT MOVED AWAY FROM JUST
LINEAR EFFECTS
• VON BERTALANFFY SUGGESTED A MORE COMPLEX VIEW OF
BIOLOGY, DESCRIBING RECIPROCAL TRANSACTIONS AS A BETTER
EXPLANATION FOR HOW ONE ELEMENT OF A SYSTEM MAY AFFECT
ANOTHER.

3. • SYSTEMS THEORY BEGAN TO OFFER BROAD APPLICATION
TOFIELDS SUCH AS ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS, AND
TECHNOLOGY.
• THE TENETS OF SYSTEMS THEORY ALSO OFFERED
IMPLICATIONS TO DISCIPLINES WITHIN THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES, BECAUSE UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL SYSTEMS
SUCH AS FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS
AS ENTITIES THAT WERE MAINTAINED BY INTERRELATED
PARTS HELPED IN DESCRIBING HOW THESE SYSTEMS
FUNCTIONED.

4. ECOLOGICAL THEORY
• ECOLOGICAL THEORY FOCUSES ON RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
ORGANISMS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS
• ALTHOUGH ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES WERE DEVELOPED AS
SEPARATE FRAMEWORKS, THEY ARE OFTEN INTEGRATED AND SOMETIMES
CALLED ECOSYSTEMS THEORY OR ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY BECAUSE
OF THE SIMILARITIES IN THEIR UNDERLYING EXPLANATIONS OF HUMAN
BEHAVIOR.
• ECOSYSTEMS INCLUDE THE SUM OF A SET OF DIVERSE ORGANISMS AND
NONLIVING ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS THAT IMPACT AND ARE IMPACTED BY
ONE ANOTHER
• ECOLOGY THEORY SUGGESTS THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE ORGANISMS WHO
MAINTAIN HELPFUL OR UNHELPFUL TRANSACTIONS WITH THEIR
ENVIRONMENTS
• BRONFENBRENNER DISCUSSED ECOLOGICAL THEORY FROM THE
PERSPECTIVE OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT BY IDENTIFYING THE MICRO, MESO,

5. PERSON-IN-ENVIRONMENT
• A PERSPECTIVE INFORMED BY BOTH ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES
• PERSON-IN-ENVIRONMENT IS A BROAD PERSPECTIVE THAT IS CONSISTENT
WITH SOCIAL WORK’S MISSION AS DEFINED BY NASW (2008)

6. ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY: PRACTICE
PRINCIPLES FOR SOCIAL WORK
• PRINCIPLE 1: A SYSTEM CONSISTS OF INTERRELATED AND INTERDEPENDENT
PARTS
• PRINCIPLE 2: A SYSTEM IS DEFINED BY ITS BOUNDARIES AND RULES
• PRINCIPLE 3: SYSTEMS TYPICALLY DEMONSTRATE PREDICTABLE PATTERNS
OF BEHAVIOR
• PRINCIPLE 4: A SYSTEM IS MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS
• PRINCIPLE 5: CHANGING ONE PART OF A SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE OTHER
PARTS OF THE SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE
• PRINCIPLE 6: POSITIVE GROWTH AND ADAPTATION OCCUR WHEN THERE IS A
GOODNESS OF FIT WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

7. ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES:
KEY CONCEPTS
• A SYSTEM IS A SET OF COMPONENTS THAT ARE RELATED TO ONE ANOTHER,
OFTEN TO ACCOMPLISH A COMMON PURPOSE
• BOUNDARIES ARE THE REAL OR SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED BARRIERS THAT
SEPARATE A SYSTEM FROM ITS ENVIRONMENT
• RECIPROCAL TRANSACTIONS ARE THE INTERACTIONS THAT OCCUR BETWEEN A
PERSON AND HIS OR HER ENVIRONMENT OR BETWEEN TWO SYSTEMS
• THE FEEDBACK LOOP DESCRIBES THE PROCESS BY WHICH SYSTEMS RECEIVE
INFORMATION NEEDED TO MAKE NEEDED ADJUSTMENTS
• HOMEOSTASIS REFERS TO A SYSTEM’S DESIRE TO RESIST CHANGE AND
PRESERVE THE STATUS QUO.

8. ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES:
KEY CONCEPTS, CONTINUED
• ECOLOGICAL THEORY SUGGESTS SYSTEMS HAVE A TENDENCY TO PROTECT
AND GROW TO ACCOMPLISH A GOAL, ALSO KNOWN AS ADAPTATION.
• THE MICROSYSTEM REFERS TO THE SYSTEMS THAT ARE CLOSEST IN
PROXIMITY TO THE CLIENT SYSTEM
• THE MESOSYTEM ACCORDING TO BRONFENBRENNER (1979) REFERS TO THE
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SYSTEMS IN THE MICROSYSTEM.
• BRONFENBRENNER (1979) DEFINES THE EXOSYSTEM AS WHEN THE
INTERACTION BETWEEN TWO SYSTEMS EXERTS AN INDIRECT INFLUENCE ON
ANOTHER

9. ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES:
KEY CONCEPTS, CONTINUED
• THE MACROSYSTEM REFERS TO THE LARGER SYSTEMS THAT INFLUENCE A
CLIENT’S LIFE
• BRONFENBRENNER (1979) REFERS TO THE CHRONOSYSTEM AS THE EVENTS
THAT IMPACT THE CLIENT SYSTEM.

10. APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL AND
SYSTEMS THEORIES WITHIN SOCIAL WORK
PRACTICE
• ENGAGEMENT ACCORDING TO ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY INVOLVES
DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE CLIENT AND WITH
IMPORTANT SYSTEMS IMPACTING THAT CLIENT
• ASSESSMENT ACCORDING TO ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY INVOLVES
UNDERSTANDING A CLIENT’S “GOODNESS OF FIT” WITH HIS OR HER
ENVIRONMENT BY COMPLETING AN ECOMAP, A PICTORIAL DESCRIPTION OF
THE CLIENT’S RECIPROCAL TRANSACTIONS WITH HIS OR HER ENVIRONMENT

11. APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL AND
SYSTEMS THEORIES WITHIN SOCIAL WORK
PRACTICE, CONTINUED
• GOAL SETTING INVOLVES SETTING GOALS THAT WOULD IMPROVE A CLIENT’S
GOODNESS OF FIT AND MIGHT INVOLVE CHANGE IN THE CLIENT AND/OR
GOALS TO CHANGE SYSTEMS IMPACTING THE CLIENT
• INTERVENTION INVOLVES ANY ACTIVITY THAT SEEKS TO IMPROVE THE
RECIPROCAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN A CLIENT AND HIS OR HER
ENVIRONMENT

12. APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL AND
SYSTEMS THEORIES WITHIN SOCIAL WORK
PRACTICE, CONTINUED
• INTERVENTION CAN OCCUR ON THE MICRO, MEZZO, OR MACRO LEVELS OF
PRACTICE, MEANING SOMETIMES CHANGES HAPPENS WITH THE CLIENT AND
SOMETIMES CHANGE HAPPENS IN THE SYSTEMS IMPACTING THAT CLIENT
• EVALUATION INVOLVES DETERMINING THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE
INTERVENTIONS HELPED THE CLIENT TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS

13. CASE EXAMPLE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
• PROBATION OFFICER TAKES A LOT OF TIME. WHEN USING AN ECOLOGICAL
SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE, WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT FOR A SOCIAL WORKER TO
MEET WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN A CASE?
• WHEN CONDUCTING AN ASSESSMENT ACCORDING TO AN ECOLOGICAL
SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE, A SOCIAL WORKER MUST IDENTIFY THE MICRO,
MEZZO, AND MACRO SYSTEMS PRESENT IN THE ENVIRONMENT OF CLIENT
SYSTEM. WHAT ARE THE SYSTEMS IMPACTING AND BEING IMPACTED BY
ROBERTO (RECIPROCAL INTERACTION)?

14. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF
ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY
• STRENGTHS
• BROAD PERSPECTIVE OFFERS IMPLICATIONS FOR ALL SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
• PROVIDES THE FOUNDATION TO SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
• PUSHES SOCIAL WORKERS TO LOOK AT THE NEED TO ADVOCATE CHANGES TO
SOCIAL STRUCTURES
• LIMITATIONS
• DIFFICULT TO MEASURE
• BECAUSE IT IS BROAD, OFFERS LESS SPECIFIC DIRECTION TO SOCIAL WORKERS