Social Case Work Approaches edited by Arul Actovin C

1. Case Work Approaches

2. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
Origin
 This approach is traced to Mary Richmond’s formulations.
 However, this approach changed and it was influenced by Socio
Economic events of 1920s and 1930s as well as the growth of
personality theory and social theory.
 Freudian Theory began to feed with this point of view in 1926.
 The early contributors of to this theory were Marion Ken Worthy,
Betsely Libby, Hamilton Gordon, Bertha Reynolds, Charlotte Towle,
Florence dayand others

3. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
Case Work deals with the people, their environment andthe
relationship between them (Person-in-situation).
What is psychosocial approach?
 Psychosocial Approach (Case Work) means “attention to both
interpersonal system ( parent, child, husband and wife, family) and
personality system (Id, ego and superego) of the individuals.
 It is one of the approaches adopted by the caseworkers to deal with
the problems of the Individuals.

4. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
 Florence Hollis, summarizes the main elements of the psychosocial approach as
follows:
 ‘It is . . . an attempt to mobilize the strengths of the personality and the
resources of the environment at strategic points to improve the opportunities
available to the individual and to develop more effective personal and
interpersonal functioning’ (Hollis 1977: 1308)

5. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
 Foundation of Psycho Social Approach
 Frompractice
 Ideas from Gestalt psychology
 Contributions of psychoanalysis
 Social Sciences influences.
 Cultural anthropology

6. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
Characteristics of Psycho Social Approach
 This approach is an open system of thought, which constantly
changes.
 It grows as new data become available and as new proposition
concepts, hypothesis, and theories emerge.

7. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
Objectives of Psycho Social Case Work
 To alleviate the clients distress and decreasing the mal – functioning in the
person situation systems.
 To enhance the clients comfort, satisfactionand self realization.
 This may enhance the adoptive skills of client’s ego and the functioning of the
person – situation system.
 Change may be needed in either the person or his situation or in both. I.e. In
what aspects a person and (or) his situation need changes or improvement.
 Attentions to both inter personal system (parent – child husband wise, family
and the personality system (Id, Ego, and Super Ego).

8. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
 Stages of the approach
PHASE I
Arriving at an understanding with the client of why the contact is taking place
Establishing a relationship with the client which will enable him to use the
workers help.
Encourage the client in treatment.
Beginning the treatment from the initial phase itself.
Gathering information needed for the psycho-social diagnosisand the
guidance in treatment.

9. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
PHASE - IIASSESSMENT OFTHE CLIENT (IN HIS
SITUATION)
This phase is otherwise known as diagnostic period helpful to assess the
strength as well as the weakness of the client
What is diagnosis? (It is a guide to treatment)
 According to Webster : Diagnosis means recognizing disease from its
symptoms.
 It is a scientific determination critical scrutiny or its resulting judgment.
In Case Work – Diagnosis means:
 Critical scrutiny of client, his situation and his trouble, which help is
needed for the purpose of understanding the nature of the difficulty with
moredetail and accuracy.

10. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
PHASE – III TREATMENT
According to Hamilton Garden “Treatment as a “furnishing a Service” or
Behaviour towards some one”.
 Its nature and intensity depends upon both the clients might involve
meeting deficiencies with social resources, programs modification or resource
adjustment as well as counselling or therapy.
 Treatment is a starting point “Means by which change is brought about and the
ways in which diagnosis guides the worker [in his choice].
 The treatment is directed to bring about a change. In treatment process
communication plays vital role–ie client – worker, client – collateral, client –
client and worker – collateral.
 Treatment begins in first interview itself. (i.e. non – specific treatment is
involved even in the first interview).
 The worker usually assess some form of sentiments and an opportunity for
ventilation which is ofpotential therapeutic value.
 He encourages the client to reflect up on his situation and himself in order
to understand the situation or himselfor both

11. PSYCHO SOCIAL
APPROACH
 PHASE – IV TARGET
 This approach is widely used in family settings medical settings,
psychiatric settings, schools and other child welfare settings.
 This approach is adopted to solve the environmental problems and
the problems those of interpersonal nature.
 This approach is widely used in clinical settings as well as in social
settings.
 This approach has depends upon the motivation of clients and the
voluntary nature of treatment relationship.
Hence adoptions are therefore necessary -
Where motivation is low or non-existent.
With those with sever character disorders
Alcoholics
Drug addicts
Delinquents and
Mental patients, whoareill, seriouslyregressed.

12. FUNCTIONAL APPROACH

13. FUNCTIONAL
APPROACH
ORGIN
 This approach was developed by faculty members of school of
social work of the university of Pennsylvania in the 1930s.
 Bertha Reynolds’ contributed more on developing the functional
approach.

14. FUNCTIONAL
APPROACH
PRINCIPLES
A/C to Ruth. E. Smalley
 Diagnosis : Understanding the problem (Analyze orAssessment)
 Use of time phase:
 The use of agency functions use of agency policy & procedures –so
that the client may know what he is dealing
 Use of relationship

15. FUNCTIONAL
APPROACH -
Phases
Initial phase:
 Beginning:- (Intake procedures and getting started”)
 Each new beginning recreates the life fear, the fear separation,
individualization, the fear of not experiencing, etc.
 It is the worker’s sensitivity to what is involved in particular
beginning.
 What will makes him to reduce the fear, resistance etc.
 Making the unknown known by being clear about is agency’s, service,
and its conditions to avail the service, what ca be expected from
the agency and what is the requirements and expectations of
agency”.
 “The known is the less fear and more manageable than theunknown”.

16. FUNCTIONAL
APPROACH -
Phases
 Middles
Middles are characterized by the worker taking increased responsibility for
his part in the situation and / by a deepening of the relationship involved.
The worker must make efforts to deeper the relationship, and make it possible
to gain a new sense of accomplishment and power through bring something
to conclusion.
 Endings
Endings have their own feelings and quality. Ending may be resisted and
feared.
Clients may resist and postpone endings even after the relationship has lost
its meaning or is to be terminated under the conditions of agency service.
Ending are inevitable for every beginning there is an ending.

17. FUNCTIONAL
APPROACH -
Phases
II. Assessment Phase (of the client in his situation) or
diagnosis
For effective (social work service) service there is a need for
understanding of the total situation, understanding of the individual,
group or community – change with course of using the service
offered.
i.e. understanding about:
 The value of the particular problem (or any problem)
 Understanding the particular kind of individual
 Characterization of an (or any kind of) individual
 Needs of an individual at various points in the life process.
 Various ways of dealing with stress
 The nature of various degrees of mental retardation.

18. FUNCTIONAL
APPROACH -
Phases
 Common physical, psychological and social illness
 In understanding of socio economic and cultural differences and
how such differences affect the individual’s life.
 An understanding of the various patterns of individual life
expression in a particular gestalt or balance of will, emotion, and
impulse.
 The case worker is responsible for encasement his knowledge
through independent or formal study of the individual to whom the
works is currently offering services.
 Some of is understanding will derive from various regards and
reports available with him or with the agency or institutions.

19. FUNCTIONAL
APPROACH -
Phases
III HELPING PROCESS (Treatment )
 Functional approach uses the term helping process rather than
treatment because it accurately expresses the concept that the centre
for changes resides in the client, with the worker facilitating
what the client can do rather than the worker is responsible for
treating.
 STEPS IN TREATMENT
Use of time
Understanding the individual
Use of agency function
Use of structure
Principles of process

20. FUNCTIONAL
APPROACH -
Phases
TARGET
 The functional approach is applicable to all fields of practice for
social work and to all the social work methods both primary (case
work, group work, community organization ) we deals with client
or client system directly and secondary (supervision,
administration, research and education for social work)

21. Task Centered Approach

22. Task Centered
Approach
 Task-centered Approach is now well into its fifth decade as a social work
practice model and has matured as a social work generalist practice tool that can
empower clients to solve a wide variety of problems.
 Originally formulated by Laura Epstein (1914–1996) and William Reid (1928–
2003) at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration
(SSA), the approach has been adopted by schools of social work and social work
practitioners internationally.

23. Task Centered
Approach
 From the 1920s until the 1960s the predominant model of social work
intervention was psycho-social casework.
 This model was based on the work of Sigmund Freud and the psychoanalysts.
 Psychoanalytic social work emphasized relationship-focused intervention with
the professional adopting the role of the 'expert'.
 In this approach the client's problems were viewed as fundamentally
psychological in nature, and linked to internal psychodynamic factors such as
faulty 'ego functioning'.
 Work with clients tended to be long-term - up to eighteen months - and open-
ended in nature.
 Improvement in client's difficulties was often slow, hard to quantify, and in
some cases deterioration in their condition was observed.

24. Task Centered
Approach -
Emergence
 The social work profession expanded and the scope of social workers' responsibilities extended,
concern about the limits of the casework approach emerged.
 Traditional casework was criticized for being resource intensive; lacking in focus; and with
outcomes that were difficult to quantify and evaluate.
 In the late 1960s in North America Reid and Shyne (1969) undertook an extensive four year
study to explore an alternative approach to traditional casework.
 This new approach involved brief, highly focused periods of intervention.
 Clients were offered up to eight sessions concentrating on clearly defined and explicit goals.
 The approach was client directed with the social worker acting as a facilitator.
 The study found that clients' difficulties improved quickly and that significant change could
sometime occur after only one session.

25. Task Centered
Approach
 The work of Reid and Shyne was replicated and developed further in the United Kingdom by
Goldberg et al (1977).
 Three hypotheses emerged from these studies to account for the difference in outcomes between
psychosocial case work and the new approach:
 The first hypothesis was that unfocussed help extended over a protracted period diminishes hope
and reduces clients' confidence in their own abilities.
 The second hypothesis was that the psychosocial approach results in negative dependency and
attachment to a particular organisation or individual worker.
 And the third hypothesis was that setting time limits on defined and desired outcomes can create
an expectation that rapid change is possible thus increasing the motivation and energy of all
participants. Put simply, that all participants would benefit from a deadline!
 The findings of these studies resulted in the development of what became known as the task-
centered approach to social work and the model was further developed and refined in practice.

26. Task Centered
Approach
 The task-centered model was supported by evidence of practical benefits for
clients; and also met a pressing organisational need to ration scarce social work
resources.
 In addition, the adoption of the task-centered model signalled a move away
from the assumption of the professional as the source of expertise; and was a
first step towards a more empowering approach.
 Rather than viewing the individual and their psychological history as the
primary source of their difficulties; more attention was paid to the social and
external factors impacting on the individual.

27. Task Centered
Approach -
Phases
 Firstly, the social worker helps the service user articulate the specific problems
as the service user sees them.
 In this phase active listening is important.
 Secondly, the social worker assists the service user to break down and detail the
problem areas, redefining these where necessary.
 Distressed or anxious service users sometimes cannot 'see the wood for the
trees'.
 Finally the social worker encourages the service user to prioritise the problems
according to the service user's own views.
 Sometimes an external constraint (for example the threat of eviction) is most
pressing, but otherwise the priority depends on the urgency as perceived by the
service user.

28. Task Centered
Approach
 Using the task-centered approach the social worker and service user
will work in parnership to
• Identify outcomes
• Agree a contract
• Review and evaluate progress

29. Strength Based
Approach

30. Strength
Based
Approach
 Lyn Romeo
 Excellent social work is about emphasising the use of
professional engagement and judgement, as opposed to
procedural approaches, with a focus on the individual,
taking a holistic and co-productive approach to keeping the
person at the centre of all decisions, identifying what
matters to them and how best outcomes can be achieved. It
is about enabling people to find the best solutions for
themselves, to support them in making independent
decisions about how they live. I whole heartedly believe in
taking a strengths and asset based approach to supporting
individuals and empower people to live the lives they want.’

31. Strength
Based
Approach -
Strengths-Based
Models in Social
Work; McCashen
(2005)
 It has its foundation in social work.
 It is a “work practice theory” which focuses on an
individuals’ self-determination and strength.
 It builds the clients on their strengths,
specifically seeing them as resourceful and
resilient when they are in adverse conditions.

32. Strength
Based
Approach
 Another unique characteristic of this approach is that it is client led
and centered on outcomes in the future individual’s set of strengths.
 It should be noted that when a strength-based approach is used in any
field outside of social work, it is referred to as the strength-based
approach (Strengths-Based Models in Social Work; McCashen (2005)).
 An interesting aspect of the strengths-based approach is that it is
about getting people to affect change in them.
 Change happens using positivity and affecting each person and how
they handle their own:
 Attitudes about their dignity
 Capacities
 Rights
 Quirks
 And similarities

33. Strength
Based
Approach
 The strength-based approach allows for habitable conditions
for a person to see themselves at their best, in order to see
the value they bring, by just being them.
 Then moving that value forward to capitalize on their
strengths rather than focusing on negative characteristics.
 Strength-based approach not only examines the individual
but also the individual’s environment.

34. Strength
Based
Approach –
Characteristi
cs (Rapp,
Saleebey and
Sullivan
(2008) )
 Goal orientation
 Strengths assessment
 Resources from the environment
 Different methods are used first for different situations
 The relationship is hope-inducing
 Meaningful choice

35. Strength
Based
Approach -
Principles
(Hammond,
2010)
Everyone possesses a uniqueness that helps him or her evolve and move along
his or her journey. These unique characteristics can be either:
 Potential
 Strengths
 Capabilities
 What receives attention or focus becomes what we (or the client) strive(s)
for and eventually becomes a reality.
 Be careful with your words and language. Our language creates our (and
our client’s) reality.
 Accept change, life and our world are ever-evolving; don’t resist.
 Support others as authentically as you can. You will see that your
relationships are deeper and more meaningful.
 The person or client is the story-teller of their own story.
 Build upon what you know and experience to dream of the future.
 Capacity building has multiple facets and organization.
 Be flexible. Be collaborative. Be adaptive and value differences

36. Strength
Based
Approach –
(Duncan &
Hubble,
1999)
 A distinct attribute of the strength-based practice is that it
is mutual between the client and the practitioner.
 The relationship between the practitioner and the client is
heavily dependent on the quality of their relationship.

37. Strength Based
Approach –
Benefits
(Hammond,
2010)
• Focusing on strengths rather than problems offers control to the
person and a new mindset.
• Resilience is improved as well as the overall function of the person
in their family and community.
• Offers a shared language and precautionary philosophy.
• Resilience is the goal, which offers a theoretical map to lead the
person to make efforts for prevention and evaluation, respectively.
• Intervention tactics are client driven and relationship-minded,
which in turn has these additional benefits:
• Distressed people are engaged with respect and compassion.
• Respects that in order to build someone up, including their
capacities, it takes time and there is a process of evolvement.
• Sees people as creating and rebuilding, rather than broken or
failing.

38. Strength Based
Approach -
Benefits
(Hammond,
2010)
• Focusing on strengths of a person also introduces and molds a person into
being resilient. With resilience there are some added benefits, like feeling
special and valued, optimistic, understand life is a journey (Hammond,
2010).
• Learn how to set goals and expectations (Hammond, 2010).
• Learn how to cope in a productive method that can foster growth.
• Learn that when faced with a challenge it is better to confront than avoid.
• Awareness of vulnerabilities and weaknesses, but focus on strengths.
• Builds self-esteem and competence.
• Learn effective interpersonal skills in order to look for assistance and support when
needed.
• Understand what can and cannot be controlled.
• Understand supporting others and giving time to those that we care about.
• Encourages connecting to a person’s social support like family, or community to spur
on his or her own transformation.

39. Strength
Based
Approach -
Disadvantage
s
 Possible disadvantage actually lies with the main focus of the
strength-based approach.
 Jones (2017) explains it’s great to focus on strengths but should
not be utter neglect of the weaknesses.
 If weaknesses are poorly or not managed at all they can be
unmonitored, and can eventually influence the individual to
where they are less effective in whatever the scope of work is
in (Jones, 2017).
 Jones is not the only one to carefully and constructively point
out some flaws in the method, researchers (McMillen, Morris,
Sherraden, 2004 and Staudt, Howard, & Drake, 2001) pointed
out that the strength-based approach is not really offering
anything novel, nor is it based on evidence of efficacy.

40. ECLECTIC APPROACH

41. ECLECTIC
APPROACH
 It has been observed that no theoretical approach explains human
behaviour in a conclusive manner.
 Therefore it is important to develop an eclectic approach, an
approach that is characterized by a solid knowledge of many
systems of theories and a skill for selecting useful concepts and
techniques with reference to clients.

42. ECLECTIC
APPROACH
 Eclecticism does not mean that the social worker chooses casually
a methodology of explanation.
 Eclecticism, on the other hand, means choosing a methodology
purposefully with explainable reasons and with reference to a
particular client, or clients.
 Every school of thought has its own strengths and limitations.
 The social worker’s skill will be that of taking advantage of the
strengths without ignoring the drawbacks in relation to the client.

43. ECLECTIC
APPROACH
 Cognitive theory has some things in common related to thinking
and they are useful to client whose faculty of thinking can be
activated.
 Those clients who hold some form of religious philosophy may be
benefited from existential theory.
 By knowing the theories well and understanding the clients
adequately, it is possible to use theories appropriately and
effectively.

44. Empowerment
Approach

45. Empowerme
nt Approach
 According to Karl (1995:14), 'Empowerment is a process of
awareness and capacity building leading to greater participation to
greater decision making and control, and to transformative
action’.
 Empowerment is the process of increasing personal, interpersonal,
or political power so that individuals, families, and communities
can take action to improve their situations (Lorraine and Robert,
1991).
 Miller (1983) defines power as the capacity to produce a change.

46. Empowerme
nt Approach
 Mckay (1999: 17),
...To support and strengthen people's natural abilities and capacities for
handling their own affairs; to improve environments to ensure the
conditions are present to maximize social well-being and provide care
where needed; and to work toward transforming the conditions and
social structures that create an inequitable social order.
 Empowerment-based practice actuates a strengths perspective,
centring the social work process toward competence promotion
and away from the stigmatising notion of deficit reduction.
 An empowering approach reveals the worker's unwavering
commitment to social justice.
 Empowerment-based social work practice is concerned with much
more than the re-distribution of power in society.

47. Empowerment
Approach -
STRATEGIES OF
EMPOWERING PEOPLE
 To facilitate empowerment, practitioners integrate a
continuum of strategies ranging from individual
development to relationship improvement to resource
acquisition and reallocation through social and institutional
change.
 Collaborating as partners, clients and social workers can
coordinate these efforts simultaneously or sequentially, but
no part of the ecosystem transaction can be ignored.
 In this regard social workers adopt various strategies to
empower the client: collectivisation, establishing a
dialogical relationship, consciousness-raising, redefining,
advocacy, and so on.

48. Empowerme
nt Approach
- STRATEGIES
Collectivisation
 A small group is presented as the ideal modality for
empowering interventions because it allows clients to
experience individual effectiveness in influencing others.
 Small groups can facilitate empowerment by
 creating a basis of social support,
 providing a format for concrete assistance,
 providing an opportunity to learn new skills through role-
playing and observing others, and
 serving as a potential power base for future action (Evans,
1992).

49. Empowerme
nt Approach
- STRATEGIES
Establishing a Dialogical Relationship
 In working with clients, the worker tries to establish a relationship of
dialogue with them as opposed to a relationship of vertical imposition
(Freire, 1970).
 Moreau and Leonard (1989) presented the following dialogical
practices:
 sharing with the service user the content of case recordings;
 directly involving service users in the decisions that affect them;
 directly involving the service user in providing feedback on the kinds and
quality of services provided.
 reducing the social distance between the worker and service user by use
of self-disclosure, casual dress, giving the rationale for techniques and
questions, personal empathy, home visits, first names, direct clear speech,
and use of body language;
 sharing with the service user one's personal biases and limits as part of the
'helping' contract;
 providing information on the role of the agency and the rights of the
service user, and
 letting him/her know the worker is there to serve the service user.

50. Empowerme
nt Approach
- STRATEGIES
Consciousness Raising
 Popular education aims to create change by raising critical
consciousness of common concerns.
 It assumes that people are able to participate but temporarily
unwilling to do so because they may lack the consciousness,
competence or confidence.
 It is a form of praxis in which people reflect critically on objective
reality and act on that reflection to 'transform the world’.
 There are two elements of consciousness-raising:
 reflection in search of understanding dehumanizing social structures, and
 action aimed at altering societal conditions.
 In general, social work techniques within the conscientisation approach must
encourage the development of awareness in human beings, both the people with
whom social workers are involved and social worker themselves.

51. Empowerme
nt Approach
- STRATEGIES
Redefining
 Redefining is a technique that may be used to stimulate clients
first to react to another view of their situation and then to see
things differently for themselves.
 It is one of the best ways to turn an apparent negative and even
hopeless situation into one with at least some potential for
change.
 Redefining can be used to alter clients' negative perspective on
their circumstances.
 Reframe a problem so that clients can see that change is possible.
 Convey a genuine belief in clients' ability to improve a situation they previously
considered to be unchangeable. (Hepworth and Larsen, 1993: 363).

52. Empowerme
nt Approach
 The goal of empowerment in social work is to conceptualise a
society in which every person is afforded maximum opportunity to
enrich his or her spiritual, psychological, physical, and intellectual
well-being.
 Empowerment of oppressed clients requires that a social worker
not only acts as an advocate with and on their behalf, but also
help them identify and change the dynamics that enable them to
contribute to their own situation of oppression or to that of other.
 The practice implications of a progressive social work committed
to client empowerment and to the opposition of all forms of
oppression, domination, subordination, and exploitation.

53. References
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https://onlinesocialwork.vcu.edu/blog/empowerment-theory-in-social-work/