Social work
Social work is a relatively new profession. It originated in the
19th century to address the economic inequalities that became
more prominent after the end of feudalism and the emergence
of the industrial revolution. Social workers aimed to combat the
effects of poverty and promote social justice In doing so, social
workers needed to work with and understand human behavior,
but also understand societal and political structures and the
interactions between society and individuals.
What is theory
A theory is an organized set of assumptions,
beliefs or ideas about particular phenomena
in the world. Theory is synonymous with
hypothesis, presumption, speculation, belief,
idea and philosophy and is used to help
explain or predict situations, actions and
consequences.
Social work theories
Social work theories serve as the foundation for social
work practice by providing an understanding,
explanation, and prediction of human behavior and
social structures.
Theory informs each stage of the social work process
from the initial stages of assessment, to selection and
evaluation of interventions, to deciding when it is best
to end services with clients.
Cont.…
Established theories serve as a basis on which to
explain human behavior, growth and development,
psychological and social functioning, the construction
of social order, and the ideas of social justice.
theories within social work are predominately drawn
from other longer-standing academic disciplines, such
as psychology, sociology, and philosophy.
The Importance and Use of Theory
within Social Work
The theories help social workers better understand complex
human behaviors and social environments, which influence
their clients' lives and problems.
They guide and give meaning to what we see
Theories provide a base for social workers to carry out their
practice. The social workers through theories, already get an
idea about the complexity of the society and its social
problems. They also get a clue beforehand of what can be
expected in reality.
Psychodynamic Theory
Overall, Freud’s theory is called psychodynamics.
When we break up the word, psych = mind and
dynamics = interactions. It describes the
interactions of various parts of the mind.
The application of the theory of psychodynamics
is called psychoanalysis. This is a form of
psychotherapy
Cont.….
Psychodynamic theory is actually a collection of psychological
theories which emphasize the importance of drives and other
forces in human functioning, especially unconscious drives.
The approach holds that childhood experience is the basis for
adult personality and relationships.
Psychodynamic theory originated in Freud’s psychoanalytic
theories and includes any theories based on his ideas, including
those by Anna Freud, Erik Erikson, and Carl Jung.
Origins
Between the late 1890s and the 1930s, Sigmund Freud developed a
variety of psychological theories based on his experiences with patients
during therapy. He called his approach to therapy psychoanalysis and
his ideas became popularized through his books,
in the years that followed, regular meetings were held to discuss
psychoanalytic theories and applications.
Freud influenced a number of major psychological thinkers, including
Carl Jung and Alfred Adler, and his influence continues today.
It was Freud who first introduced the term psychodynamics.
He observed that his patients exhibited psychological
symptoms with no biological basis.
Nevertheless, these patients were unable to stop their
symptoms despite their conscious efforts.
Freud reasoned that if the symptoms couldn’t be prevented by
conscious will, they must arise from the unconscious.
Therefore, the symptoms were the result of the unconscious will
opposing the conscious will, an interplay he dubbed
"psychodynamics."
Freud was a clinical therapist and derived his theory
of psychodynamics from his interactions with
patients.
The main idea is that our motives, behaviors, feelings
and even personality are derived from our
unconscious mind.
We are generally unaware of what is going on in our
unconscious mind.
Assumptions of psychodynamics
•First and most importantly, a great deal of mental life is unconscious,
meaning people’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations are often
unknown to them.
•Individuals may experience conflicting thoughts and feelings towards a
person or situation because mental responses occur independently but
in parallel. Such internal conflict can lead to contradictory motivations,
necessitating mental compromise.
•Personality begins to form in early childhood and it continues to be
influenced by childhood experiences into adulthood, especially in the
formation of social relationships.
•People’s social interactions are impacted by their
mental understanding of themselves, other people, and
relationships.
•Personality development includes learning to regulate
sexual and aggressive drives, as well as growing from a
socially dependent to an interdependent state in which
one can form and maintain functional intimate
relationships.
Childhood Issue
•Much of what is in our unconscious mind is the result
of unresolved childhood issues.
•These unresolved childhood issues affect our
behavior as adults and can cause psychological
problems.
•A goal of psychoanalysis is to resolve childhood
issues.
•Many unresolved issues are traumatic or socially
embarrassing.
Levels of Consciousness
•Freud theorized that there are three different levels of consciousness.
•The Preconscious Mind: Information that is not in our conscious mind,
but can be brought into the conscious mind without psychoanalysis.
•The Conscious Mind: Thoughts that a person is currently aware of or
is remembering.
The Unconscious Mind: Thought and motives that lie beyond a
person’s normal awareness. It contains a reservoir of mostly
unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories. It can only be
accessed through psychoanalysis.
Psychodynamics
•The theory of psychodynamics was created to
explain what Freud saw during psychoanalysis.
•There are three parts to the psychodynamic
model; The Id, Superego and Ego.
•The Id and Superego are mainly in our
Unconscious Mind while the Ego is in our
Conscious Mind.
The Id
•The Id develops first in the human
mind. It can only want. Think of a
screaming baby that only knows that it
wants something.
•The Id strives to satisfy our basic
instincts.
The Pleasure Principle
•The Id could be thought of as our deep,
dark animal self. It is unconcerned with
morality and the rules of society.
•It operates on the pleasure principle. It
does not think about reality or
consequences. It wants immediate
gratification.
The Superego
•As we grow up, we begin to absorb the ideals,
norms and morality of society around us. This
sets up a conflict with the Id.
•It is the part of personality that internalizes
ideals and provides standards for judgement.
•While the Id can only want, the Superego
wants to do what is right.
The Ego
The Ego
•The Ego is the “executive” part of personality.
•It mediates the demands of the Id and Superego;
trying to achieve a compromise between them.
​ psychologically healthy person must have a
A
balanced Ego, giving in to the Id or Superego all the
time can cause psychological problems.
The Reality Principle
•The Ego operates under the
reality principle; trying to resolve the
conflict in a way that works with the
realities of the world.
•This is in opposition to the Id which does
not take the consequences of its actions in
reality into account.
Personality summary
Ego to weak- allows ID and super ego to dominate
ID to strong – selfish, out of control, could become psychopathi
Superego too strong- strict, anxious, obsessive, depression,
anxiety, OCD
HOW POPULAR DISORDER BE EXPALINED USING THIS
APPROACH
Why we dream
Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams
suggests
that
dreams
represent
unconscious
desires, thoughts, wish
fulfillment, and motivations.
Freud wrote that “wish fulfillment is the
meaning of each and every dream.”
Defense mechanism
Defense mechanism are invented by the EGO in order to
attempt to resolve the conflict between ID ana
SUPEREGO, so the person can operate in health manner.
We all use a defense mechanisms on daily basis
They are unconscious we aren’t aware what we are doing
But if we over use them they can also lead to mental
abnormalities – PYSCHOSIS
All defense mechanism has 2 probertites
1.
It deny or distort reality in some ways
2.
Operate in unconscious level
Denial
When you use denial, you
simply refuse to accept the
truth and reality or fact and
experience
Rationalization
Providing a reasonable
explanations to make
unreasonable behaviour appear a
logical and justify their action
To protect our sense a self-steam
Sublimation
Productive defense mechanism
It transforms unacceptable
impulses into socially accepted
behavior
Reaction formation
Thinking or behaving in a way that is a
extreme opposite to those that are of
real intention.
Reaction formation means expressing
the opposite of your inner feelings in
our outward behavior
Intellectualization
You think away an emotion or reaction that
you don’t enjoy feeling.
Although you aren’t denying that the event
accrued you're not thinking about its
emotional consequences but instead focus
only on the intellectual components
Regression
Returning a behavior that u
used you're early life but
stopped to feel or seek a
pleasure
Displacement
Redirecting the feeling of the
hostility and violent action from
self to someone that is less
threating instead of expressing to
the real target.