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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA
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An Introduction
Third Edition
Chapter 4: Theory and Approaches to Social Work Practice
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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What Is a Social Work Theory?
Specific Theories of Social Work
Psychologically Based Theories
Toward a Personal Approach to Social Work
Practice
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
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Using Knowledge To Shape Work with Clients
 A Social Work Theory is an organized way of
thinking about the world that guides the way we
carry out social work practice
 Traditionally social workers have been influenced
by the medical model
 Modern social work theory has shifted towards
assessment and intervention
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
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What Is a Social Work Theory?
In social work, theories are rooted in two
knowledge bases:
Foundation Theories:
Organized ideas about
the world that provide
the basis for practice
theories
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Practice Theories:
Build on foundation
knowledge, making it specific
and relevant to the way we
practice social work
Social Work In Canada
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What Is a Social Work Theory?
Social work practice theories can be classified into
two groups:
Individual-level:
Structural-level:
 Emphasize social structures,
 Varied and complex
processes and systems
 Emphasize the individual
 Focus is on social structures
and their interactions
and policies that influence
 Focus is on what people
what people do
do
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
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What Is a Social Work Theory?
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
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Specific Theories of Social Work
Functional Theory
 Introduced in the 1930s by Jessie Taft and Virginia
Robinson
 Based on work by Otto Rank
 Problems come from negative experience
 Problems can be overcome using personal power to
effect change
 Emphasized the client’s role in directing change
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Specific Theories of Social Work
Strengths-Based Social Work
 Introduced by University of Kansas social work
professor Dennis Saleebey
 Each person has unique strengths and abilities and a
capacity of growth and change
 Social worker supports client to recognize his or her
assets
 Together, the worker and client collaborate to
understand and resolve the situation
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Specific Theories of Social Work
Social Systems Theory
 Places individual within a series of interdependent
systems, like an ecosystem
 Social work professors Carel Germain and Alex
Gitterman used ideas from biology and ecology to
develop “life-model”
 People exist in particular environments
 Problems arise when there is a lack of “fit” between
people and their surroundings
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Specific Theories of Social Work
The Structural Approach
 Canadian development
 Originates from the work of Maurice Moreau
 Focuses on the impact of wider social structures on
personal problems
 Involves a critical analysis of socio-economic
structures, which oppress and exploit people
 Social worker must be skilled in casework, family
counselling, group work, and community organizing
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Specific Theories of Social Work
Critical Social Work
 Focuses on the impact of social structure on personal
problems
 Must contribute to a transformation of everyday lives
 It critiques or unravels the societal relations
underpinning our personal problems
 Introduced the notion of empowerment
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Specific Theories of Social Work
Feminist Social Work Practice
 Women-centred approach that strives to understand
particular experiences of oppression in relationships
and broader society
 Mutual support, valuing diversity, and an emphasis on
women’s lived experiences guide work with clients
 Origins in the women’s liberation movement of the
1960s
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Specific Theories of Social Work
Anti-Oppressive Practice
 Bob Mullaly defines oppression as “the domination of
subordinate groups in society by a powerful group.”
 Oppressive relationships exist at structural and
individual levels
 Acknowledges the existence of oppression and the
complex nature of our identities
 Not a single theory but draws on many traditions
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Specific Theories of Social Work
Anti-Oppressive Practice – Common Ideas
 Both macro- and micro-level relations generate
oppression
 Everyday experience is shaped by multiple oppressions
 Social work is a contested site
 Social work is not a neutral, technical profession, but
an active political process
 Social work needs to build allies and work with social
causes
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Specific Theories of Social Work
Anti-Oppressive Practice – Common Ideas
 Participatory approaches between practitioners and
clients are necessary
 Self-reflexive practice and ongoing social analysis are
essential components of social justice-oriented social
work practice
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Specific Theories of Social Work
Anti-Racist Social Work
 Focuses specifically on how racism affects the lives of
people of color
 Examines effects of racism by means of an economic
and social analysis of relations between members of
different groups
 Helps us to understand the individual effects of racism
and the broader, structural effects
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Psychologically Based Theories
The Medical Model
 An approach that mirrored a medical approach to
problems
 Involved in-depth study of a person’s situation in order
to improve his or her condition
 Most social workers located the cause of social
problems within the person
 Taught person how to lead a more “moral,” ordered life
Chapter 4:
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Psychologically Based Theories
Psychodynamic Perspectives
 Introduced by Freud in 1920s
 Norms and values of a society put limits on how people
fulfill their own needs
 The id, the ego, and the superego work to fulfill these
needs, but only in ways that are acceptable to society
 This creates constant conflict between human desire and
the limits set by society
 Conflict leads to anxiety and irrational behaviour
 Person’s troubles are understood as result of internal
pathology
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Psychologically Based Theories
Existentialist Approach
 Based on 19th century philosophy of existentialism or
the search for the meaning of life
 Life is essentially meaningless and without purpose
 Human beings create meaning and purpose
 People are intentional and deliberate in their choices
to act
 People are capable of controlling and changing their
lives
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Psychologically Based Theories
Existentialist Approach
 Gestalt therapy is an example of an existentialist
approach
 Human beings are defined by their relationships to
others
 Relationships influence the way we understand and
move through the world
 Support client to develop self-awareness and assume
personal responsibility in order to reach selfactualization
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Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Psychologically Based Theories
Client-Centred or Person-Centred Perspectives
 Based on the idea that clients are experts of their own
problems
 Introduced by Carl Rogers in the 1950s
 Rogers was greatly influenced by humanism
 All human beings are good, worthwhile, and guided by
a search for meaning and purpose in life
 Provide unconditional positive regard for client
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Psychologically Based Theories
Rational-Emotive Psychotherapy
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Earliest form of a cognitive behaviour approach
Introduced by psychologist Albert Ellis in mid-1950s
Blended ideas from cognition and behaviourism
Client is active in the process of identifying problems
and working on ways of changing
 Help a client to see that negative emotions
experienced are due to flawed perceptions of reality
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Psychologically Based Theories
Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy
 Shorter term approach
 Behaviours are learned and shaped by our
interpretations of the world
 Therapists work with clients to understand the thought
patterns that bring about certain behaviours
 Focus is on problem-solving and promoting more
accurate ways of understanding the world
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Psychologically Based Theories
Task-Centred Model
 Developed in the 1980s
 A short-term therapy with a measurable outcome
 Social workers assess and clarify the target problem
and desired outcome, then create a list of tasks that
must be completed to resolve the problem
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Toward a Personal Approach to Social Work
Practice
What works for you?
 Integrative approach
 Eclectic approach
 Dialectical approach
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Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Toward a Personal Approach to Social Work
Practice
Integrative approach
 Select concepts and methods from various sources and
theories
 Build a unified system that fits you and is appropriate
for the setting in which you work
 Draw theories together that are compatible
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
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Toward a Personal Approach to Social Work
Practice
Eclectic approach
 Involves selecting concepts and methods
 Does not unify or integrate the pieces
 Selects various concepts and methods as deemed
appropriate
 Extremely flexible
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Toward a Personal Approach to Social Work
Practice
Dialectical approach
 Involves a synthesis or combination of opposing
assertions within theories
 Takes a balanced or middle-of-the-road approach
 Incorporates concepts from differing approaches
 Enables the drawing together of theories that may
contain opposing assertions
 Oppositions are held in awareness and balanced
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Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Questions for Discussion
What kinds of linkages do you see between the
development of theories guiding social work
and the development of social work as a
profession?
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Questions for Discussion
Discuss important factors that would shape the
ways in which you choose theories that guide
your social work practice.
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Questions for Discussion
In what ways might you share your theoretical
perspectives with your clients?
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
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Questions for Discussion
Choose one theory discussed in this chapter.
Can you identify a group who would benefit
from looking at a social issue using this
theoretical lens?
Who might be disadvantaged using this lens?
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
Social work theories draw on foundation
knowledge from multiple disciplines.
What are some ways that social work norms
and values can inform models in other
disciplines?
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Websites
 Association for the Development of the
Person-Centered Approach
www.adpca.org
 Critical Social Work
www.criticalsocialwork.com
Chapter 4:
Theory & Approaches to Social Work Practice
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.