Theories, values, and
perspectives
UTA SSW: Practice III
Professor Dick Schoech
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Overview of Class
 Values
 Perspectives
 Theories, specifically Systems Theory
 Theories of behavior change
 Social Work Change Process (in group)
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Introductions, discuss condition, community,
roles, discuss vision and principles if time
 Next week= Further explore condition
Values
*What are social work value?
* What are social work values & how are they defined?
How do they affect macro practice?
* How can we tell if we need additional information on values?
* Review items: These should have been covered in other courses.
What are Social Work Values?
 A value is a belief or principle to which the social
work profession adheres and which guides practice
 Core social work values are:
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Service: all seek to improve humankind
Social and economic justice, human rights
Dignity & worth of person ($ exercise)
Importance of human relationships
Integrity and competence in practice CSWE EPAS p6
Diversity: understand, affirm, respect differences
Democratic participation
Value:
Diversity
 Systems definition: A system with a variety of inputs
can survive better than one with fewer inputs
(requisite variety)
 Relevant terms for cultural diversity
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Race (biological concept not very useful in human services,
except for genetic predisposition)
Culture (symbols by which we structure reality)
Ethnicity (socio-history) useful concept in human services
 HSOs must value and manage diversity like other
resources ($s, facilities, information)
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Include diversity in self-assessment, strategic plans, policies
and procedures manuals
Match the diversity of clients, staff, and board
Institutionalize cultural knowledge, e.g., celebrations, respect
Diversity Principles
 Diversity is a strength, not a weakness. It becomes a
weakness if extremely high or low
 All cultures are valid but some cultural practices are not
 People’s opinions and actions are influenced by their
concept of race, e.g., Racism exists
 Theories and values are not culturally neutral
 Understanding culture helps understand human situations
Source: Wright, R. Jr., Saleebey, D., Watts, T., & Lecca, P. (1983) An introduction to the transcultural perspective, in
Transcultural Perspectives in the Human Services, Springfield, IL: Thomas, pp. 3-25.
Why is Diversity Important?
 Improve practice if we understand our/client’s
values & culture
 Helps to understand the environment of
conditions/problems
 Helps eliminate “group think” and narrow
perspectives
Do I need more on Diversity?
 Do I understand the influence of my culture on my
values, work practices and clients?
 Do I understand the influence of the dominant culture
on myself, my clients, and my work?
 Do I have friends from various cultures so I can learn
about and understand their culture?
 Do I make attempts to enhance my understanding of
cultures?
No to these questions indicate more diversity training is needed
Value:
Democratic Participation
 Democratic
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The will of the majority influences most heavily
The rights of the minority are protected
 Participation
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People have a right to be involved in decisions that
affect them
People have a right to information that affects their
lives
People, if presented with options and supporting
information can make good decisions for their lives
Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Manipulation
Therapy
Informing/training/educating
Consultation
Placation
Partnership
Delegated power
Consumer/Citizen control
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Note: ranked from lowest to highest participation
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Source: Arnstein, S.R. (1971) Eight Rungs on the ladder of citizen participation, in E. S. Cahn &
B. A. Passett, Citizen Participation: Effecting Community Change, NY: Praeger.
Value:
Social/economic Justice
 People have a right to the necessities of life: food,
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shelter, health care, and protection from violence
Where people live without options, social and
economic justice does not exist
The well being of people belongs before profits, e.g.,
selected/elected governments control businesses
Earth’s resources and the environment should benefit
all rather than a few
Access to resources and options based on religion,
age, gender, disability, political opinion, and sexual
preference is wrong
Perspectives
Strengths
Empowerment
Win/Win
Evidence Informed Practice
Strengths Perspective: Concepts
 People/communities are resilient (relatively healthy despite
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exposure to a variety of severe risks and stresses)
People are doing the best they can
It’s as wrong to deny potentials (protective factors) as it is
to deny the problem (risk factors)
Every crisis contains an opportunity
Better to focus on gains than on problems
Assessments, taxonomies, etc., must include capacities and
interventions must build on capacities
Note: can we learn from the psychic
Strengths Perspective: Principles
 Focusing on needs disempowers, focusing on
capacities/strengths empowers
 Even the most distressed person/program has
strengths and successes on which to build
 Find a strength, no matter how small, and begin
building on that strength (horse whisperer)
 Strengths are found more in histories, stories,
dreams, hopes, and myths than in data/research
Source: Saleebey, McKnight and Kretzman, and others
Empowerment Perspective: concepts
 Power = capacity of individuals/groups to act on their
own behalf and control their destiny. Implies a
transformation of ‘definition of self’ as having power and
the capacity to bring about change
 Process more than product, e.g., show how to fish than
to give them a fish
 Expands the personal to the interpersonal & then to the
political
Parsons, R.J., Gutierrez, L.M., & Cox, E.O., (1988). A model for empowerment practice.
Staples, L. H. (1990) Powerful Ideas about Empowerment, Administration in Social Work, 14(2), 29-41.
Empowerment Perspective: Principles
 People must empower themselves, but we can guide/help
 Implies change agent and client are egalitarian partners.
Contrast with authoritarianism or paternalism
 Recognizes all forms of inequity/oppression and respects
diversity
 It is hard to remedy collective inequity with individual
empowerment
 Group empowerment is more powerful than individual
empowerment
 Group empowerment leads to individual empowerment,
rarely vice versa
Win/Win Perspective: Concept
Definition: perspective that assumes resources
are not limiting and disagreements can move
from lose/lose or win/lose to win/win
Benchmarks
 Both sides feel like they are a winner
 Both sides feel negotiations were fair
 Both will enjoy future work with the other
 Both feel other side kept commitments
Win/Win Perspective: Principles
Differences between win/win vs. lose/lose views
 Losers narrow differences to one issue
 Losers feel they have the weaker position
 Losers jump to conclusions about other side’s needs
 Losers lack information about needs of the other side
 Losers are unwilling to understand/appreciate others
positions
 Losers never offer the opposition a ‘face saving’ way out
Source: Dawson, R. (1985). How both sides can win, Ch. 12 from You Can Get Anything You Want,
NY: Simon & Schuster, pp. 224-233.
Evidence Informed Perspective: Concept
 First do no harm
 There is not such thing as common sense
(what’s common to me makes sense)
 Some social work practices work better than
others and we can determine those
 Organizational learning strategies help
address the issues of turnover & lack of
specific expertise
 Measurement and feedback are powerful
 http://www.talkingcure.com/reference.asp?id=100
EBP Perspective: Process
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Asking answerable questions about the
decision/situation
Tracking down the best evidence to answer the
questions
Appraising the validity, impact, applicability of
evidence
Determining if something needs to or can be done
Informing those involved, considering their opinions,
values, and expectations
Integrating all evidence into an action plan
Monitoring and evaluating processes and outcomes
Evidence Based Practice
 EBP conceptually
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Link: http://www2.uta.edu/ssw/trainasfa/
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http://www2.uta.edu/ssw/trainasfa/ebpconcept.htm
 EBP applied to Child Protective Services
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Link: http://www3.uta.edu/sswtech/test/
 EBP Resources
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Link: http://www3.uta.edu/sswtech/6371/EBP.htm
Example of Good Evidence
What increases chances of success for abused
kids
1. A strong significant person in their life
2. Strong belief that things will be better
3. A significant partner in adult life who is
understanding
4. Giving back to the community in some way
Source: CWLA Research Group, Tools that Work Conf, Nov03
http://www3.uta.edu/sswtech/6371/EBP.htm
Theories
What are theories and why are they important?
Systems Theory
 Definition
 Types
 Concepts
 Application
Theories and their importance
 A theory is a set of assumptions or principles
that have been repeatedly tested to explain
or predict facts or phenomena
 Theories:
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Provide a conceptual framework
Provide a common vocabulary
Guides action
Assists comprehension or judgment
Challenge practice wisdom
Provide framework to evaluate
interventions
Systems Theory Definition (Review)
 Systems are elements in interaction
 Systems thinking vs. traditional thinking
Characteristic
Overall view
Key processes
Type of analysis
Focus of investigation
State during investigation
Basic assumption
Problem resolution
Operation of parts
Traditional thinking
Systems thinking
Reductionistic, focus is on the parts Holistic, focus is on the whole
Analysis
Synthesis
Deduction
Induction
Attributes of objects
Interdependence of objects
Static
Dynamic
Cause and effect
Multiple, probabilistic causality
A static solution
An adaptive system or modeling
Optimal
Suboptimal
Systems concept:
Open vs. Closed
 An open system interacts with its environment.
 A closed system receives no inputs from its
environment & entropy or decay sets in.
 Systems have different levels of being open or
closed.
 A variety of inputs is required to help a system to
remain open.
Systems Concepts: Hierarchy
 Systems are nested in a hierarchy, that is,
systems consist of subsystems and systems
operate within environments (e.g., Russian
Nesting Dolls)
Systems Concepts:
Boundaries
 Boundaries are the interface between a
system and its subsystems or a system and
its environment.
 Friction occurs at the boundaries of a system,
e.g., Where rubber hits the road, when planes
take off and land, between an agency and its
client.
 By examining the boundaries of a system, we
can often isolate the friction and its causes.
Systems Concepts:
Goal Seeking
 Systems tend to be goal seeking, that is, they move
in the direction of goal achievement.
 Systems without well defined goals often go in many
different directions.
 The primary goal of a system is survival.
 All goals will be sacrificed in order for a system to
survive.
Systems Concepts:
Inputs-process-output
 All non-random functioning systems have:
Inputs 
processes 
output 
 feedback loop with criteria 
 By identifying and mapping the cycles of
inputs, processes and outputs, we can define
a system better and learn a lot about how it
behaves
Systems Concepts:
Cybernetics
 For a system to work properly, it must have
feedback and control mechanisms
 Feedback and control mechanisms
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Accept information about system outputs
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Evaluate information using goal related criteria
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Use evaluative information as additional inputs
 Cybernetics is the study of feedback & control
Systems Concepts:
Equilibrium
 Systems tend toward a state of non-change
called homeostasis or equilibrium
 Thus, we should assume that no system will
change unless it receives new inputs
 Systems that are most amenable to change
are those that are failing (survival is
threatened) and successful and can take
risks without threatening survival
Systems Concepts:
Elaboration
 When systems change, they tend to move in
the direction of differentiation and
elaboration
 Systems like change only if it allows them to
become larger entities like themselves
Systems Concepts:
Synergy
 Systems working well experience synergy
where the total system output are greater
than the sum of all inputs.
 For synergy to occur, subsystems must not
optimize, but cooperate for the good of the
overall system, e.g., Teamwork.
 Synergy is also called nonsummitivity
Systems Theory Application: Discussion
 SSW system, subsystems, environment,
inputs, processes, outputs, feedback loops &
criteria
 (coursepack)
 Analysis
 Results of the analysis
 Resulting capacities (strengths)
 Resulting needs
 Options for change (intervention)
 What is the goal of a community??
‘New’ Systems Thinking
 It is more important to do the right job than to do the job right
 Innovation is more importation than optimization
 To discover the unknown, must abandon the successful known
 Things more plentiful are more valuable (fax machine)
 Wealth follows things that are free (shareware, open systems)
 Abandon a product/occupation/industry when it is at its best
 Seek sustainable disequilibrium to keep things in “churn”
 Seeking opportunities is more important than solving problems
Source: Kevin Kelly, Wired Magazine, Sep 97, p. 140+
Ecological Systems Theory
 Applies systems to living systems and focuses on
people interacting with their environment
 Entities must stay in ecological balance with their
environment for functional adaptation;
Imbalances result in dysfunctional adaptations
 Social sciences should formulate the laws of
functional adaptation (person in environment)
Source: Theorist = William Sumner, folkways (See Brueggemann)
Theories based on the
Behavior Change Process
and
Community Change
Change Process Theory
 Change of any client, from individual to
community, follows a similar process
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3 step process=unfreeze, change, refreeze
8 step generic social work change process
 Completing and documenting all change steps
increases chance for success
 Many strategies, skills, and tools are needed
along the way
 Implementing change is usually not intuitive but
learned
Theories or Models of Health Promotion (gray triangles)
http://www.cancer.gov/PDF/481f5d53-63df-41bc-bfaf-5aa48ee1da4d/TAAG3.pdf
Change focusing
on the individual
alone will not be
as successful as
those involving
family, peers,
school/work, and
the community
(NIDA, n.d.).
Source: Peng B. W. & Schoech D. (2008). Grounding online
prevention interventions in theory: Guidelines from a review of
selected theories and research. Journal of Technology in
Human Services, 26/2-4, 376-396.
Change must focus on
attitudes, norms, and
perceived abilities as
well as knowledge
(Ajzen & Fishbein,
1973)
The Transtheoretical Model-- self-changers
cycle through the five stages:
precontemplation, contemplation, preparation,
action, and maintenance. Identifying and
understanding stages can help predict change
success (DiClemente, et. al.1991).
Questions and Comments