SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

WITH INDIVIDUALS AND

FAMILIES (CASEWORK)
Highlights (US)
1877- The First Charity Organization Society was
founded in Buffalo, NY (as a voluntary
organization)
-Later – findings showed that cause of
distress was not character defect but on the
social conditions the individual lived such as
illness, numerous children, overcrowded housing,
low wages, low education, lack of work skills, etc.
-environment had a heavy influence on the
individual
-The need to include the family members in
their services-marked the beginning of family-
centered approach
 Mary Richmond and other practitioners began to
formulate a more scientific problem-solving theory
based on their observations and experiences.
 Richmond strongly recommended the thorough
investigation into the life of the individual who
was in need of help.
◦ Data gathering as basis for social diagnosis (knowledge
and understanding of the clients problems – to
determine the underlying causes/contributory factors to
the social and personal difficulties of the client.
◦ Diagnosis include the interpretation of the specific
conditions underlying a person’s behavior and reactions
– assessment of the person – in – situation
 Early
years of casework practice – characterized
by concern for the economic and sociological
factors affecting client and his condition.
1920- Employed “friendly visitors” at,
operated on the belief that poverty was the
fault of the individual, as the result of
his/her moral failure
-Objective of friendly visiting was first
focused on counseling individual to do
his/her best, to work very hard so as to earn
enough for himself and his family’s needs
1920’s-1930’s- the casework client was
viewed as likely maladjusted person, studied
from the Freudian psychoanalytical point of
view, treatment aimed to assist client to
adjust, to develop good relationships and
gain insights to his new behaviour.

1930’s-1945- the depression in the US made

people see poverty not only as products of
personal deficiency but also as greatly
influenced by the person’s situation. This
started the “psychosocial school of thought”
which looks at the “person in situation”
(individual integration to the environment)
Casework Practice in the Philippines

1917- The very first professional method of

social work intervention practices in the
Philippines, introduced by the Associated
Charities of Manila – a family welfare agency
that employed “home visitors.”

-Josefa Jara Martinez returned to PH with a

diploma in Social Work from the New York
School of Social Work in 1921, she became the
Executive Secretary of the Associated Charities
(1917) introduced Casework as an individualized
approach of helping families and individuals.
1920’s- Psychiatric social work was introduced in
Welfareville, then the seat of government child-rearing
institutions.

1930’s-1940’s- The Associated Charities employed

college graduate as home visitors provided with in
service trainings, several Filipino women went to the US
for formal social work education, were hired by private
and public social welfare agencies; formed(1947) the
PASW to nurture the development of the Social Work
profession.
-Dr. Jose Vergara, then superintendent of Associated
Charities of Manila appreciated the value of psychiatric
social work in the US, employed social workers to work
with children and youth – functioned as caseworkers.
-The association was absorbed by the Bureau
of Public Welfare to carry out its public
assistance program.
1950’s- Philippine School of Social Work,
Philippine Womens University-1 year Master
of Arts in Social Administration, which in 1951
was expanded to a 2-year MSW program, the
UP CEU started MASW program.
1950-1960’s- Many social work schools
started offering the BSSW program. Casework
was the focus in both formal classroom
courses and field instruction, SW practitionerd
were predominantly “CASEWORKERS”.
1951 – Social Welfare Administration had
expanded and social workers were assigned in
every province and major city. It was oftentimes
engaged in disaster and emergency relief which
left little time for casework help.
1954 – Department of Health issued a circular
requiring national, provincial, city, emergency
hospitals to employ social workers.
A Medical Social Service Unit was installed in
the Bureau of Hospitals – this development
promoted the practice of casework in the
medical and psychiatric settings in public and
private hospitals and clinics.
1965- RA 4373 (the “SOCIAL WORK LAW”) was
passed, elevating social work to a profession
requiring a BSSW and passing of a government
Board Examination for the practice of Social
Work.

1980’s- Like the American counterparts local

practitioners recognized that material assistance
did not automatically solve individual’s problems
–
-this period gave rise to problems that bear
on the emotional and psychological functioning
of individuals as a result of modernization –
addiction, marital conflict, broken homes,
growing numbers of mentally ill patients, etc.
 Influences on casework practice
Impact of World War I on the development
of casework theory – work with war
veterans or casualties and their families
Events of World War II increased in
personal problems-hence focused services
to individuals with personality problems-
gave rise to the demand of medical and
psychiatric social workers
EXERCISES!

A client has been unemployed for two years. She has

tried to hold a job but has failed each time. She has
come to you for help in securing employment. From your
initial meetings with her, there are indications that she is
not sincere about getting and keeping a job. Which one
of the following is the best way to handle this situation?

A. Suggest to her that a probable reason for her past

failure is that she really doesn't want to work.
B. Discuss job possibilities and direct her to the
appropriate employment agencies.
C. Ask her opinion on why she has been unable to keep
a job.
D. Ask her to explain why she thinks she needs a job.
Choice A is negative and confrontational.
The client may become defensive and
hostile. She may not recognize the fact that
her behavior causes a problem. This will not
help to engage her in a constructive
dialogue to help find a solution.

Choice B ignores the client’s problem. She

has been unable to keep a job, and merely
discussing job possibilities and referring her
to employment agencies without addressing
this problem is unlikely to help her to obtain
and keep a job.
Choice C is the best among the choices given. The
client is asked for her opinion about why she has
been unable to keep a job, rather than being told a
probable reason as in choice A. This approach is
much more likely to lead to an open and productive
discussion in which the client can recognize that she
has a problem, and in which you can be seen as an
ally in helping her, rather than as an accuser. Such a
discussion may also reveal some issues that you
were not aware of and which may be contributing to
the client’s inability to keep a job.

Choice D asks the client why she thinks she needs a

job. This question does not address the point of the
interview -- the client’s inabiity to keep a job.
 Description of Casework
The focus is on the person-in-situation
configuration. It is family-oriented.
It is essentially a generic process featuring
certain elements that can be applied as well
in group work and community work.
The practice of group work and community
work starts with the processes, knowledge
and skills learned in casework where one
learns o work with persons as individuals.
Casework seeks to improve client’s
capability to help himself to improve his
living and rise above the difficult
circumstances that may be surrounding him.
Helen Harris Perlman
As a process used by human welfare
agencies to help individuals to cope more
effectively with their problems of social
functioning, casework encompasses the
four components of social work practice –
the person (client), the problem, the place
(agency), and the helping representative.
Social casework in a method of engaging a
client through a relationship process,
essentially one-on-one in the use of a social
service toward his own and the general
social welfare (Smalley, 1967)
Esther C. Victoria

Helping process which consists of a variety

of activities that may include:
The giving of material assistance,
Referrals to other community facilities
Rendering emotional and psychological
support through sensitive listening;
expressions of acceptance and
reassurance; making suggestions;
appropriately advising and setting limits;
and encouraging the individual to express
his feelings, likewise encouraging him to
effect or influence his plans.
 Casework
All these may be used in combination to respond
to the person under stress, so as to enable him
to meet his needs fully, and to function more
adequately in his social relationships.
- The overall goal of social work casework is to
achieve is some improvement in the person’s
social functioning by bringing about change in
his economic and social living or environment.
- The casework process is set in motion when an
individual with a problem comes to a place
where a professional representative, the social
worker, engages him in a working relationship
and together they embark on a scientific or
problem-solving process.
- A method of helping people solve
problems; individualized, scientific and
artistic; helps individuals with personal as
well as external/environmental matters
through a relationship that taps personal
and other resources for coping with
problems; change in attitudes and feelings
is affected by the dynamics of client-
worker relationship.
- Interviewing – tool in casework
Social Functioning
 the relation between coping activity of people
and the demand from the environment
(Bartlett, 1970)
 The interaction between the individual and his
situation or environment (Mendoza, 2003: 73)
Social environment – a network of overlapping
social systems and social situations, including
ecological systems, culture and institutions
Social situation – a smaller, more immediate
environment that “has meaning for the individual
and that is uniquely perceived and interpreted by
him, in which he has one or more status roles
and identities, is a group member and role
performer” (Siporin, 1974:135)
COMPONENTS OF CASEWORK (de Guzman,
1992:26-27)

Person – is a man, woman, or child who finds

himself or is found to be in need of help in some
aspects of his social-emotional living, whether
the need is for some tangible provision like food
or work, or for counseling. As soon as he begins
to receive help he is called a “client”
Problem – some need which has not been met
and has cause some disequilibrium or difficulty in
the individual’s social functioning, or which
threatens or has grossly affected the adequacy of
his living situation or the effectiveness of his
efforts to deal with it.

PROBLEM TYPOLOGY (de Guzman, 1983:56)

Problems in livelihood
Difficulty of role performance
Difficulty in interpersonal relationship
Problems of social transition
Dissatisfaction in social relations
Problems with formal organization
Impact of natural calamities and social unrest
Reactive emotional distress
Problems involving borderline pathology

Place
◦ The social welfare agency which has been set up
by the government or a group of concerned
citizens to deal with the social, personal problems
of individual human beings who are expecting
some problems in the management of their
personal lives.
◦ It provides or links the clients with the resources
the he needs
◦ Its purposes are to help the person cope with,
adjust to, or learn to develop new attitudes or
behavior and skills to deal with these problems.
Process
Consists of series of actions, changes, or
functions that are intended to bring about
the goal previously agreed upon.
EXERCISE!
Terri showed up for his appointment very upset and
anxious. She stated she is frightened because she
has begun hearing the voices again. The voices that
tell her she should kill herself. She has been hearing
these voices for approximately 5 years and has two
prior suicide attempts over this time. She states that
the voices have become stronger over the past week.
She says she had received a call from her mother
that a friend from high school had completed a
suicide attempt. Your FIRST intervention should be...
A) complete a depression screen
B) discuss the need for immediate inpatient
hospitalization
C) Begin a complete suicide risk assessment.
D) ask Terri about her current medication compliance
The correct answer is C. In the realm of suicide risk, the loss
of a friend or family member is a serious risk indicator. The
shorter the time between the known suicide and the present,
generally the greater the risk. This one fact along with her
continual cycle of hearing voices is enough to put you on
HIGH ALERT.

A IS INCORRECT. Safety and self harm are the greatest

problems right now. Underlying depression should be
expected.

B IS INCORRECT. You are jumping to fast here. You should be

aware of this possibility, but you need to review all risk and
protective factors in a complete suicide risk assessment.

D IS INCORRECT. Nothing in the question deals with

medication. When answering the questions on the test, deal
only with the information given in the question.
 BASIC CONCEPTS RELEVANT TO
CASEWORK
CONCEPT OF MODE ADAPTATION
Study and analysis reveal what the client’s
dominant modes of adaptation have been
and lead to formulation of plans for
casework intervention.

Faced with the threatening situation, a

client will try to use his accustomed modes
of adaptation. When these have failed he
will regress to modes of adaptation used
earlier in life: flight or pairing.
EXERCISE!

You have been interviewing a client and now have enough

information to make the necessary decisions. However, the
client just will not stop talking and is repeating, in slightly
different words, the information that he has already given you.
Which one of the following is the best way to deal with this
situation?
A. Tell the client that the interview time is up and that if he
has more to say, you can set up another appointment for
the near future.
B. Thank the client for coming in. Tell him that his information
has been very helpful and you will contact him if you need
additional information.
C. Tell the client you would like to hear more, but that it will
have to be postponed to some future date.
D. Thank the client for coming in, but explain that others are
waiting so you must end the interview.
Choice A gives the initiative to schedule another
appointment to the client. This may lead to an
unnecessary appointment. You already have
enough information to make the necessary
decisions, and there is no need for another
appointment with the client in the near future.

Choice B is best. By thanking the client for coming

in, you are being positive. By telling him how
helpful his information has been, you continue in
this positive direction. By telling him that you will
contact him if you need additional information, you
make it clear that you have the necessary data,
and you maintain the initiative to schedule another
appointment.
Choice C, like choice A, gives the initiative to
schedule another appointment to the client and
may result in an unnecessary appointment. Also,
telling the client you would like to hear more, but
postponing it to some future date, is contradictory
and sends the client a mixed message.

Choice D begins well -- thanking the client for

coming in is positive. However, explaining that
others are waiting so you must end the interview
leaves the client with the impression that you are
rushing him out and that you are more concerned
with the people who are waiting than you are with
him.
CONCEPT OF SOCIAL ROLE

 the
sum total of the culture patterns
associated with a particular status.

 Whether a social role is performed in a

satisfying, effective and acceptable
manner depends always upon the
capacities and motivations of both the
persons occupying a given role and those
in roles reciprocal to his.
Pairingis entering into a dependent and
solace-seeking relationship with another
person perceived as stronger and able to
help her handle the situation.

Finally,in extreme situations, he may

become apathetic, resigned, mentally
disoriented and immobile or hyperactive.
CONCEPT OF EGO

Those intrapersonal forces which

constantly strive to balance the person’s
diverse and conflicting motivation with
another and with demands of the outside
world.

Under stress, we may perceive the world

around us in a distorted way. Knowledge
applicable to a problem may escape.
Overwhelmed with anxiety we use
defenses – projection, denial,
displacement, reaction formation, etc.
The caseworker, through the casework
process, determines whether it is merely a
situational response toward overwhelming
stimuli or may be a characteristic, lifelong
condition, indicating deficiency in
development of ego.
CONCEPT OF STRESS

The person who comes as a client to a

social agency is always under stress and
dependent.

 Stressfulsituations involves personally or

socially unsatisfactory adaptations to
problems that are beyond observation as
personal and social imbalances.
Three Component Elements of Stress:

1. The stress factor which threatens

2. The value which is threatened

3. The reactions, individual and collective

to the threat
STRESS FACTORS

Stress factors are threats which arise within the

individual’s body.
 His physical environment, the function of the
social systems, and with the individual’s
network of roles.
Threats from the social environment
 are mostly caused by such breakdowns in social
system as unemployment, depression, etc.
 also by status insecurity, rapidity of
technological change, mobility of population
which make for lack of stability and security in
habitual social roles
 can cause threats to existing relationships,
create threats or actual attack.
THE VALUE THREATENED

Life,
health, property, privilege, freedom.
Security, status, face, honor, self-respect,
opportunity, future prospects, are the
major personal values threatened.

The same values may have different

meaning and significance to different
individuals who have them.

Human integrity, dignity, rights are

threatened.
REACTION TO STRESS

 Reaction to stress consists of the responses made by the

individual with the goal of maintaining the level of social
functioning which existed prior to the occurrence of the
stress.
 The adaptation can consist of re-arrangement of physical,
psychological, and social factors or frequently consists of
a combination of the three.

 Caseworkers develop increasing skill in relation to

understanding of client’s tension, fears and frustration to
his social and economic conditions.

 Caseworkers have to learn the meaning of the attitudes

and develop skill in reducing the fear, in restoring and
damaged self-esteem by giving individual attention,
privacy, acceptance, and non-judgmental attitudes.
PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

 The are common elements in all professional

relationships which make them different from personal
relationships.

The three major characteristics of social work

relationships are as follows:

1. Social workers form relationships for a professional

purpose.

2. In professional relationships, the worker devotes

himself to the interest of his clients and the needs and
aspirations of other people than his own.

3. The worker forms relationships based on objectivity

and self-awareness which allow him to step outside of
his personal struggles and emotional needs and to be
sensitive to the needs of others.
 THE CASEWORK RELATIONSHIP

Client-worker relationship is established with the purpose of

attaining objectives of helping.

The relationship is guided toward:

 therapeutically positive communication
 maintaining or promoting client’s inner security and self-
esteem
 mobilizing his inner and outer resources and realistic level
of relationship
both as means to promote individual’s growth and
development,
and to achieve a better adjustment between himself and
his situation.
EXERCISE!
You accept a referral from an agency on 65-year old male
client. During the initial interview you learn he has been
physically abusive to his wife of 40 years and he appears very
depressed. He relates that two of his children will not talk to
him and did not call him for his birthday this year. You quickly
find you dislike this client intensely and have difficulty feeling
any empathy for this client and his situation. That evening
after the session you realize he reminds you of your spouse’s
step-father who was abusive to your spouse during their
childhood. You should…

A) Share your feelings with the client

B) Talk to your supervisor about your reactions toward this
client
C) Accept your feelings as part of the therapeutic process
when working with abusers
D) Continue your sessions with the client and ignore your
feelings
The correct answer is B Let your supervisor know how you feel, why you feel the way
you do and how it might affect your interactions. Then, work with your supervisor on
how you can either use this awareness to help the interactions with your client or
whether you need to be replaced by another social worker. There will be clients you
can work with and clients that ‘trigger you’ in ways that make therapeutic
interactions impossible. This type of a reaction is due to the human condition. Don’t
run from it.

A is INCORRECT. This answer falls under the category “Nothing good will come of
this…” The best you can hope for, is the client will understand your feelings and
agree with you, but it will not establish any rapport and will probably build up a rather
severe adverse reaction to you and your attempts at therapy. It would also bring up
ethical issues, as the client is not responsible for how you feel and it is inappropriate
to burden them with your issues.

C is INCORRECT. While you have to accept your feelings as part of any therapeutic
process, the key ingredient is the level of consciousness you maintain in relation to
your issues. You must be aware of your feelings as it will guide you during therapy,
but you cannot let them control you. This type of situation was custom made for a
clinical supervision staffing or a discussion with a colleague.

D is INCORRECT. The old ‘bury your head in the sand and hope it goes away’ trick.
Not very useful, although you will see it used by many of your clients. NEVER ignore
your feelings. This is the short path to malpractice, ethical violations and worse.
Always have someone you can talk to. No one is strong enough to handle all
situations alone.
 Therelationship is a professional one which
requires:
self-awareness
 objectivity
 self-discipline in the joint involvement of
problem solving process.

 The relationship is the dynamic interaction and

psychological interplay both between the worker
and the client with their particular attitudes and
feelings in a particular situation.
 COMPONENTS OF RELATIONSHIP

1. REALITY
 Realistic/actual, objective perception of existing
condition or situation

2.TRANSFERENCE
 is unconscious and not reality based.
 it is unrealistic attitude and response, however
it has positive and negative significance on the
establishment of the client-worker relationship.
 it will be positive corresponding to emotional
security (love, affection, trust, etc.) felt for the
parental figure or close members of the family.
3. COUNTER-TRANSFERENCE

 it is also unconscious and not reality based.

 it is carrying over of worker’s particular feelings and

reactions to a person in the worker’s past and
applying them to the client.

 the nature of feelings and attitudes that exist

between worker and the client affects their
relationship.

 It is worker’s professional responsibility to recognize,

control, and manage transference and counter-
transference, appropriately emphasizing the reality
aspect of the relationship.
EMPATHY- perceiving, undertsnding,
experiencing and responding to the
emotional stste and ideas of another
person.

PARTIALIZATION- the process of

separating from the universe of problems of
client specific problems that are to become
the focus of the client worker attention.
PRIORITIZATION- identification of which problems
need to be addressed first among the range of
problems raised and consider the problems in order of
importance.

ECO-MAP- A paper and pecil stimulation where worker

and client actually draw a map which shows the major
systmes that are part of family’s life and the nature of
the family relationship with the various systems
(groups, organizations and individuals with which the
family interacts)

Principle of Parsimony - worker must collect

only data or information directly relevant to the
situation at hand and essential to the formulation of
valid working judgments
INTERVIEWING- a serious conversation between two
parties (interviewer and interviewee) for any or all of the
following: 1.) to obtain information; 2.) to give informations
and instructions 3.) to help if this is the purpose, one may
already be doing counselling-a professional relationship and
activity in which one person endeavors to help another to
understand and solve his problems; a face to face
communication in which one person helps another to make
decisions based on a consideration of alternatives, and act
on them.

TRANSFER- process by which a client is referred by his

social worker to another worker.

REFERRAL- the act of directing/guiding/facilitating a client

being helped by other SW/ agency because the service that
the client needs is beyond the current Social Worker’s
competence, or the client needs the additional service
which the present agency cannot provide.
The Helping Process
The problem-solving concept can be
generally traced to the book entitled “How
We Think” (John Dewey, 1933) which
describes what goes on in the human
mind when confronted with a problem
According to Dewey, the problem-solving
behavior is based on reflective though
that begins with a feeling of doubt or
confusion. In order to solve a problem, a
person follows a rational procedure
consisting of steps in an orderly sequence.
Problem-solving process – is essentially a
cognitive process, a rational procedure
involving a series of steps to be followed
sequentially.
Social work helping process – is not just a
cognitive process since it involves a
relationship between two parties, guided by
professional values and ethical principles in
relation to the handling of feelings and
attitudes.
EXERCISE!
You work for a local mental health agency and have been
seeing a client for 11 sessions in individual therapy. At the
beginning of you next session the client reveals they are
sexually attracted to you and have been having sexual
fantasies about you for several sessions. They tell you they
cannot imagine not coming in to see you. You are caught
completely offguard and do your best to try to process the
information with the client. It becomes clear the client is
fixated on the admission. Your BEST response is to...

A) terminate the session and tell the client you need to

reschedule with another counselor
B) continue the session and ignore the revelation.
C) stop the session and bring your clinical supervisor into
the room
D) accept the revelation and continue processing in
therapy
The correct answer is C. The key to understanding
this situation lies in the word “fixated”. As a
competent therapist, you would like to keep helping
the client process the information, but when dealing
with a fixated belief system, you are actually dealing
with a very strong projection as a defense
mechanism and extreme transference. The client is
responding to their projection onto you, not reality.
Getting a knowledgeable third-party in the room will
allow the projection to be properly handled, will keep
your client safe and will probably protect you during
any future malpractice claim.

A is INCORRECT. This will be very damaging to the

client as it will probably collapse the projection and
could leave the client devastated or enraged.
B is INCORRECT. This will buy you trouble.
You are essentially dealing with a person
who is one step away from a Delusion,
regarding the value or your relationship.

D is INCORRECT. This would be good if it

was “accept the revelation, immediately
and forcefully challenge the projection and
then continue processing in therapy.” This is
something you might see in a seasoned
practitioner but I would never recommend
this action to anyone without thousands of
hours of face-face therapy experience.
Steps in Helping Process

Assessment
Planning
Interventionof the Plan Implementation
Evaluation and
Termination
ASSESSMENT
◦ A process and a product of understanding on
which action is based (Johnson, 1986: Siporin,
__)
◦ Involves the collection of necessary information
and its analysis and interpretation in order to
reach an understanding of the client, the
problem and the social context in which it exist;
to provide understanding necessary for
appropriate planning (Compton and Gallaway,
1994:370)
Tasks in Assessment:
Information/data gathering – variety of
sources is available from which to obtain
the information necessary in order to have
accurate definition of the client’s problem.
◦ Primary source – the client is the primary source
of information
◦ Secondary source – the “significant to others”
◦ Existing data – information previously collected
by others such as records and reports from
other professionals, studies and evaluations.
Worker’s own observation – the worker
often has the opportunity to observe the
individual client alone, or in interaction
with others
The Initial Contact(s) with Client/Intake
◦ The initial contact between the client and the
worker may come about in different ways:
The client initiates the contact – an
individual may, on their own, seek the
help of an agency social worker about a
concern or problem
The client is referred to the worker or
agency by some interested or concerned
party-persons referred by others merely
forced to secure help, they are called
“involuntary clients”, Ex: drug users,
young offenders
The agency reaches out to the (potential)
client and offers help – few people are
aware of existing community agencies and
the services they offer or many are too
shy or not adequately motivated to seek
help, especially on a personal or family
problem. Ex: “outreach programs”
3. The Intake Process and the
Presenting Problem
Intake
◦ Is the process by which a potential client
achieves the status of a client.
◦ May be accomplished in one session
Client – involves the presentation of the self
and the problem or need as he/she is
experiencing or the presenting problem – a
problem that is a threat to the client’s or
others’ welfare, usually stated or presented
as it is being perceived or experienced.
Worker – involves some assessment of the
client and the problem and whether or not
the agency is in a position to help “start
where the client it”.
◦ May either end with the worker or the client
deciding not to proceed, or the client committing
to have client status and the worker committing
the agency to provide services (Mendoza,
2008:197; Vinter, 1974:10)
4. Defining the Problem
Compton and Galway (1979:286)
◦ “The way you define the problem, will define
what data are collected and will dictate what
are seen as appropriate answers. This step
must be right or all else fails.” “There can be no
engagement between client and worker without
a common understanding of what they are
about together from the client’s frame if
reference.” (Mendoza, 2008:199)
5. Writing an Assessment Statement
Components of an Assessment
Statement: (McMahon, 1990:153-160)
◦ Opening and casual statement – requires
the worker to clearly indicate who has the
problem, and why the problem exists at this
time. The “why” can consist of an immediate
casual factor which may have resulted from a
series of factors.
◦ Change potential statement – a problem’s
change potential is dependent in three
interdependent factors: problem, person and
environment. These factors have directed
impact on the maintenance or resolution of the
problem.
◦ Judgment about seriousness or urgency of
the problem – based on the available data,
the worker should be able to answer this
question: To what extent is this life-death-
matter for the person(s) concerned?

◦ Life-endangering situations require the worker’s

immediate attention even if her judgment change the
potential for the problem is very low.
Characteristics of Assessment
 It is ongoing.
 It focuses on understanding the client in the
situation and in providing a base for planning
and action.
 It is a mutual process involving both client
and worker.
 There is movement within the assessment
process.
 Both horizontal and vertical explorations are
important.
 Assessment identifies needs in life situations,
defines problems, and explains their
meanings and patterns.
 Assessment is individualized.
 Judgment is important in assessment because
many decisions have to be made.
 No assessment is ever complete.
PLANNING
◦ is the link between assessment and intervention
◦ Planning process translates the content of
assessment into a goal statement that describes
the desired result, and is also concerned with
indentifying the means to reach the goals, and
◦ allows the worker, with the client’s participation,
to move from problem definition to problem
solutions. The end goal of planning is planned
change (Mendoza, 2008:206, Johnson, 1986:283)
“Interim goals,” “Intermediate goals,” and
“objectives”
refer to specific, short-term goals which
facilitate the achievement of the long term
or overall goals.
Goals give direction to the worker’s relationship
with her clients. Thus, to be useful, goals should
have the following characteristics:
Specific, concrete and measurable – goals
that are stated in too broad or general terms are
difficult to measure.
Feasible – goals should be realistic and
attainable.
Goals can be changed after they have been set.
They should be constantly evaluated, and
flexibility should be observed because original
goals may no longer appropriate to changing
situations as the plan is implemented (Johnson,
1986:285)
PLANS

Ifthere ends (goals), there should be

means to achieve them. These would
consist of the specific actions or steps to
be undertaken in order to reach the goals.
Jointly made by the worker and the client,
they comprise what is called a Helping
Plan,Action Plan or an Intervention
Plan.
This is arrived at in the same way one
arrives at problem and goal definition, the
worker considering not only her own
expectations but also, those of the client’s
and significant other in his environment.
A systematic review of client strengths
when preparing an intervention plan –
personal and other resources – preferably
in relation to each goal (Mendoza,
2008:209; Compton and Galway,
1994:400)
Factors that Influence an Intervention
Plan

Following the established social work

principle of individualization, no two plans
of action are alike.
Each plan of action is designed to suit a
particular client system and situation.
There are five factors that influence a plan
of action:
 The community in which it is being
carried out – the environment in which the
plan takes place is an important consideration
in planning. The culture of the place, attitudes
about receiving help, prevailing values like
cooperation and self-help and the existing
service delivery system are among the factors
that influence an action plan.
 The agency sanctioning the plan – the
worker is influenced by both constraints and
resources.
 The social problem that the plan is a
response to – societal attitudes and
expectation about social problem varies and
the social worker should recognize this
because it influences her plan of action.
 The worker involved in the plan – the
worker is a unique person who brings into the
helping situation many facets of herself.
 The client – the client is a unique bio-
psychosocial being who has his own
motivations, capacities, coping capabilities,
expectations, limitations as well as
preferences.
The Helping Contract

 After having worked together in assessment and

action-planning, an agreement between the worker
and the client on what needs to be done and who
should do it.
 A contract is a simplified version of the Plan of
Action which includes a problem statement, goals
and objectives, a specification of tasks to be
carried out by worker and client and the time frame
required (Mendoza, 2008:211; Johnson, 1994:295)
 Contracts facilitate evaluation
 Contracts provide tools for accountability

 The Helping Contract
 Agreement between C and W:
- what to be done and who should do it
- definition of the reciprocal roles, obligations
and responsibilities of the participants

 Contains:
- understanding and commitment of what is agreed upon
- statement of the problem, goals, objectives, procedures,
role and tasks of participants, and activity time frames

 Can be both oral and written

EXERCISE!
A social work colleague is having problems
addressing the resistance a client (who was
referred by the court system) is giving them
during therapy. They ask you for help. Your
BEST response is to tell them...
A) Explore the feelings underlying the
resistance
B) Confront the client on their resistance
C) Point out the client's resistance and work
out a behavioral contract to change this
resistance
D) Help the client re-order the resistance as
an opportunity to grow
The correct answer is A. Client’s almost always show
some resistance at different times during therapy.
Confronting their issues is always difficult and the
process of therapy can be rather painful. This is
increased by the possibility, in this case, they are court
ordered and do not want to be there anyway. Exploring
their feelings and validating them when you can will
help develop a therapeutic bond between you and the
client which could lead to some great therapeutic
success. Validating a response: (An Example) Client: “I
am only here because the court says I have to see you
before they will give my kids back.” Social Worker:
“Being forced to do anything never feels good. I am
sorry we have to meet under these circumstances,
however, the fact you have agreed to come here means
you must care for your children a lot. Let’s see what we
can do to help you get done what the court is
demanding?”
B is INCORRECT. Direct confrontation rarely works the way
you want it to. It often works in TV Dramas, mainly
because it is written in the script, but seldom works in
real life. Therapeutic confrontation needs to be subtle,
well thought out in advance, and there has to be a clear
plan in place (in the social workers mind) as to alternative
responses if the confrontation goes badly.

C is INCORRECT. A behavioral contract will only be

effective if the client has acknowledged the behaviors and
seems them as counter-productive. The resistance may
be very productive for the client in trying to get their
point across that they feel forced or coerced.

D is INCORRECT. Once again, this re-ordering can only

take place after the client owns or accepts the behavior.
This requires insight and acceptance to be a viable
strategy.
C. INTERVENTION

Action plan implementations, treatment

are other terms for intervention
This phase is concerned with the action
that would solve the client’s problems
Involves the rendering of all the specific
and interrelated services appropriate to
the given problem situation in the light of
assessment and planning (Mendoza,
2008:221; Boehm, 1959:53)
 Carrying out the intervention plan

 Involves the following processes at all levels of

implementation (micro, mezzo, and macro):

◦ Monitoring progress
◦ Revising as necessary the established plan
◦ Completing the established plan

 Requires application of broad range of as well as special

knowledge, skills, and techniques in intervention

 Doing the decided

 Rendering all the specific and interrelated services

appropriate to the clients problem situtaion based on the
assessment and planning that have been undertaken.
Interventive Roles in Direct Practice
(Mendoza, 2008)

The social worker’s problem solving

efforts will require a variety of interventive
roles, which refer to the composite
activities, or tasks that she is expected to
undertake in order to accomplish the
goals agreed upon with the client.
Resources Provider
◦ Direct provision of material aid and other
concrete resources that will be useful in
elimination or reducing situational deficiencies.
◦ A social work activity that should not be
equated with “dole out” (alms, giving out of
money, goods usually out of charity)
◦ Direct provision in any form of material aid in
social work is always preceded by a careful
evaluation of client need and most appropriate
ways by which it can be met.
◦ Not limited to money or goods but other
concrete services that are necessary in order to
achieve the helping goals for the client.
Social Broker
◦ A process of negotiating the service jungle for
clients whether singly or in groups.
◦ Worker connects or links the clients to needed
services in the community.
◦ Performs variety of activities to ensure effective
services delivery.
 Helper, interpreter, facilitator, escort,
negotiator
◦ Role requires a broad knowledge of community
resources as well as knowledge of the
operating procedures of agencies so that
effective connections can be made.
Mediator
◦ A person who acts as an intermediary or
conciliator between 2 persons or sides.
◦ Engages in effort that will resolve disputes
between the client system and the other
parties.
◦ Use techniques to bring about a convergence of
the perceived values of both parties to the
conflict.
Advocate
◦ Works to take partisan interest in the client and
his cause. She cannot remain neutral.
◦ Objective is to influence in the client’s interest
another party usually possessing the same
power or authority over the client.
◦ The advocate will argue debate, bargain,
negotiate and manipulate the environment on
behalf of the client.
◦ Direct confrontation, administrative appeal and
the use of judicial and political as appropriate.
Counselor/Therapist
◦ Goal is the restoration, maintenance, or
enhancement of the client’s capacity to adapt or
adjust to his current reality.
◦ Premised on the belief that there are client
problems which are caused not much by situational
factors or factors in the client himself, such as:
 Wrong attitudes
 Low self esteem
 Limited use of knowledge, and
 Lack of self-understanding
Worker is called upon to engage in a case to
case approach to problem solving to benefit
the client.
D. EVALUATION
The collection of data outcomes of a
program of action relative to goals and
objectives set advance of the
implementation of that program
(Mendoza, 2008:240; Johnson, 1994, 385)
Is a continual process where the worker
keeps on gathering data which she uses in
an ongoing evaluation (Compton and
Galway, 1994, 550)
Evaluation is directed toward the following:
Measuring the outcomes of programs or
specific interventions
Measuring the change processes or the nature
of intervention themselves
Utilizing a research design that will permit to
attribute the outcome to the change processes
◦ Summative evaluation – concerned with outcomes
or effectiveness
◦ Formative evaluation - concerned with looking at
the processes of the work. Forces worker to find out
whether the intervention plan is being implemented
as designed.
E. TERMINATION
The following are the most common
reasons for terminating the client worker
relationship:
◦ When the goal set by worker and the client
have been reached.
◦ When, after a reasonable period of time, there
has been very little movement toward the
attainment of the goals formulated, and the
prospect for any change in the situation is held
unlikely.
◦ When the client thinks the worker has provided
sufficient help so that it is now possible for the
client to pursue problem-solving on his own.
 ◦ When the agency does not have the resources
needed by the client or the worker does not get
her agency’s approval to provide the services
needed by the client.
◦ When the systems outside the client make it
difficult for the client to continue with the
helping relationship or when these systems
influence the client to discontinue the
relationship.
When for one reason or another, the
worker must leave the agency
COMPONENTS OF TERMINATION:
(Mendoza 2008: 254-259; Pincus and
Minahan, 1973)

1. Disengagement
2. Stabilization of change
3. Evaluation
1. Disengagement- on the client’s part, the
following are among the most common reactions
that have identified:

Denial- is a defense mechanism thatis employed

to avoid painful feelings.Manifested in such
behaviors as ignoring any discussion of
termination; or not keeping appointments after
termination is discussed.
Emotional reactions- fear of loss or fear of the
unknown can give rise to feelings of sadness or of
grief. There can also be anger expressed in verbal
outbursts or physically violent behavior directed
toward the worker and/or other significant systems.
Bargaining- some clients try to negotiate an
extensions of time or a modified schedule which can
mean fewer contacts over a longer period with the
worker.

Depression – listlessness, little energy, withdrawal,
sadness, helplessness, despair, absence of
motivation to go on are manifestations of depression.
Acceptance – the client manifests an increase in
energy, and is able to talk about the bad times and
to think about the future.
2. Stabilization of Change

The main test of a change agent’s

help is the stability and permanence
of the client system’s changed behavior
when the change is no longer actively
working with the client.
The worker’s main function during this
phase is to insure generalization and
spread of a change effort has been
started.
3. Terminal Evaluation

 During the evaluation phase, evaluation is particularly

important.
 It is the time for the worker and client- but particularly
the worker who has been the helping person, to
appraise what have transpired, to focus on the goals
formulated during the Planning phase, and of course,
on the problem that was identified during the
Assessment phase.
 Terminal evaluation should involve client participation.
The client review what has taken place, acknowledge
improvement or change, recognize his part in the
process and understand how the lessons learned may
be transferred to life experiences after the
disengagement from the helping relationship.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “PROBLEM
SOLVING PROCESS” AND “HELPING
PROCESS”?
PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS- is a sequence of
steps followed by the Social Worker, each step
involving activities to be undertaken in the
course of helping the client from the time of
engagement to disengagement.

HELPING PROCESS- it is all about the client-

worker relationship, the moving force in effective
client-worker problem solving efforts.
The SW applies her professional values,
principles, ethics as well aspersonal attributes
and professional style of helping. The SW’s use of
SELF in the course of helping the client through
the beginning, middle and ending phases of the
relatonship is crucial to effective problem solving.
HELPING RELATIONSHIP

-Also known as CLIENT-WORKER

RELATIONSHIP, it refers to the dynamic
interaction between the two during which
the SW helps the client to learn and solve
his problems.
 Anchored on the helping relationship
 Primary objective is to meet the needs of
the clients
 Purpose is to find a foothold for the helping
process
 Relationship is a professional one requiring
self-awareness, objectivity & discipline on
the part of the worker
 Worker must have the ability to sense the
dynamic interaction of feelings & attitudes
in order to facilitate attainment of the
client’s objectives & the worker interventive
action
 Respects the client’s right to self-
determination & is thus non-exploitative
 Accepting
 A relationship is accepting when the worker
accepts the client by recognizing his right to
existence, importance & value. Accepting of
this right is the basis of any relationship. It
involves recognition of the client’s uniqueness
as an individual, & as a person who possesses
the need & the right to laugh or cry, to be glad
or angry, to grow, to change, to participate in
making decisions about matters related to his
welfare.
 Dynamic
 The essence of this relationship is
more emotional than intellectual. It is
to give & take of attitudes & feelings
that serve as the channel through which
the ideas are imparted & reached for
rational consideration.
 Purposeful & time limited, unequal
 The relationship is directed towards
a goal. Once the goal is achieved &
the case is terminated the relationship
ends. In this sense, it is limited. It is
also unequal because the worker & the
client assume different roles. The
worker gives while the client receives
help.
 Honest, Realistic & Responsible
 This means that the worker
must have honor, integrity,
sincerity & probity (uprightness).
He must also perceive what reality
is, in terms of people and
situations.
 Exercising Judgment
 Any professional judgment that the
worker makes should be based on
reality. There are two sides to it: reality
as it is, & reality as the client sees it to
be. Both sides must be fully
comprehended before the worker can
make a valid judgment.
 PHASES OF THE HELPING RELATIONSHIP
 THE BEGINNING
 This is the testing period when the
worker & the client “size up” each other.
The worker, so as to determine the client as
a person needing help; the client, to see
whether the worker can be of help. It is
marked by uncertainty & exploration.
 During this period, meaningful
communication starts to be established,
rules are defined, & needs are expressed,
acknowledged, & responded too. The
beginning phase ends when the worker &
client reach an unspoken agreement to work
on the problem together.
 THE MIDDLE
 This is the working period when the
worker & the client play their respective
roles & perform their tasks to solve or
alleviate the problem. They will then be
sharing feelings, thinking and
experiencing together. Changes will be
taking place & there will be constant
adaptation & re-adaptation to change. The
relationship will be constantly redefined.
 THE ENDING
 This is the termination phase of the
relationship. If the goal has been
achieved, both worker & client may be
feeling a degree of satisfaction. It was a
fruitful relationship. If the client has
been referred to another agency, the
worker may still rightly feel that he has
brought the client a few steps nearer the
goal.
 Key Factors that Influence the Helping
Process
CLIENT
his view of the problem or difficulty
coping capability
personal characteristics and resiliency
(capability to withstand, recover from the
present condition)
immediate social support system
his/her view of how to achieve desired
change
 SOCIAL
AGENCY -
NGAS/LGU/POs/FBOs/NGOs/Individuals

• policies, strategies, social programs /

projects intervention

• clients’ social support system and

resources available that are required to
achieve the desired social change
  SOCIAL WORKER
his/her personal characteristics
conscious use of self, not using biases or value
judgment
understanding and skills
goal and functions of social work
intervention modules which can be used in
effecting social change
social work values, concepts, principles and
methods
enabling / helping roles
professional background and experience
 THE SOCIAL WORK PRACTITIONER
 The “SELF” is the primary tool in the helping
relationship
 “SELF” the essential person distinct from all othr
persons in identity (Webster), the identity, character,
or essential qualities for any person (Webster’s New
World College Dictionary)
 The SW’s conscious use of one’s self should involve:
a. SELF DISCIPLINE- controlling of one’s self, or
one’s desires, actions, habits, etc.
b. SELF-AWARENESS- awareness of one’s self as
an individual
c. JUDGMENT- the ability to come to opinions
about things: power of comparing and deciding,
understanding, good sense
d. MATURITY- the state or quality of being fully
developed or fully grown.
A critical factor in the SW’s presentation
of self is SELF AWARENESS.
The use of self also involves:
a. COMMITMMENT- to bind or to pledge
one’s self to a relationship
b. OBLIGATION- to perform the moral
responsibility that goes with a pledge or a
promise made.
The Casework Relationship

Is dynamic interaction of attitudes and

emotions between the caseworker and the
client to achieve a better adjustment
himself and his environment (Biestek, 1957)
Client-worker relationship is established
with purpose of attaining objectives of
helping.
The relationship is guided toward:

Therapeutically positive communication

Maintaining or promoting client’s inner
security and self-esteem
Mobilizing his inner and outer resources
and realistic level of relationship:
◦ Both as a means to promote individual’s growth
and development,
◦ And to achieve a better adjustments between
himself and his situation.
The relationship is a professional one
which requires:
◦ Self-awareness
◦ Objectivity
◦ Self-discipline in the joint involvement of
problem solving process.
The relationship is the dynamic
interaction and psychological
interplay both between the worker and
the client with their particular attitudes
and feelings in particular situation.
Components of Relationships: (reality,
transference, counter-transference)
Reality – realistic/actual – objective
perception of existing condition or situation
Transference - is unconscious and not
reality based
◦ It is unrealistic attitude and response,
◦ It has both positive and negative significance on
the establishment of the client-worker relationship
◦ Client’s displacementon the worker of particular
feelings and attitudes he originally experienced
towards his family members or people he is close
to and then responds and relates to the worker as
if he were the person.
Counter-transference – it is also
unconscious and not reality based.

◦ It is carrying over of worker’s particular feelings

and reactions to a person in the worker’s past
and applying them to the client.
◦ The nature of feelings and attitudes that exist
between worker and the client affects their
relationship.
◦ It is worker’s professional responsibility to
recognize, control, and manage transference
and counter-transference, appropriately
emphasizing the reality aspect of the
relationship.
EXERCISE!
You have just begun an initial session with a battered
woman who is just starting to tell you about the story and
history of abuse. The BEST thing you can do as a therapist
is…

A) during her disclosure ask her leading questions as a

method of eliciting as much information as possible and
to let her know you are supportive of her situation.
B) Simply listen to her story and do not offer advice or
suggestions.
C) Stop her at different times during, her discussion and
provide her with an interpretation of her nonverbal
behavior and statements to assist her in becoming
more self-aware.
D) Provide her with information about other domestic
violence victims you have worked with in order to help
her understand you are empathetic to her situation.
The correct answer is B. Listening empathically, with
total attention, is probably the most powerful tool
you have in your toolbox. Clients need to be HEARD.
They need to feel they can communicate. When you
have heard the entire situation you are then in a
position to ask the question: “What can I do to help
you get what you need?”

A is INCORRECT. It is never a good idea to ask a

client “leading questions”. With any therapeutic
relationship there is a power structure in which the
clinician holds more power than the client. It is
possible, when asking leading questions, to give the
client the idea that you are looking only for specific
information and they may alter their story to please
you. Leading questions are almost always bad.
C is INCORRECT. Providing clients with an interpretation of
their thoughts, statements and nonverbal behaviors is an
aspect of psychoanalysis that occurs AFTER A VERY LONG
TIME IN THERAPY. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy can last
for 3-5 years and the interpretive phase is only during the
last couple of sessions. Anytime you provide an
interpretation of a client’s behavior or thoughts, it should
be with their direct permission after a clear discussion of
informed consent. (So they know what they are getting
into.) Without a deep trust built over a long time this
method will backfire and probably drive the client away. PS:
Psychoanalysis takes years to learn and is a rather rigorous
discipline. If you are interested in providing this type of
therapy, there are PhD programs in psychoanalysis which
take approximately 5 years to complete and usually require
you to undergo psychoanalysis personally for several
years.

https://www.usf.edu/cbcs/social-work/documents/licensing_exam_questions.pdf
Principles of Casework Relationship

Individualization
Purposeful expression of feelings
Controlled emotional involvement
Acceptance
The non-judgmental attitude
Client’s self-determination
Confidentiality
Individualization
◦ Is the recognition and understanding of each
client’s unique qualities
◦ The differential use of principles and methods in
assisting each toward a better adjustment
◦ It is a right and a need of the client.
◦ Based upon the right of human to be individuals
and to be treated not just as another human
being but as this human being with his personal
differences.
◦ Casework help must be differential to meet the
particular needs of the individual client and to
help the client use his abilities and resources to
work out his problem.
Purposeful expression of feelings

Recognition of the client’s need to express his

feelings freely, especially his negative feelings
The caseworker listens purposely, neither
discouraging nor condemning the expression of
these feelings, sometimes even actively
stimulating and encouraging them when they are
therapeutically useful as a part of the casework
service.
Man’s psychological needs are for participation or
the sharing of experiences, for social approval and
recognition
The expression of feelings is part of the dynamics
in the client’s participation in the solution of his
own problem.
Controlled emotional involvement
 This means the caseworker’s sensitivity to the
client’s feelings, understanding of their
meaning, and a purposeful, appropriate
response to the client’s feelings.

The three components of controlled

emotional involvement:
 Sensitivity
 Understanding
 Response
Sensitivity: means seeing and listening to
the feelings of the client
◦ By being sensitive to their nervous behavior and
to their manner of speaking the caseworker
becomes aware of the client’s unspoken
feelings.
◦ She needs to understand the meaning of the
feelings in relation to the client and his problem.
◦ Sensitivity and understanding are means to the
response
◦ The worker’s response to the client on the
feeling level is the most important psychological
element in the casework relationship
◦ It is a response of attitude and feeling, guided by
knowledge and purpose.
Acceptance

◦ A principle of action wherein the caseworker

perceives and deals with the client as he really
is, including his strengths and weaknesses, his
uncongenial qualities, his positive behavior,
maintaining all the while a sense of the client’s
innate dignity and personal worth.
◦ The object of acceptance is not “the good but
“the real”
Purpose of acceptance

Therapeutic, to aid the caseworker in

understanding the client as he really, thus making
caseworker more effective;
And to help the client free himself from
undesirable defenses so that he feels safe to
reveal himself as he really is, thus dealing with his
problem and himself in a more realistic manner.
Non-judgmental attitude

◦ The non-judgmental attitude is a quality of the

casework relationship;
◦ Based on the conviction that the casework function
excludes assigning guilt or innocence or degree
of client responsibility for causation of the
problems or needs, but does not include making
evaluative judgments about the attitudes, standards
or action of the client.
◦ Caseworker objectively evaluates the attitudes,
standards and actions of the client, to understand
rather than to judge the client.
◦ In helping clients, it is important to understand
their failures, weaknesses, but it is not the
function of the caseworker to judge.
For a sound analysis and evaluation:
 The worker needs to know the client’s
ego, strengths and weaknesses, and
his conflicts toward a healthy adjustment
to reality. This is to understand client’s
reality as facts.
Client’s Self – determination

◦ The practical recognition of the rights and

needs of clients to be free in making their own
choices and decisions in the casework process.
◦ The client’s right to self-determination however
is limited by the client’s capacity for positive
and constructive decisions making, by the
framework of civil and moral law, and by the
function of the agency.
◦ The emphasis in casework ranges from analysis
to intervention, and the client’s ability to make
his own choices and formulate his own plans
are considered both a means and a goal for
intervention, an aid to personality maturity.
Confidentiality

◦ The preservation of secret information concerning

the client which is disclosed in the professional
relationship
◦ Confidentiality is based upon the basic right of the
client; it is an ethical obligation of the caseworker
and is necessary for effective casework.
◦ If the client’s secret is shared with other
professional persons within the agency and in
other agencies, the obligation binds all equally.
Confidentiality in social work can be considered
from two points of view:
◦ As an item in the professional code of ethics, and
◦ As element of the caseworker relationship
Four Major Casework
Processes/Techniques:

Environmental Modification
Psychological Support
Clarification
Insight Development
Environmental Modification
◦ The steps taken by the caseworker to change the
environment in the client’s favor by the worker’s
direct action.
Psychological Support
◦ Encouraging the client to talk freely and express
his feelings;
◦ Expressing sympathetic understanding of the
client’s feelings and acceptance of his behavior
◦ Interest in the client
◦ Desire to help
◦ Expression of confidence in the client’s ability to
solve his difficulty, to make his own decisions
◦ Direct encouragement of attitudes that will enable
the client to function more realistically as well as
more comfortably
 Clarification
◦ Usually accompanying psychological support, the dominant
tone is understanding by the client of himself, his
environment, and/or people with whom is associated
◦ It is directed towards increasing the ego’s ability to see the
external realities more clearly and to understand the client’s
own emotions, attitudes and behavior
◦ Sometimes, the worker makes direct interpretations
concerning effect or significance of client’s actions
◦ Always, the effort is to help the client think, more clearly, to
react more realistically, and to plan more wisely.
 Insight Development
◦ This involves carrying understanding than that described in
clarification
◦ Current and past emotions must be re-lived in a therapeutic
atmosphere in order that some of the effect may be
discharged and in order that irrationalities maybe brought
clearly to the surface that they can be recognized, at first in
the safety of the treatment situation and later in life.
Social Work Helping Models and
Approaches
Approaches and models provides an overall guide
particularly in planning and actual interventive
work
Depending on the nature of the client’s problem
situation, the worker can choose one (or more) of
these models or approaches as helping
“strategy:” (Mendoza,2008)

Problem Solving Model

The Psychosocial Approach
Functional Approach
Task Centered Approach
Crisis Intervention Approach
Family Centered Approach
Behavior Modification
Case Management
 THE PROBLEM-SOLVING MODEL (Helen Harris
Perlman, 1957)

 Helen Harris Perlman (1905-2004) with almost

seventy years as a social work practitioner,
supervisor, consultant, and author to her credit, was
a legend in her field. (
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/perlman-helen-harr
is
)
 Influenced by john Dewey who spurred her interest in
the matter of how people think and manage to cope.
 Adopted Dewey’s term “problem-solving” as the
name for a diffirent concept of social work practice,
 That is a departure from the already established
Freudian-based psychodynamic “diagnostic” school of
thought in social casework.
Elements of the Problem Solving Approach:

1.The PERSON

Product of inherited and constitutional make

up in continuous transaction with potent
persons and forces in life experiences
Product of the past but in no sense is viewed
as a finished product (in process of bocoming).
Perspectives:

 Personality as an open system continuously open

to “input” and feedback from outside itself.
 Recognized that the person is a living “whole”,a
biological – psychological – social system, the
social worker does not set out to diagnose or treat
the person wholly.
 Partialization(i.e. centering of attention on
relevant and selected parts of what is presented to
view) becomes necessary for purposesofavtion.
 The person is more than a personality disturbance
or phychosocial problem.
 The person has motivation and capacities for
being engaged in working in some new way on
problems.
2.The PROBLEM

The model is based upon the presence of, and

the identification a help- seeker and helper ofa
problem for which help is either being sought
or offered.
The problem is usually some difficulty in
person-to- person orperson-to-task relationship.
The problems should be defined early and held
clear before the eyes of both help-seeker and
helper and;
Should be circumscribed enough so that an
overwhelmed ego need not retreat from it.
3.The PLACE

The place with utilizes casework as a

mode of helping people with problems.
The particular organization, agency or
social institution, the purpose of which
defines its functions, services, and its
areas of social concern.
4.The PROCESS-The problem-solving process
consists of the following operations:

1. The problem must be defined by the person,

i.e. be recognized, named and place in the
center of attention.
2. The person’s subjective experience of the
problem must be identified, i.e. how it is felt,
seen, interpreted, what is being done with it –
to cause, exacerbate, avoid and deal with it.
3. The causes and effects of the problem and its
important and influence upon the person-in-life
space must be identified and examined.
4. The search for possible means and modes of
solution must be initiated and considered, and
alternatives must be weighed and tried out in the
exchange of ideas and reactions that precede
action.
5. Some choice or decision must be made as a
result of thinking and feeling through, what means
seem most likely to affect the problem or the
person’s relation to it.
6. Action taken on the basis of these considerations
will test the validity and workability of the decision.
These operations comprise what Perlman
described in 1957 as the steps of study,
Diagnosis and Treatment.
RELATIONSHIP, DIAGNOSIS AND GOAL

Two important factors in problem-solving

approach:
Relationship (all relationship between caseworker
and client)
The involvement and effect of “significant others”
Whatever the problem, the helping relationship
should combine
caring, concern, acceptance and
expectation of the client with understanding,
know-how and social sanction.
ASSUMPTIONS IN THE MODEL

The person’s inability to cope with the

problem independently is due to some
deficit in or absence of one or combination
of the following problem-solving means:
The motivation to work on the problem
in an appropriate way.
The capacity to work on the problem in
an appropriate way.
The opportunity available and applicable
to the presented problem.
Diagnosis in model focuses on:

 The person’s motivation, capacity, opportunity,

(including an assessment of what factors and forces
deter or thwart these) and;
 The person’s in the client’s problematic role
network.
 It does not distinguish between treatments of
environmental problem from treatment of
psychological problems, In its view, it is always the
person who is being helped in relation to what is
found stressful.

Primary Goal: To help a person cope as effectively

as possible with problems in carrying on social tasks
and relationships which are found insuperable
without outside help.
 THE PSYCHO-SOCIAL APPROACH (Florence
Hollis, 1964)

 Used to be associated with the Freudian Theory

of personality and
 Was often referred as to the “organismic
approach” and the “diagnostic school of thougth”
 Today, it is essentially a system theory approach
in social work, which can be applied to
individuals and groups with actual or potential
problems in their psychosocial functioning.
 It is a systems theory approach; it is concerned
with both inner realities of human beings
(personality theories and ego psychology
theories) and the social context in which they
live.
 Diagnosis and treatment are addressed to the person-in-
situation gestalt or configuration.
 Another emphasis of the approach is that treatment must
be differentiated according to the client’s need, hence the
term “differential treatment approach”. It requires the
worker to understand the client’s need and to respond
accordingly.
 The client’s inability to function adequately is viewed as
being caused by inadequacies either in the person, or in
the situation.
 Thus, the worker must engage in fact gathering and come
up with a professional opinion called diagnosis or
assessment.
 The help provided in this approach is a process which will
enable change to occur in the person or situation or both.
 This process involves communication among the
client/s, the worker, the significant others and the
provision of certain concrete services that may be
needed.
Phases in Psychosocial Approach:

A .Initial Phase
B. Assessment of the client in his situation
C. Treatment
Initial Phase(may proceed simultaneously or in
sequence)

Understanding the reasons for the contract

Establishing a relationship which will enable
the client to use the worker’s help.
Engaging the client in the treatment
( primary aspects-motivation or resistance)
Beginning treatment itself
( some believe treatment begins on the first
interview)
Psychosocial study-gathering the information
needed for the psychosocial diagnosis and
guidance of the treatment.
Assessment of the Client in his
Situation

The diagnostic process consists of a

critical scrutiny of a client-situation
complex and the trouble which help is
sought or needed for the purpose of
understanding the nature or the difficulty
with increasing detail and accuracy.
Types of Diagnosis:dynamic, etiological, classificatory

Dynamic
 An examination of how different aspects of the client’s personality
interact to produce his total functioning
 The interplay between the client and other systems
 The dynamics of family interaction

Etiological
 The cause or origin of the difficulty whether preceding events or
current interactions
 Usually multiple factors in the person-situation configuration.

Classificatory
 An effort to classify various aspects of the client’s functioning and
his place in the world including, if possible, a clinical diagnosis
 Examples:
 Classifying individuals according to socio-economic class, race,
ethnic background and religion
 Social class status-education, occupation, Income
Clinical diagnosis- refers to classifying based on
personality disturbance e.g. psychosis,
psychoneurosis, character disorder, etc.

Treatment
 The ultimate objective of social work in the
psychosocial Approach is to alleviate the client’s
distress and decrease the malfunctioning in the
person-situation system.
 The dysfunction in the person-situation gestalt is
primarily interpersonal so that the aim is to bring
about better interpersonal adaptations.
 Attention should focus on both the interpersonal
system and the personality of the individuals/s who
compose the interpersonal system
 Interpersonal system -e.g., parent-child , husband-
wife
The treatment Process:

 Change is brought about in 2 ways: indirect and

direct treatment

1.Indirect Treatment- the worker intervenes directly

in the environment of the client by:
a. Obtaining needed resources; her role will be:
Resource provider, Resource locator, Interpreter of
client’s needs, Mediator, Advocate, Resource creator
b. Modifying the client’s situation when change in the
client’s or environment is necessary.

2. Direct treatment- this involves direct work with

the client himself, or what Hollis describes as “the
influence of mind upon mind”
Six procedures of Intervention according to
Hollis:

 Sustaining (supportive remarks)

 Direct influence (suggestion and advice)
 Catharsis of ventilation (discharge of feelings and
emotionally changed memories)
 Reflective consideration of the current person-
situation configuration-helping the client understand
better present functioning in current relationship
 Encouragement of client to reflect on dynamics of his
response or tendencies-helping the client think
about behavior causes
 Encouragement of client to thick about the
development of response patterns or tendencies-
helping the client understand the contribution of the
past or current functioning
EXERCISE!

It is your fourth session with a client and they arrive 22

minutes late. Upon seating themselves on the couch
they say, “I know I am late, I got stuck at work today
and could not get away from my desk. This is the third
time they are late to a session. You decide it is time to
address this situation. Your BEST response is to say:

A) Can you think of any reason why you want to avoid

talking today?
B) Maybe we need to explore what it means to you to
come here for our sessions.
C) I know that your work is important, but we will just
have less time together today
D) You seem to expect me to be angry with you. Let's
talk about how you feel.
The correct answer is B. This approach allows them to open up and
explain themselves. It is accepting and non-judgmental. It also gives you
the chance to clarify roles and to ask the client to explain in to you, in
more detail, what they are expecting from this process.

A is INCORRECT. This is a very confrontational approach and requires the

client to agree to the fact that they don’t want to work with you (Which
may or may not be an accurate assumption). If they have been late to 3
of their four sessions, it is entirely likely that they are not completely
invested in the therapeutic process and this type of confrontation may
drive them away.

C is INCORRECT. This is a statement of the obvious and may be taken as

a rebuke. If a client is wavering in relation to their investment in therapy,
they may use this as an excuse to terminate and avoid working with their
issues.

D is INCORRECT. This is definitely confrontation and assumes anger, for

which there is no indication in the above information. Reluctance is not
anger. It is entirely possible that the resistance is due to an upcoming
breakthrough with the client and they are concerned that something they
want to reveal may offend you or cause you to dislike them. They are the
expert of their life, but you are the expert in psychotherapy.
Functional Approach

A social casework method for engaging the client

through a relationship essentially one-to-one the use
of social services toward his own and the general
social welfare.
 The focus of intervention is the delivery of the social
service(s)
 Emphasis on the use of agency function.
 Emphasis on giving and receiving help- the offer of
service unites the person with the skill of the worker
and the function and services of the agency
 The process includes the definition 0f the service
being offered and whether the client can use it
 Functional approach has particular applicability to the
Philippines because of countless social agencies
servicing varied needs. (Mendoza, 2008)
Task Centered Approach
 Is a “technology for alleviating specific target problems
perceived by client, that is, particular problems clients
recognize, acknowledge and want to attend to”.

 “Task”- is defined as what the client is to do to

alleviate the problem the task both an immediate goal
and the same time the means of achieving the goal of
alleviating the problem.
 Treatment concentrates on helping individual clients to
achieve specificor limited goals of their own choice
within brief and bounded periods of service.
 It assumes that the short-term, time-limited approach
can be effective as long-term one
 It may focus on a specific behavior that needs to be
changed or changed in the physical or social
environment.
 It is focused on the specific task to be achieved.
Distinguished characteristics of task-
centered approach:

1. Brief and time limited

2. Its interventions are concentrated on
alleviating specific problems which the
clients and practitioner expressly contract
to work on
3. Work on the client’s problem is organized
around tasks or problem-solving actions the
client agrees to carry out.
Task-centered approach can be used with
many types of client, its main target are
people whose problems are in the area of:

Family and interpersonal relations;

Social role performance;
Effecting social transitions;
Securing resources; and
Emotional distress reactive to situation
factors.
The procedures/ Steps in Task-centered practice

Start up:
 Client referred by an agency source or client applies
independently and voluntarily
Step 1
 Client target problem identified
Step 2
 Contract
 Plans, target problem priorities, goals, practitioner,
tasks, duration, schedule participants
Step 3
 Problem solving
Step 4
 Termination
Crisis Intervention Approach Crisis and
Crisis Intervention

Known to have developed out of work in a

public health setting with orientation of a truly
interdisciplinary approach involving medicine,
social work, psychology and psychiatry.
Theory is based on the idea that there is no
such thing as a “problem-free” state and life
is a series of recurring developmental crises.
Crisis- an “upset in an steady state”, an emotional reaction on the
part of the individual, family or group to a threatening life event.
 A temporary disturbance in one’s equilibrium characterized by
immobilization of problem-solving abilities and other aspects of daily
functioning.
 Not considered a disease or pathology but a situation that can happen
to anyone in the course of life, and therefore should be resolved as an
opportunity for growth.
 A process for actively influencing the psychosocial functioning of
individuals and groups, during a period of acute disequilibrium.
 Involves crisis-oriented, time limited work usually 2-6 weeks in
duration.
 Can be used in any social work setting and with any target population
under stress.
 To be effective, crisis intervention should be available within 24 to 27
hours after application or referral for assistance.
Preparation of the study, diagnosis and
treatment are not necessarily observed in the
crisis management.
Crisis intervention involves a warm, emphatic
reaching out in what is called a “search and
find” approach.
Participation is always voluntary and the client
should be committed to the change process.
THE HELPING PROCESS IN CRISIS
Mendoza (2008) cited in her book Naomi
Golan’s treatment model that is rooted in
the problem-solving theory of casework
and developed as part of the short-term,
task centered approach to practice.

Phases:
Assessment of the Situation
Implement of Treatment
Termination
ASSESSMENT OF THE SITUATION

The hazardous Event- a specific stress-

producing occurrence, either an external blow
or internal change that occur to an individual
or family in state of reiative stability in its
biopsychosocial situation, initiating a chain of
reverberating actions and reactions. Can be
classified into: Anticipated and predictable
and unanticipated and accidental events.
b. Anticipated and predictable-there are twokinds:

1. The normal developmental critical periods- when

a person is particularly vulnerable (e.g. adolescence,
middle adulthood, etc)

2. Transitional stages
 When the person has to take on new roles,
 Learn new roles,

 Adjust to new circumstances (e.g. marriages, moving,
moving to a to a new place)
Unanticipated and accidental events

These are the unpredictable changes that can

occur to anyone, at any stage in life, with little or
no advance warning.
They usually involve some actual or threatened
loss (to the person or significant other) of a
person, a capacity, or a function (e.g., loss of a
spouse),
Or a sudden introduction of a new person into the
social orbit (e.g. the premature birth of a child).
They may happen to entire communities as in the
case of natural disasters or sociopolitical events or
economic-environmental catastrophes.
The Vulnerable or Upset State

Refers to the subjective reaction of the

individual or to the initial blow, both at time it
occurs and subsequently.
Each person responds in a unique way,
depending on whether the event is perceived
as a treat to instinctual needs or to emotional
or physical integrity, or as a loss of a person
or ability, or as a challenge to survival growth,
mastery or self-expression.
These reactions can result in high level of
anxiety, feelings of depression and mourning,
shame, guilt, anger, hospitality and confusion.
The Precipitating Factor or Event

The link in the chain of stress-provoking

happenings that bring tension to a peak and
convert the vulnerable state into one of crisis.
May coincide with the initial hazardous event
or it may even directly be a negligible
incident not even directly or consciously
linked to it.
Often viewed as the presenting problem and
becomes immediate focus for management of
the client.
The State of Active Crisis

 this refers to the individuals subjective condition

once tension has stopped;
 homeostatic mechanism no longer operate,
 disequilibriumhas set in.
 This is the criterion for deciding whether or not to
use the crisis intervention approach.
 This lasts from 4-6 weeks, the person experiences:
 Psychological and physical turmoil, including aimless
activity,
 Disturbances in body functions, mood, mental
content and intellectual functioning.
 Followed by a painful preoccupation with the events
that led to the crisis.
The State of Reintegration or Reorganization

 Adjustment period – either adaptive or integrative or

maladaptive and destructive.
 Disequilibrium gradually subsides.

 Initialinterview is crucial for crisis intervention.
 Worker focuses merely on “here and now”, finding out
the essential details of the precipitating event, its scope
and persons involve and severity, and persons involved.
 Worker to identify the original hazardous event and to
trace the subsequent blows that may have aggravated
the effect of the initial impact.
 Encourages client to ventilate feeling of loss, guilt, fear,
anxiety, sadness, etc.
 Once emotional is lowered and anxiety has abated, client
and worker get down to discuss resolution of the crisis
situation.
Goals in Crisis Intervention

1. Relief of symptoms;
2. Restoration to the optimal pre-crisis level of social
functioning;
3. Understanding of the relevant precipitating events
that contributed to the state of disequilibrium;
4. Identification of remedial measures that can be
taken by the client and the family or that which is
available through community resources;
5. Recognition of the connection between the
current stress and past life experiences and conflicts;
6. Initiation of new models of perceiving, thinking
and feeling and development of new adaptive and
coping responses that can be useful beyond the
immediate crisis situation.
Jacobson (1968) and his associates suggests two treatment
approaches as cited by Mendoza (2008):

The generic approach

 This is for specific and situational and maturational cries
which do not require assessment of the psychodynamics of
the individual in crisis.
 It can be done by a paraprofessional, a non-mental health
professional or a community care-giver.

The individual approach

 Designed for use by mental health professionals,

 This approach emphasizes assessment of the interpersonal
and intrapyshic process of each person in crisis,
 With particular attention given to the unique aspect of the
particular situation and
 The solution specifically tailored to help the client return to a
new steady state.
IMPLEMENTATION OF TREATMENT

This “middle phase” is about setting up

and working out specific tasks designed to
solve specific problems in the current life
situation, to modify previous inadequate
or inappropriate ways of functioning and
learn new coping patterns.

Golan (1968) presented two categories of

tasks involved in crisis intervention which
may be carried out concurrently:
Material-arrangement tasks – concerned
with provision of concrete assistance and
services.

Psychological tasks – are concerned with

dealing with client’s feelings, doubts,
ambivalence, anxieties and despair which
arise while trying to carry out what both
worker and client agree need to be done.
Treatment techniques used in crisis intervention:

 Sustaining techniques – with reassurance

encouragement
 Direct Influence procedures – giving advice; advocating
a particular course of action; warning clients of the
consequences of maladaptive resolution of the situation.
 Direct Intervention – in extreme situations such as
threats of or attempts at suicide or where the client is
determining rapidly
 Reflective discussion techniques – as the client
becomes more integrated, e.g. of the current and recent
past situation and pattern of interaction

Golan (1968) suggests the need to do environmental work

and activity with collaterals – within the agency itself, other
professionals in the community, other support systems – to
achieve rapid reintegration for the person in a crisis situation.
TERMINATION

◦ As the end of the time-limited helping

relationship nears, worker or client reviews
their progress, focusing in key themes and
basic issues.
◦ Emphasis is placed on the task accomplished,
the adaptive coping patterns developed, and
the ties built with persons and resources in the
community
◦ Future activity when the client will be on his
own, is planned.
◦ The case ends with the worker making herself
available on an “as needed” basis should new
crisis occur.
EXERCISE!
You are school social worker called to a
teacher’s room because they have a six-year-
old child who has scrapes on his knees and
shins. At the classroom the teacher states this
is not the first time the child has come to
school with scrapes on his legs. As a
mandated reporter your next BEST step is to:

A) Make a report to child protective services

B) Contact the parents and request a meeting
C) Question the teacher about past incidents.
D) Ask the school to provide medical
evaluation.
The correct answer is C You are in information
gathering mode. Scrapes and cuts on legs are very
common for children of this age. You should not
become worried unless there are many other
identifiable facts. Gather as much historical
information as you can.

A is INCORRECT You do not have enough information

yet to do this.

B is INCORRECT You need to gather information from

on-the-scene resources before looking at the parents.

D is INCORRECT Not yet! You are not even close to

this level of intervention currently
FAMILY CENTERED APPROACH

Family – the unit interest; although

casework is the process of working with
individuals, the workers also works with
the person’s immediate environment,
which normally is the family.
Social casework recognizes the importance of
family centered approach:

 To contribute to harmonious family inter-

relationships
 To strengthen the positive value in family life, and
 Promote healthy personality development and
satisfactory social functioning of various family
members.
Family Therapy

 Development of family therapy as a therapeutic

model started based on the recognition that there
are human situations and problems which require
that family should be the unit of attention for study
and treatment (Roberts & Nee, 1970, Mendoza, 2008)
 Family therapy is a clinical approach designed to
modify or change elements of the family relationship
system that are interfering with the management of
the life tasks of the family and its members.
 Workers have to undertake a careful assessment of
the nature of family relationships and their conscious
and unconscious for the individual members.
ECO-MAP AND GENOGRAM – are tools for
assessment and treatment planning the
worker can use:

GENOGRAM

Is a diagram very similar to a family tree.

It presents historical and contemporary
data on the main figures in the client’s
interpersonal environment (e.g. births,
death, separations, mental illness, family
occupations, etc.) Compton et.al, 2005,
Mendoza, 2008)
ECO-MAP – is a diagram of the family within its
social context and includes genogram

Itpictures the family or individual in the life

space, presents support and stresses in the
environment and points to conflict to be
mediated, bridges to be built and resources to
be sought and mobilized.

The primary value is in:

◦ Its visual impact
◦ And its ability to organize and present concurrently
not only a great deal of factual information but also
the relationship between variables in a
situation. (Compton et.al, 2005, Mendoza, 2008)
EXERCISE!
You are sitting in a case staffing meeting at your
agency while several other social workers are
discussing their new cases and receiving feedback
and suggestions. Of the four following situations,
which one WOULD NOT lend itself to family therapy…?
A) A 17 year-old son who needs to separate
psychologically from his family
B) A couple with two children that has decided to
divorce.
C) A separated couple with two children, one child in
the family has an eating disorder
D) An enmeshed family, where improvement in one
member is likely to cause distress in the other
members
The correct answer is A This is a situation where one member of a structural
unit needs to leave (or be pushed out) of the structural unit. Individual
therapy and crisis intervention during the separation are the best possible
therapy choices. Family therapy may be appropriate after the separation and
after a set period of time has passed, in order to explore the new role.

B is INCORRECT Divorce is usually a nasty business and the children often

get the nastiest end of the stick. If there ever was a time for family therapy,
it would be now. The family should explore its new roles and the
expectations, both stated and implied, which are going to change in the new
structure.

C is INCORRECT. An eating disorder is almost always a family therapy issue.

Structural Family Therapy (Salvador Minuchin) would argue that only by
restructuring all the roles in the family, can you help the individual with an
eating disorder.

D is INCORRECT. All families are a structural unit with various roles ascribed
to each member. When one family member’s role begins to change because
of growing awareness in therapy, the entire system will begin to destabilize
and cause other family members stress until it again reaches a state of
equilibrium. Another way to look at it is that family therapy will cause
everyone some distress. That is kind of its purpose as it helps the family re-
shape themselves.
BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

Isan approach intended to improve the social

functioning of individuals, families, groups, and
organizations by helping them learn new behaviors
and eliminating problematic ways of behaving.
The approach is based on behavioral theory, the
key premise of which is that people repeat
behaviors that are rewarded and abandon
behaviors that are not rewarded or for which they
are punished.
Three elements of social learning essential
to Behavior Modification:

◦ Target Behavior – the behavior that will be

the focus of the intervention; it is important to
know what behavior needs to be
strengthened/increased or weakened
decreased in frequency, duration, or intensity.
◦ Antecedent behavior – the behavior(s) and
event(s) than occur prior to the problem
behavior
◦ Consequent behavior – the behavior(s) and
event(s) that occur after the problem behavior
Antecedent and consequent behaviors – are
the ones controlling or maintaining the problem
behavior.

Can be altered the use of specific behavior

techniques:
◦ Conditioning – the learning of a behavior on
condition that is associated with another event. This
comes in two forms:
 Classical conditioning – the learning of behavior
because it is associated in time with a specific
stimulus with which it was not formerly associated
 Operant conditioning – refers to learned behavior
which takes place because it operates upon or
affect the environment
 Reinforcement – anything that strengthens a
target behavior, or that increases the likelihood
that a target behavior will occur more frequently
than in the past.
 Positive reinforcement – involves adding,
presenting, or giving something to the client for
the purpose of increasing the target behavior
 Negative reinforcement – involves subtracting
or removing something that is unpleasant or
aversive to the client which will result in
strengthening or increasing the target behavior
Punishment – the presentation of an
unwanted or unpleasant stimulus (e.g
blame, criticism) that will have the effect
of suppressing or reducing the strength of
a target behavior.
◦ Use of punishment is discouraged, and even
prohibited by some agencies because of ethical
and legal considerations.
Extinction – refers to the withdrawal of
whatever reinforces a target behavior,
which will tend to discourage the
occurrence of the behavior.
◦ The use of behavioral modification involves
certain procedural details:
◦ Initial socialization – explains to the client the
procedures of their modification regimen and the
principles of behavioral modification.
◦ The contract – makes explicit what is to be worked
on, with written contracts which are better than
general implied agreement, or no agreement at all.
◦ Commitment – client’s commitment to cooperate
fully in the modification regimen will encourage client
compliance with the requisites of assessment and
modification, thereby increasing the likelihood of
success.
Tools in Casework (Interviewing, Recordings)

 Social work practice involves the use of tools to

facilitate the achievement of the worker’s goals and
objectives.

What is Interview?
 Interviewing involves communications between two
people and might be called professional conversation.
 It is an art, a skilled technique that can be improved
and eventually perfected primarily through continued
practice. (Garrett, 1942, Zaki&Mangold, 1972)
 An interview is a specialized form of communication.
It is a conversation with a deliberate purpose, a
purpose mutually accepted by the participants
(Kadushin, 1983)
 Interview is a primary tool of the social worker. It
is the structure for operationalizing the interaction
between a worker and a client. Interviewing is an
art and a skill, and learning how to interview is
learned by doing it (Johnson, 1998)
 Interviewing is the main tool used in social
practice. It is a set of verbal and non-verbal
interaction which usually starts between two
people although three or more may be
participating towards the end (de Guzman, 1983)
 Interviewing is a face to face meeting between
two or more person, directed towards a purpose,
such as to obtain information, to give instruction,
and to help. It is both an art and a technique
which requires knowledge and skills (Mendoza,
2008).
Objective/Purposes of Interview:

To obtain information

To give help to individual
To help individual arrive at the right
solution of his problem
To know the goal for particular interview.
Primary objectives of interviewing are to
help people explore their situation to
increase their understanding of it and to
indentify client resources and strengths
(Woodside &McClam, 2006)
Itis used specifically to extract information,
give therapy, resolve disagreement, consider
undertaking (Brill, as cited by de Guzman,
198)
The general purposes of social work interviews
can be described as informational (to make a
case study), diagnostic (to arrive at an
appraisal) and therapeutic (to effect change).
(Kadushin, 1983)
THE INTERVIEW PROCESS

The Beginning
The Middle
The End
The Beginning

◦ Is a time to establish a common understanding

between the case manager and the applicant.
◦ The beginning is also the opportunity to respond
to any questions that the applicant may have
about the agency and its services and policies

Important activities that may occur during the

stage:
◦ Greeting the client;
◦ Establishing the focus by discussing the purpose;
◦ Clarifying roles;
◦ And exploring the problem that has precipitated
the application for services.
The Middle
◦ Is the continuation of the beginning process,
through sharing and considering feelings,
behaviors, events, and strengths.
◦ it is devoted to developing the focus of the
relationship between the case manager and the
applicant.
◦ Assessment, planning, and implementation also
take place at this time.

The End

◦ A summary provides closure by describing what

has taken place during the interview and
identifying what will follow.