17,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
Successful social work practice is underpinned by knowledge, theories and research findings from a range of related disciplines, key among which is psychology. This timely book offers a grounded and engaging guide to psychology's vital role at the heart of contemporary social work practice.
The book skilfully addresses some of the central theoretical developments in psychology from an applied perspective, and explains how these make essential contributions to the methods and theory base of social work in ways that foster critical evaluation and promote best practice.
Written by two authors with extensive backgrounds in psychology and social work respectively—as well as a deep understanding of the intersections of the two—this book delivers a unique synthesis of perspectives and approaches, focusing on their application to the lives of individuals and families. Each chapter contains reflective points and case studies based on contemporary practice realities which are related to the Professional Capabilities Framework for Social Workers and also to the Health and Care Professions Council's Standards of Proficiency.
Times have never been more challenging for social work and this book will be an invaluable source of professional support within the ever-more complex psychological worlds where social work takes place.
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 397
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
Ähnliche
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgements
1 The Place of Psychological Knowledge and Research in Social Work Training and Practice
Introduction
Public engagement with psychology
The realities of contemporary social work
The research base underpinning psychological sciences and social work practice
The many strands of psychology
Outline of book: next chapters
Further reading and resources
2 Signposts from Developmental Psychology on Human Development over the Life Course
Introduction
What is developmental psychology and how is it relevant to social work?
Debates within developmental psychology
Theories of development
Early life experiences and resilience in development
Summary
Further reading and resources
3 Perspectives from Clinical and Counselling Psychology on Mental Health and Illness
Introduction
Definitions
Classification of mental health problems
Theoretical perspectives in understanding mental illness and treatment approaches
Controversies in contemporary clinical practice
Cultural issues in clinical psychology
Summary
Further reading and resources
4 Perspectives from Social and Community Psychology: Understanding Values, Attitudes, Diversity and Community Change
Introduction
Understanding values, attitudes, prejudice and stereotypes
Stigma, diversity and community change
Understanding groups in social work training and practice
Summary
Further reading and resources
5 Health Psychology: Understanding Health, Illness, Stress and Addiction
Introduction
What is health psychology?
A bio-psychosocial model of health
Obesity and child neglect
Concepts and theories
Dementia – a shared concern for health psychology and social work
Stress, coping and health
The impact of addiction on individuals and families
Summary
Further reading and resources
6 Organizational Psychology: Understanding the Individual and the Organization in the Social Work Structure
Introduction
The organizational context of social work
Individuals in the organization: the employee life-course cycle
Organizational behaviour
Summary
Further reading and resources
7 Forensic Psychology: Understanding Criminal Behaviour and Working with Victims of Crime
Introduction
Psychosocial theories of criminal behaviour
Social learning theory: contribution to the understanding of offending behaviour
Working with adult and child victims of crime
Working with offenders
Summary
Further reading and resources
8 Conclusions
A post-view of the book
Final reflections
References
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Pages
iii
iv
vi
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
Psychology and Social Work
Applied Perspectives
GABRIELA MISCA AND PETER UNWIN
polity
Copyright © Gabriela Misca and Peter Unwin 2017
The right of Gabriela Misca and Peter Unwin to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2017 by Polity Press
Polity Press65 Bridge StreetCambridge CB2 1UR, UK
Polity Press350 Main StreetMalden, MA 02148, USA
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-9634-8
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Misca, Gabriela, author. | Unwin, Peter (Peter Frederick) author.Title: Psychology and social work : applied perspectives / Gabriela Misca, Peter Unwin.Description: Malden, MA : Polity Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2016028150| ISBN 9780745696300 (hardback) | ISBN 9780745696317 (pbk.)Subjects: LCSH: Social psychology. | Social service.Classification: LCC HM1033 .M57 2016 | DDC 302--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016028150
The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.
For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.politybooks.com
Acknowledgements
Both authors would like to thank their families for their support and forbearance during the writing of this book.
Gabriela would like to acknowledge the support she received from the US–UK Fulbright Commission, the book being completed during her Fulbright Scholar award in the USA. Particular thanks are due for the generous hosting she received from colleagues at the Williams James College Boston, MA; from friends in Newburyport, MA; and from many other academic colleagues and friends across the USA.
1The Place of Psychological Knowledge and Research in Social Work Training and Practice
Introduction
The social work profession has changed dramatically in its comparatively short life. Social work in the UK was founded on humanistic and counselling principles that were greatly influenced by key psychological theories. In recent decades, however, the influence of psychological theories and approaches has declined as social work has become increasingly concerned with the targeted and aggregated world of performance management (Harris and Unwin, 2009). This book is intended to help reclaim social work by placing renewed energy and importance on understanding the psychological theories that lie at the heart of every contemporary social worker’s caseload (Ferguson, 2008). The recent plethora of social work standards and frameworks place continuing importance on the need for a core understanding of psychological theories and research within contemporary social work, partly driven by lessons learned from tragedies wherein a lack of relational work and a lack of understanding between professionals and clients have contributed to failures.
The increasing professionalization and raising of standards in social work means that the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW, 2015) and the Standards of Proficiency from the regulatory body the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC, 2012) must be adhered to at all times. Accordingly, each chapter in this book is prefaced with both the relevant PCF domain (pitched at the end of last placement level) and the relevant HCPC standard of proficiency which applies to all registered social workers in England.
The social work subject benchmark for higher education in the UK clearly highlights ‘the relevance of psychological perspectives to understanding individual and social development and functioning’ (QAA, 2008, 5.1.4). The Social Work Reform Board (SWRB, 2010) states the importance of psychological knowledge to all social workers:
Social workers understand psychological, social, cultural, spiritual and physical influences on people; human development throughout the life span and the legal framework for practice. They apply this knowledge in their work with individuals, families and communities. They know and use theories and methods of social work practice. (Professional Capabilities Framework: Domain 5, Knowledge)
The above statements recognize that a fundamental part of social work’s theoretical base is drawn or ‘borrowed’ from other disciplines, among which psychology makes a substantive contribution (along with sociology, political sciences, anthropology, medicine and health sciences). Psychology is defined as the scientific study of human behaviour and has an established tradition of empirical inquiry linked with theoretical developments. Historically, many empirical approaches in psychology have led to important applications which have significantly influenced professional practice in clinical, educational, business and social care settings. The current climate of research-mindedness in social work education and practice (SWRB, 2010) is clearly an example of such influence. The role of psychological knowledge is seen as providing relevant scientific and evidenced-informed frameworks for those who train to be or are social workers within the context of the most up-to-date research. Successful and expert social work practice needs to be underpinned by theories and research findings from the variety of disciplines that contribute to its knowledge base, and this book explains and applies a range of psychological perspectives towards that end.
Public engagement with psychology
Modern society is fascinated by psychology, and this fascination comes in a variety of guises – for example, reality TV shows, soap operas, Woman’s Hour, documentaries, child sexual exploitation, internet dating, celebrity, corrupt politicians, jihadists, nationalist politics, health and social care scandals, and the obesity epidemic. We all ask ourselves questions about why certain behaviours occur and often come up with our own theories. These, and the debates you have about such issues with family and friends, could probably be located among the theories debated in this book around such issues as identity, self-esteem, intelligence and peer pressure.
Psychologists are increasingly called upon to advise and intervene in a variety of social issues, with an emphasis on the impact of psychological knowledge and research on professional practice (British Psychological Society, 2015a). In the current climate of public engagement with psychology and psychologists’ engagement with public issues, this book will also provide a unique resource for students to enhance their understanding of the applications of psychology in social work practice and aid their further study and career choices. According to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, 2010), psychology is the largest scientific discipline and the second largest discipline overall taught at higher education level in the UK and so can be seen to enjoy great popularity. The key issue, however, is not popularity but what we, as human beings and social workers, can truly learn from the wealth of psychological knowledge out there and how we can adapt this knowledge for the betterment of our own well-being and also that of our clients and communities.
This book is not intended as an exhaustive monograph of all psychological knowledge applied in social work but aims to provide signposts from various psychological theories to understanding human development, behaviour and interactions in social work practice. It is beyond our scope to provide this here and, indeed, most likely impossible to achieve, given the breadth and depth of both psychology and social work knowledge. The book aims to challenge the dominant ideologies in contemporary social work and calls for a re-emphasis on relational ways of working with individuals, families and communities as a way to bring about change and also as a way of helping social work professionals achieve greater job satisfaction (Ferguson, 2008). This in turn will hopefully lead to a workforce that is more consistent and committed than that of today, with its constant ‘daily churn’ of staff and high levels of sickness and stress (SWRB, 2010; Munro, 2011).
There are many textbooks that present the traditional theories and approaches of psychology and, while this volume will respect such received and established wisdom, some of these traditional theories will be challenged, interpreted and applied in new contexts to help social workers make better sense out of the day-to-day psychological complexities they encounter. Recent research findings will be used to illuminate links between the discipline of psychology and its application to social work, thus helping bridge that gap between theory and practice that many student social workers find hard to grasp.
There is hardly a case open in social work practice today that is not inherently complex: as thresholds for intervention have risen, social work students on their first placement are given ‘straightforward cases’ that routinely include sexual abuse or drug addiction, neglect, and serious family dysfunction. The more advanced practitioner might work with families that are more difficult to engage and that, additionally, have issues of mental illness, self-harm, sexual exploitation, intra-familial collusion and criminality. These cases are all supposed to fit within organizational systems, thresholds, budgets and outcomes measurements. Such families will, however, never fit neatly into bureaucratic boxes, and it is a false premise to pretend that the social work ‘business’ will be able to achieve the same types of outcomes and ‘win–win’ scenarios strived for in the world of business (Harris and Unwin, 2009). Everyone cannot possibly be a ‘winner’ in a family torn apart by sexual abuse, and there is no ‘win–win’ outcome in a family where a member is compulsorily detained in a psychiatric hospital. There will, however, be lots of individuals with serious psychological problems, the pain and extent of which can be greatly ameliorated by the effective involvement of social workers and others who are skilled in developing insights, relationships and effective interventions.
The aim of this book is to empower social workers to better understand and empathize with their clients and fellow professionals in their daily encounters, using relational forms of working to explore the cause of problems rather than being competent only as social administrators. It is not expected that, as a result of reading it, social workers will become expert in one or more fields of psychology. Rather, it is expected that the deeper levels of knowledge they will be able to reflect on and critically examine will lead to better, more considered interventions in the lives of individuals, families and communities. Both psychology and social work are in reality eclectic disciplines that take the most relevant knowledge and interventions and adapt them to particular situations. It must be appreciated that interventions based on a single theoretical stance are only ever likely to have limited efficacy unless other factors in the whole of that person’s life are in balance. For example, introducing a cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) programme for a person who abuses drugs may be excellent, but if the person involved completes the programme and then returns to their social circle of substance-abusing friends they are unlikely to show sustained recovery. However, a more eclectic approach that looked perhaps at different lifestyle or relocation options or facilitated an introduction to a supportive network is likely to have a greater chance of success.
The realities of contemporary social work
Real-life scenarios, personal testimonies, and the findings of serious case reviews and inquiries will be used throughout the book as rich and contemporary sources of information about psychology and social work. It is unfortunate that much learning in the field of social work (as opposed to, say, the fields of medicine and education) comes from scenarios that enter the public domain because things have gone wrong (e.g., Laming, 2003: Haringey LSCB, 2009). The everyday successes of social work, which far outweigh the failures, are usually private affairs – the young person protected from internet abuse; the personalization package for a severely disabled adult; the older person with dementia whose move to residential care is sensitively handled – with no place in the public domain. These successes take place against a most difficult background of public-sector cuts and reorganizations which make it all the more remarkable that social work does as well as it does.
The emotional demands of being a social worker are great, and it is difficult to keep a healthy balance between one’s own psychological health when working with stressful family situations while also having to meet an increasing number of targets and deadlines brought about by the business culture. Getting to the heart of the individual psychologies that lie behind those numbers is, however, altogether a different reality. There is an argument that social workers and their professional organizations – for example, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) – should be less self-effacing about their successes and broadcast them in an appropriate manner in ways that counter the prevalent negative media image of the profession (Munro, 2011).
Recent government-commissioned reports such as that by the SWRB (2010) have been vociferous in their condemnation of the current culture of compliance and performance management within social work and have called for a return to a learning culture which respects social workers as professionals dealing with the most complex individuals and families (Munro, 2011). However, since the publication of these reports, the performance management ethic has become increasingly dominant, and there is little sign of learning cultures truly having been re-established within social work, despite some improvements in support for newly qualified social workers in the form of an assessed and supported first year of practice characterized by reduced caseloads in order to allow for personal growth and development.
The individualistic basis of social work
As mentioned above, social work was initially based on individualized humanistic principles, and social workers prided themselves on this non-judgemental approach towards the complexities and dysfunctions of many of their clients (the term ‘clients’ is preferred to the term ‘service users’ in this book on account of its more personalized connotations). While social services were originally known as ‘the personal social services’, many social work organizations might now more accurately be described as ‘the impersonal social services’ as a result of the rapid turnover of staff, the closure of local offices, and the generic call centre model that now acts as gateway to services. Partly because of ‘brand failure’ following a series of scandals and the deaths of children known to social workers (e.g., Laming, 2009), social services departments became reorganized into separate children’s social care and adult services departments designed to be more specialist and focused. An interesting organizational psychology has emerged from this specialization structure in that children’s social care, especially the safeguarding arena, is often perceived as where the really challenging social work takes place, whereas other fields, such as mental health and work with older people, are somehow less demanding. It takes a special type of resilience in any professional to work day in, day out, with cases of child abuse and the adults who may be its perpetrators, but this culture is not psychologically healthy for the workforce, and too much time spent with a narrow focus can lead to unsound practice as well as stress and burnout (Ferguson, 2008). In the following chapters of this book the psychological complexities of work in learning disabilities, mental health and older persons’ services will be presented as being equally as complex as work with children, even if they do not attract the same political and media attention. We call here for a return to a family and ‘family as part of a community’ approach to social work, wherein the psychologies of different individuals will be recognized as having key impacts upon the health, the well-being and often the safety of vulnerable adults and children. Sadly, comments such as ‘I am there to work with the drug issue – I am not a child-care worker’ and ‘That’s Health’s responsibility, not ours’ can still be heard in daily practice. Such comments are understandable to an extent because everybody is busy being expert in their own field of legislation, policy and practice, but it is argued in this book that a more holistic recognition and respect for each other’s perspectives would lead to a healthier working environment for all concerned. The increasingly culturally diverse workforce in the profession (Zanca and Misca, 2016) brings its own challenges to practice, and such challenges can be overcome by social workers possessing a sound knowledge base (Misca and Neamt¸u, 2016).
Reflective point
In recent years, across England and Wales, there has been an increase in recruitment of social workers trained and qualified abroad, from countries such as Australia, Canada and Romania, among others. Partly because of the shortage of social workers in England and Wales, such social workers are ‘headhunted’ by recruitment agencies, immigrate to the UK as skilled professionals, and practise social work in local authorities, where the turnover and shortage of social workers tend to be problematic. What are the potential challenges that social workers who trained and qualified outside the UK may face when practising social work here? Consider the challenges that may arise from the potentially different knowledge base as well as the different culture.
The complex psychological demands of social work
Contemporary social work takes place in a complex and psychologically demanding environment. How might the seminal theories and approaches of the various disciplines of psychology be able to help the hard-pressed social worker, struggling with a high caseload, being pressured for a court report, and having a flashing computer screen tell them that they are behind on any number of performance deadlines? We hope that a better understanding of psychological knowledge will bring greater insight into day-to-day realities, greater empathy for others, a better sense of self, and some cognitive learning that can be put to good use in supporting and advocating for vulnerable clients. For example, reflecting on organizational psychology might empower social workers to operate in more flexible and creative ways described by Lipsky (1980) as street-level bureaucracy. An informed and aware social worker might develop the street wisdom to know just how little needs to go on a computer screen to stop the flashing light and then be freed up to do the home visits. Some social workers might prefer to sit all day in the office (less volatile than some home visits can be) and others might be perfectionists who spend days having to get a court report just right. Perfectionists are unlikely to experience good health and well-being in a social work role because the work is never-ending and there is never a perfect solution. The core challenge is how social workers might find that line between performing at a level that meets their own standards of professional self-esteem and ascertaining what work might be completed with a lighter touch. ‘Meetings – the practical alternative to work’ is one of those jokey phrases you might see on office walls, but how much time do social workers needlessly spend in meetings or on systems compliance and how much time with vulnerable people? Also, how much quality time do social workers spend with their own families, and do they achieve that much talked about work–life balance? Contemporary social work organizations claim to value and support employees, but such managerial claims often ring hollow in the face of staff shortages, public-sector cutbacks and increasing performance measurement demands. The challenge is that, if you want to be a social worker who makes a difference, you somehow have to find a way of making sense of a range of competing demands and keep yourself, your family and your clients as psychologically healthy as you can. An understanding of key psychological theories and their application will help social workers be resilient in practice and better placed to advocate for their clients.
The research base underpinning psychological sciences and social work practice
Psychology is an eclectic discipline, as can be seen in the many strands outlined above, and accordingly its research base is also eclectic. Behaviourist and cognitive disciplines will favour scientific empirical approaches in their search for psychological truths, using methods that range from randomized controlled trials, simulated laboratory experiments and quantitative surveys. Hypotheses and potential for the replication of studies and experiments will guide the importance they ascribe to research findings. In contrast, humanistic psychologists will not be looking for universal truths but will use qualitative methodologies to interpret individual experiences and narratives in ways that seek to explain the phenomena of phobias, anxieties, aggression and depression.
Evidence-based practice, where scientific evidence is used to deliver the most effective care on a systematic basis, became a core feature of health services across the UK in the 1980s. Most medical and psychological research is increasingly concerned with evidence-based outcomes in a world that strives to measure and provide examples of effectiveness and value for money. The research resources of the NHS are huge, whereas social work has no public body whose responsibility it is to ensure appropriate funding and prioritizing of research. The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) was introduced in 2002, but this body largely disseminates best practice and research and is not a statutory funder of research. Some social work organizations are wary of adopting evidence-based research as a model from health and argue that the complexity of social work – its reflective and relationship-based core; its championing of social justice; its commitment to treating clients and carers as partners in knowledge; and its claim to be the profession of individualization – means that the term ‘evidence-informed’ is perhaps a more appropriate one (Holloway et al., 2009). This term means that social workers will both welcome and critically evaluate research and use its findings to inform the unique and complex variables involved in supporting individuals, families and communities. What works across the whole population in terms of medical best practice (e.g., diabetes or asthma medication regimes) is not the same as taking a successful intervention, say, with perpetrators of domestic violence in one community and transferring it to another community. The psychological and sociological differences across communities of social work practice may involve psychological and sociological variables that are not usually present in health scenarios. For example, all social workers can think of people they have met whose life pattern has gone against the predicted course suggested by research – the child in care who makes it to university, the severely disabled person who enjoys excellent mental health, or the survivor of domestic abuse who broke free and brought her children up in a safe and nurturing environment.
In order to develop and gain political and public confidence, however, social work needs to have its distinct research base to inform best practice and also to share research bases with other professions such as psychology (Marsh and Fisher, 2005). All research methods have their strengths and weaknesses, and a social worker should possess the skills of critical analysis to be able to ask the following questions of any research claims:
When and where was the research carried out?
How big was the sample?
Is the method used appropriate to address the research question?
Does it under-claim or over-claim validity?
Is the research widely applicable or very limited in scope?
What was the influence of the researcher or the research design?
Was consent truly ‘informed consent’?
Who paid for the research?
What criticisms can be made about the research?
What are the interpretations of the findings?
In what ways could the findings benefit your practice and your clients?
Different criteria to evaluate a piece of research will be applied, depending on whether the methodology is qualitative or quantitative. In the further reading section at the end of the chapter there is a selection of articles offering an accessible guide to evaluation of quantitative and qualitative research studies.
The many strands of psychology
Psychology has many different academic and applied strands, all eloquently detailed in a range of standard textbooks, and it is not the purpose of this book to replicate such knowledge in detail; rather, it is our purpose to help hard-pressed social work students and practitioners to make sense of what can be a most complex discipline. Psychology is a longer established discipline than social work and has championed various theories and practices over the past century, social and political mores often shaping its messages. For example, Bowlby’s (1958) views about the critical role of the mother in respect of healthy attachment in babies and children were modified when economic demands meant that women were needed in the workforce. His modified theory suggested that consistency in caregivers rather than a unique attachment with the mother was the key to positive child developmental outcomes (Bowlby, 1982).
Essentially, psychology might be seen as being concerned with all matters of mind and behaviour, whether with core issues of intelligence, perception, relationships or counselling. A social worker is going to need to understand how their clients think and behave in order best to support, assess and plan for interventions that are increasingly geared towards the safeguarding of young people and adults from various forms of exploitation and abuse. A social worker needs to understand and interpret the importance of developmental milestones, to recognize how families can both support and collude, to appreciate the psychologies of other professionals, to be aware of the organizational psychologies of their places of work, and to have some insight into the psychologies of the communities within which they operate. These communities may be geographic communities – e.g., a housing estate – or they may be communities of interest – e.g., drug-using communities or communities of survivors of domestic abuse.
Therefore in this book we will be looking in detail at developmental psychology, health psychology, social psychology, organizational psychology, counselling psychology and forensic psychology, particularly as the last relates to perpetrators and victims of crime. We will also explore the nature of the research behind received knowledge across the various fields of psychology and help readers to critique and challenge the credibility of various claims made regarding psychological findings. Much received wisdom across the fields of psychology has been derived from white ethnocentric studies, many of which are limited by nature of being specific to their time or by their small scale, meaning that they may not be wholly relevant today, particularly given our fast-changing and increasingly diverse society. We want social workers to be critical thinkers and to be able to interpret research findings appropriately in ways that inform their practice by providing the insights and knowledge that will better equip them to act as advocates for their clients.
We will now briefly examine the seminal psychological schools of thought and theory in order that the reader can place the following chapters into context. A grounding of knowledge in these core theories will also provide the necessary platform from which to challenge some established wisdom and to reflect on how psychological theory and practice might fit or need to be adapted in order to understand better the new and diverse communities of social work practice. Later chapters will explore these areas in more depth and provide opportunities for critical thinking, reflection and the application of theory to practice via case studies and practical exercises. Each one will be prefaced with the relevant domain of BASW’s Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF), which pertains to the qualifying level for social work, and the relevant Standard of Practice set by the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC), both of which are essential requirements of the social work profession in England. The PCF is concerned with capabilities in ongoing learning and the application of that learning, whereas the HCPC standards are concerned primarily with how professional social work is delivered in the field.
Psychodynamic psychology
The psychodynamic approach is a grand set of theories that view human interaction as being based upon the ways in which inner drivers, particularly unconscious ones, interact with personalities. Freud’s original psychoanalytical theory and its therapeutic applications are now seen as part of a range of psychodynamic theories, as are those of Jung and Klein. The principles of psychodynamic theories will be developed further in chapter 2.
Many people will be familiar with the name of Freud and will have a vague notion that he was concerned with the unconscious mind and with presenting impulses as key to behaviour. His seminal model consisted of the id, the ego and the superego: the id was made up of the primal, largely sexual, drivers that determine behaviour; the ego was the sense of self responsible for mediating some of the impulses of the id; and the superego was the social sense of the self which was able to contextualize both the id and the ego from a higher control point. A century’s worth of therapy around the world flowed from Freud’s most interesting theory, but increasing recognition that this was a theory based on very small numbers of middle-class patients in Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century and critique from various psychologists of the behaviourist persuasion have challenged his work ever since (e.g., Sulloway, 1991; Webster, 1995).
Increasingly, parts of the scientific community after the Second World War viewed Freudian psychology as not being rooted in scientific evidence, and by the end of the twentieth century psychoanalytical theory and the psychotherapeutic interventions such as free association and dream interpretation that accompanied it largely fell from favour (Sulloway, 1991). Although they still exist in psychotherapeutic practice, they have been modified.
Behaviourism
The essence of behaviourism is a belief that individual behaviours are largely determined and modified by the immediate environment, and behaviourist theories rose in popularity as psychoanalytic theories lost ground. Much experimental research involving rewards and sanctions led to a very wide body of knowledge, champions of behaviourism being Watson (1913) and Skinner (1971). Skinner believed that the human mind as such could not be explained or predicted – only its subsequent behaviours could. Skinner developed the concept of ‘operant conditioning’, which stated that people behave in ways that are consequential – i.e., behaviour that brings reward will be reinforced, whereas behaviour that meets with disapproval or sanction will be curtailed. As might be expected in a field as contentious as psychology, critics of behaviourism emerged with the work of psychologists such as Seligman (1972). Seligman’s theory of ‘learned helplessness’ contradicted Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning and was based on laboratory experiments in which animals would give up and accept that they were not going to get rewards, only sanctions – a state which apparently persisted even when the animals were subsequently given the option of positive reward. The concept of learned helplessness provides a clinical model for helping understand depression.
Therapeutic responses to learned helplessness in the human world include those such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), in which strategies of breaking the cycle are brought about by way of encouraging new and different ways of thinking about how to change situations. CBT is popular today in social work arenas and is used particularly for people with depression or addictions and for those caught up in seemingly hopeless situations of domestic abuse and violence. It has also become popular in recent decades because it is relatively cost-effective and claims to bring about change over comparatively short periods of time. Drug and alcohol services are now commissioned by the current government only if they show tangible results, particularly in terms of reduction in offending behaviours (Department of Health and Home Office, 2015). Short-term and relatively inexpensive interventions such as CBT are hence very popular within these services, but the question must be asked about the real purpose of such a singular commitment to a specific therapy which largely ignores an individual’s wider social and economic context.
Social workers and psychologists who practise from an eclectic theory base do not believe that all substance users are the same but recognize the complexities of issues such as cognition, early childhood experiences, family context and community environment interplaying in ways that impact on the problem. How easy it would all be if there were really a simple, single and inexpensive solution to the complex, multiple and expensive issues facing social workers!
Humanistic psychology
The humanistic school of psychology, which embraces core social work values, developed partly as a rejection of rational scientific theories such as behaviourism and took a whole-person or holistic approach to the various problems of mind and relationships. An awareness of self and an appreciation that people need to be viewed as more than their presenting problems lie at the heart of humanistic psychology. These models were also rather radical in that the key to changing behaviours and mood was seen as being located in the inherent strength of the person seeking help and not with the ‘expert’ insight of the psychoanalyst or professional behaviour therapist. Most humanistic therapies are characterized by a relationship of equals rather than a differentiated status between therapist and the person seeking help. For example, Rogers et al.’s (1967) core conditions of congruence, empathy and unconditional positive regard are seen as setting the atmosphere in which any change might take place – change which is not imposed but which is self-initiated. Saleebey (1996) is a social work academic who exhorts professionals to adopt a strengths-based approach which starts by looking for the strengths that are to be found in everyone, regardless of how dire their circumstances and histories may seem on the outside. Many local authorities now promote strengths-based approaches such as Signs of Safety (Edwards and Turnell, 1999) in respect of their safeguarding responsibilities for children. Such positive psychology must have benefit for practitioners as well as clients and is a useful antidote when organizational cultures can be so weighed down with negativity and poor morale.
Maslow’s seminal work regarding the existence of a hierarchy of needs in humans is one that has largely stood the test of time and one of the few theories, along with attachment theory, that seems to have pervaded the social work profession (Maslow, 1968). According to Maslow, whose hierarchy represents a holistic model of human needs, ‘higher order’ needs such as self-esteem are addressed only once the more basic needs of food and shelter have been met. Certainly social workers often support individuals and families whose basic needs for food and shelter are not met and where surviving, rather than thriving, is the task in hand. Maslow’s seminal ‘Triangle of Need’ has been criticized for its failure to give enough attention to the importance of social networks in helping people find positive ways of functioning, even if their higher level needs are not all met. Despite its hierarchical nature, Maslow’s model remains influential within social work, largely because it embraces the concept that people can change and can aspire to more fulfilling lives. All social workers can recall someone who has broken a personal or family pattern of behaviour or low aspirations and gone on to achieve higher order success and satisfactions in life. Examples such as these can make social work a great job capable of bringing with it feelings of achievement and satisfaction not found in many other career paths.
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is concerned with the ways in which the conscious mind processes information in order to make sense of the environment via perception, learning, memory, emotion, judgement and problem-solving. The scientific interest in the mechanisms and factors that lead to individuals making choices in their daily functioning has largely been built on laboratory and quantitative studies. Chomsky (1965) threw out a particular challenge to the behaviourist school by stating that all behaviour is not learned and is not subject to stimulus-response. Rather, he argued that much human behaviour, such as the ability to acquire language, is innate. Cognitive theorists have been encouraged by recent technological advances – e.g., the ability to scan brain activity – to further their positions. Neuroscience and its application to social work scenarios such as the development of neglected children is particularly contentious, and the extensive political and professional take-up of ‘truths’ about some of these neurological claims, for example the irreparability of damage done to children’s brains by neglect in the first two years of life, has been challenged (e.g., Munro and Musholt, 2014; Williams, 2014). The developmental advances observed in Romanian children who were adopted overseas from deprived institutional settings (Misca, 2014b) are both a powerful lesson in human resilience and a renewed warning of the impact that negative early experiences have on subsequent development – a situation that calls for a balanced consideration.
Developmental psychology
Sometimes referred to as ‘lifespan psychology’ or ‘life-course psychology’, this discipline is concerned with how the conscious mind adapts and develops across the ageing process. Such an approach places importance on the link with sociological as well as psychological perspectives in understanding the life course.
Knowledge of normative development is critical for social workers, who need to be able to determine and debate what constitutes development that is ‘good enough’ and what amounts to real concern for individuals. Most studies around developmental stages are Western in orientation and do not necessarily embrace the cultural changes, cultural norms and expectations that present challenges to social workers. Developmental psychological knowledge is constantly changing as society changes, and it sets the norms against which social workers need to base their contemporary assessments, plans and expectations. Many social work clients, both young and old, will not have experienced relationships, families and communities in which the core building blocks and stimuli for optimum development are received. Sometimes a child will move into a foster home, or an isolated older person into residential care, and their development, or levels of personal and social competence and well-being, will change dramatically.
Social norms such as those regarding sexuality and relationships are constantly changing, particularly in a technological age when advances in communications and medical technology are altering our views about what is ‘normal’. Many people now begin their personal relationships online in ways that would have been unimaginable twenty years ago, and advances in medical technology mean that the medical knowledge base regarding developmental heath and psychology is constantly expanding. For example, ‘old age’ in Western societies in the 1950s might have been considered to have begun at age sixty, whereas advances in health and overall living standards mean that many older people now have good health and choose to work and be active through their seventies and eighties. Such social changes challenge previous development theories of old age, such as that of disengagement theory (Cummings and Henry, 1961), which saw it as natural that many old people would simply want to fade away from the mainstream of life once they were no longer economically active.
Attachment theory (Bowlby 1958, 1982) grew out of the psychodynamic school and has seen a renaissance in social work in the fields of both adults and children, where concerns regarding human growth and development are core. There are attachment theorists and practitioners focused on applying attachment theory in the social work area of foster care and adoption (Cairns, 2002; Golding, 2008) in particular. Attachment theory has been embraced wholeheartedly by the social work profession, who see it as offering valuable insight into behaviours by considering the models of insecure ambivalent attachment, insecure avoidant attachment, and disorganized attachment (Bowlby, 1982) that otherwise would make no sense. It is used to inform best intervention strategies by carers and social workers – strategies that are usually based on consistencies and commitment in order to enable the child or adult to develop a secure emotional base from which to experience and explore their world.
Organizational psychology
Organizational psychology, also known as work psychology, emerged from industrial contexts in the early 1900s and can be defined as the science and study of behaviour in the workplace. Taylor’s (2006) book on scientific management depicted workers as essentially needing to be managed and directed in order for productivity and profit to be maximized. Organizational psychology still has a focus on the maximization of efficiency and quality – the 1980s, for example, having seen a rise in competitive global initiatives such as ‘total quality management’ (Hoyle, 2007), which purported to mix the best of business efficiency with a concern for worker satisfaction. Public services in the UK also increasingly adopted practices from business from the 1980s (Harris, 1998). Many of the contemporary pressures within social work stem from clashes between a business-oriented managerialist culture (Unwin, 2009), which asserts a manager’s right to manage, and a social work culture based on humanism, rights, relationships and the exercise of professional judgement. The increasing importation of business models by a succession of neo-liberal governments since the 1980s is partly responsible for the issues of low morale, staff turnover and vacancy levels in contemporary social work organizations (Harris, 1998; Munro, 2011). Organizational psychology is also now concerned with issues of equity and well-being in the workplace, and since the 1990s employment law has reflected the influence of the discipline around issues of rights, harassment and equality of opportunity. Despite many advances in workers’ rights and protections in these areas, however, there remain huge problems in social work organizations, and high-profile cases such as the government’s intervention in the firing of Sharon Shoesmith, director of children’s services in Haringey, following the death of baby Peter Connelly (Jones, 2014) have demonstrated how easily these rights can be overridden.
Social and community psychology
Among the academic branches of psychology, social psychology is most closely related to social work and is concerned with social settings and how interaction with the behaviour of others affects individual behaviour. Social psychology is the empirical study of how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others (Allport, 1985). It is concerned primarily to explain how feelings, beliefs and prejudices influence the way we interact with others and hence has particular relevance to social work situations where issues of discrimination or bullying and exploitation might be present – e.g., the standards of domiciliary care being offered to people with disabilities or the attitudes of groups of professionals towards young people in care who go missing and become involved in sexual exploitation. Importantly, the ‘social’ in social psychology brings in the sociological and political aspects missing, say, from behaviourist or psychoanalytical approaches, which embrace neither an individual’s wider social settings nor the influence of others.
