5 approaches of social case work

Introduction

5 approaches of social casework. In a society marked by contradictions such as poverty and luxury, overcrowding and brilliant technology, and very troubling tensions arising from increased complexity that leads to dehumanization, social casework contributes by focusing on the individual. Social casework is critical in easing human suffering caused by society's problems because of its dedication to understanding, differentiating, and acting for and with the individual. Individual suffering can be evident in his struggle for autonomy, self-realization, and a productive and respectable life among his peers. Our society has never had a greater need for institutionalized care for, and the ability in dealing with, individual growth, goals, and issues. Traditionally, the goal of social casework as a profession has been to encourage individuals to live lives that are both personally rewarding and socially beneficial. As a result, it has carved out a niche for itself among disciplines dedicated to the growth of a humane society that appreciates each of its members.

Social casework, as part of social work, has a cause in promoting the individual's welfare in society and a function in putting that cause into action. Insofar as it is proud, competent, and passionate in its dedication to the individuality of all people, social casework acts as an aspect of society's conscience. Competence is required to bring the cause and function together, to give pride a sense of realism, and to give passion a sense of direction. Competence necessitates information, comprehension, and a logical framework for enacting it in the service of a purpose. What constitutes competence in the field of social casework? With this in mind, casework theories take on a greater significance.

1-Existential Theory

The human being is not only a living being; he is also capable of being conscious of his own life and giving it significance.
External forces can be nasty and dangerous; nonetheless, it is not appropriate to assume that humans would invariably become victims of these hostile forces. Every person possesses the ability to transcend external circumstances.
Men and women, in this view, are the producers of their characters, yet they are also partly creatures of their surroundings.
Every individual is a being in the process of becoming, implying that his or her acceptance has both static and dynamic features.
Understanding the person indicates that the individual in the process of understanding experiences the static and dynamic characteristics of the other person in his or her here-and-now-living through observation, imagination, and thought. Understanding is both a mental and an emotional process.

The goals of existential casework are as follows:

Aiding the disillusionment process: A person who has made incorrect assumptions about herself and others must go through a disillusionment process about themselves in regard to the problem. Even if it is proved objectively that the client's problem is mostly due to his or her actions, the client is likely to deny this and blame others or the environment. Disillusionment refers to understanding how one's actions, both commissions, and omissions, contributed to the predicament. Knowing one's true self is an unpleasant process, hence a social worker's involvement is required through the use of emotional support and other counseling strategies.

Confronting the client with the freedom to behave ethically and responsibly: In situations when the client has been a slave to innate needs, the client is encouraged to exercise his or her willpower to rise above those forces. This could have been the result of a pattern of repeated surrender that has harmed his or her social functioning. To give an example, if alcoholic wishes to overcome his alcoholism, he must exercise his freedom to refuse the drink.

Assisting the client in making a commitment to quitting an old habit: The client's next step is to employ his or her willpower to make a decision to stop the unhelpful behavior now that he or she has some understanding of the self as it is, free of the distorted pictures. Changing one's behavior, like any other accomplishment, necessitates incremental progress in the form of new thinking and behavior. As a long-term objective that cannot be achieved in a day or two, it necessitates patient slogging day by day, which necessitates mental and emotional commitment. The social worker assists the client by offering assignments and continually motivating him or her to do them.

2-Cognitive Theory

His or her thinking is influenced by his or her society and immediate environment, and his or her behavior is determined by his or her thinking. Emotions are programmed to follow his or her thoughts. If an individual's social functioning differs from established norms, it means that his or her thinking needs to be transformed in order to modify behavior; the mode of thinking needs to change. The idea that humans have latent creative resources that may be used to affect changes in objectives and behavior is also emphasized by cognitive theory. Albert Ellis, a psychotherapist, coined the term "rational emotive therapy" to describe a simple framework of cognitive theory. According to Ellis, certain beliefs are irrational yet are perceived as sensible by persons who are negatively influenced by them. These are some of the illogical ideas:

In all situations, it is vital for an individual to be loved and approved by everyone.
When things do not go according to one's plan, it is horrific or terrible.
Feelings are the result of external influences over which one has no control.
What has a negative impact on one's life once will continue to do so for the rest of one's life?
Failure to achieve one's objectives is a huge tragedy. There are sensible counter-arguments to these five crazy views. They are as follows:

It is impossible to be loved and approved by everyone in every circumstance.
Nothing is inherently bad or bad; rather, things may be unpleasant or bothersome. Even if things do not go according to plan, one can accept the situation as it is.
Feelings are caused by one's thoughts and hence are under one's control.

Cognitive / Rational emotive Therapy includes four stages:

Presentation of Rationale - Without discussing the client's problem, the worker tries to elicit the problem or meaning of self assertions in general.
Overview of Irrational Assumption -The worker presents the client with a series of irrational self-assertion and attempts to persuade the client that his or her statements are nonsensical.
Analysis of Client’s Problem in Rational Emotive Terms-The client is logically informed about his or her dilemma and informed about how he or she has categorized the occurrence.
Teaching the Client to Modify Internal Statements- The client is taught to adjust his or her anxiety-inducing beliefs and attitudes.

The social caseworker employs modeling to consistently convey to the client the message of rationality in thinking and communicating during the assisting process. The worker assists the client in becoming as logical as feasible in his or her behavior and in recognizing the irrationalities that one observes but cannot change. Clients are taught to choose their words carefully so that unfavorable situations do not elicit strong emotions. By expressing events with words that signify a moderate degree of feelings rather than phrases that convey vehemence, one might avoid the negative effects of strong feelings. Feelings are to be regarded as by-products of thought. Thus, by perceiving unpleasant events and situations in a balanced light and not consciously exaggerating their significance, one can control rather than be controlled by one's feelings.

3-Behaviour Modification Theory

The primary idea of this method is that behavioral issues are primarily the product of prior learning, with some issues being caused by current events and others by physiological variables. Dealing with physiological variables is outside the scope of social workers' responsibilities. The failure to learn necessary adaptive behaviors and competencies, as well as the learning of inefficient and maladaptive behaviors, were central to the behavioristic paradigm. It may occur as a result of competing events that force the individual to make discriminations or decisions that he or she does not feel capable of making. The maladjusted person has learned improper coping habits that are reinforced in some way, and he or she has failed to learn competencies for dealing with the difficulty of living.

Classical conditioning-Specific responses are elicited by certain situations in living organisms. When food is placed in front of a dog, for example, the dog salivates. If the food comes every time the bell rings, the dog will salivate even if only the bell rings and no food is present after a significant number of experiences with the food and the bell occurring together. The conditional stimulus connected with the unconditional stimulus, food, is the ringing of the bell. Similarly, people react in predictable ways in response to conditional stimuli that are related to unconditional stimuli in some way.
Instrumental conditioning -The core premise is that what a person does in a given scenario has repercussions, which form a pattern of behavior for him or her. The person interprets the result as a reward for which she or he continues the behavior. For example, a man is pushed to drink alcohol for the first time by his peers. Alcohol provides him a pleasant feeling of relaxation and elation. As a result, the man consumes alcohol solely for the pleasure it provides, and it is possible that he will grow addicted to drinking and eventually become an alcoholic, as more and more alcohol is necessary to induce pleasurable feelings as time passes.
An observational learning-The learner in this case is an observer who has a model to imitate — a model with position, power, or fortune. The observer who aspires to be like the model is likely to replicate some characteristics of the model's behavior. Children frequently pick up on verbal and physical hostility from major people in their lives.
Contemporary events - Recent events, the majority of which are related to environmental factors, can lead to undesirable behavior. Anxiety, rage, panic, and other negative emotions might arise as a result of stressful conditions. When people are driven by such sentiments, they behave in inappropriate ways. The most straightforward approach to assisting clients would be to lessen the process of learning problematic behavior and improve the process of learning desired behavior. It's crucial to figure out what triggers or reinforces undesired behavior, and then eliminate those triggers. Stimuli that reinforce desired behavior should be enhanced. Clients may be motivated to establish appropriate behaviors through the use of rewards. In today's world, environmental alteration is required to eliminate or lessen the effects of harmful causes. The method has been found to be useful with people who have unusual phobias about everyday items

4-Problem Solving Approach

This method is based on the understanding that life is a continuous problem-solving and problem-solving process. Every person is involved in dealing with his or her troubles at any given time. S/he is capable of dealing at times but fails to manage the crisis scenario at other times. The person or family is assisted in coping with or resolving an issue that they are currently having problems resolving through the problem resolution process. As a result, the major purpose of issue solving is to assist a person in coping as well as possible with such difficulties in performing social tasks. Attempts are made to engage the client with his or her problems and to do something about them in a working relationship with the agency during the initial phase. The problem-solving process begins right away, with the initial step of treating the individual. The customer has not been looked after.

Steps of Problem Solving Approaches

It aims to help the client's motivation for change by releasing, energizing, and directing it.
It aims to free and exercise the client's mental, emotional, and action capacities in order to help him or her cope with the situation.
It strives to locate and make available to the client any help or resources that are required to solve the problem.

Read: Crisis Intervention in Social Case Work

5-Eclectic Approach

It has been noticed that no single theoretical approach adequately describes human behaviour. As a result, it's critical to cultivate an eclectic approach, one marked by a thorough understanding of a variety of ideas and the ability to select appropriate concepts and practises with regard to clients. Eclecticism does not imply that a social worker picks an approach of explanation at random. Eclecticism, on the other hand, refers to the deliberate selection of a methodology for specific reasons and with regard to a certain customer or clients. Every school of thought has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The ability of the social worker will be to capitalise on the client's advantages while ignoring the disadvantages. Cognitive theory has some things in common with thinking, and it can be beneficial to clients who have a thinking faculty that can be activated. Those clients that are religious in some way