The Structural Approach to Direct Practice in Social Work

by Wood, Gale Goldberg

• ISBN13: 9780231132848
• ISBN10: 0231132840
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-09-04
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

This classic text introduces students to the structural approach of social work practice, which assumes that many clients' problems arise from harmful social forces. By focusing on the construction of such realities as poverty, racism, and domestic violence, the structural approach counters the focus on individual change that is so common in our age of managed care and corporatization.For this edition Gale Goldberg Wood and Carol T. Tully have recast the text from the perspective of contemporary social constructionism without altering its main message and organization. They have added six new chapters, covering ethics, the role of the social worker as therapist and community organizer, learning and working within the organization, and the paradigm dilemma. In addition, case studies now include greater detail about the client's social context.Though much has changed since the first edition of this book was published, the need for well-trained, compassionate social workers remains. The Structural Approach to Direct Practice in Social Workcontinues to be an essential resource for practitioners who wish to help their clients confront oppressive social realities and affect system change through political action.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
PART I INFRASTRUCTURE
1. The Frame of Reference for Social Work Practice	7
Two Dimensions that Define the Profession	9	(1)
Four Categories of Social Work Activity	10	(2)
Research Value	12	(1)
Beyond Research	12
2. The Philosophical Base for Structural Social Work Practice	4	(23)
The Practice Context	14	(2)
The Philosophical Stance	16	(1)
Postmodernism	17	(1)
Deconstruction	17	(1)
Postmodern Perspectives on Power	18	(1)
Social Constructionism	19	(2)
The Structural View	21	(1)
Specialization	22	(2)
Movement Through the Quadrants	24	(1)
Conclusion	25	(2)
3. Ethics and Structural Social Work Practice	27	(16)
Getting Grounded: Defining Ethics	27	(2)
The NASW Code of Ethics	29	(2)
Ethical Principles for the Structural Approach	31	(8)
Conclusion	39	(4)
PART II PRINCIPLES AND PROCESSES
4. Basic Principles of the Structural Approach	43	(37)
The Principle of Accountability to the Client	43	(6)
The Principle of Following the Demands of the Client Task	49	(6)
The Principle of Maximizing Potential Supports in the Client's Environment	55	(13)
The Principle of Least Contest	68	(4)
The Principle of Helping the Client Deconstruct Oppressive Cultural Discourse and Reinterpret Experience from Alternative Perspectives	72	(5)
The Minimax Principle	77	(3)
5. Intervention Principles and Procedures: A Process Model	80	(26)
The Contract Phase	80	(8)
The Task Phase	88	(3)
The Flow of Initial Intervention in the Task Phase	91	(7)
The Termination/Recontracting Phase	98	(3)
Why Two Types of Paradigms	101	(1)
Conclusion	101	(5)
PART III ROLES
6. The Conferee toy 'translating Pressures into Tasks	106	(9)
Facilitating Decision Making	109	(2)
Concluding the Work	111	(2)
Conclusion	113	(2)
7. The Broker	115	(12)
The Tasks of the Broker	116	(4)
The Broker in Quadrants A, B, and C	120	(6)
Conclusion	126	(1)
8. The Mediator	127	(12)
The Tasks of the Mediator	127	(10)
The Mediator in Quadrants A and C	137	(1)
Conclusion	138	(1)
9. The Advocate	139	(16)
What Advocacy Is	140	(2)
The Tasks of Advocacy	142	(11)
The Advocate in Quadrants A, B, C, and D	153	(1)
Conclusion	154	(1)
10. The Therapist	155	(14)
The Tasks of the Therapist	155	(1)
Radical Listening	156	(1)
Externalizing the Problem	157	(3)
Deconstructing Oppressive Discourse	160	(3)
Seeking Counteracts	163	(2)
Anchoring in History	165	(3)
Conclusion	168	(1)
11. The Case Manager	169	(23)
The Evolution of Case Management	169	(2)
Tasks for Working as a Case Manager	171	(16)
The Case Manager as Advocate	187	(1)
Determining the Work	187	(3)
The Case Manager in Quadrants A, B, and C	190	(1)
Conclusion	191	(1)
12. The Group Worker	192	(24)
The Basic Group	193	(1)
Types of Groups	193	(3)
Tasks for Working with Groups	196	(13)
The Group Worker in Quadrants A, B, and C	209	(6)
Conclusion	215	(1)
13. The Community Organizer	216	(13)
What Is Community Organizing?	216	(1)
The Tasks of the Community Organizer	217	(9)
The Community Organizer in Quadrants B and C	226	(1)
Conclusion	226	(3)
PART IV CONTEXT
14. Learning the Organization	229	(20)
The Structures of Organizations	229	(5)
Learning the Formal and Informal Arrangements of the Organization	234
Choice Points in the Organization: Getting from Point A to Point B	217	(30)
Conclusion	247	(2)
15. Working in the Organization	249	(16)
The Self Principle	249	(1)
Processes for Carrying Out the Self Principle	250	(3)
Connecting the Conscious Use of Self with the Deliberate Use of Self	253	(1)
Changing the Organization from Within	254	(3)
The Metawork	257	(4)
Time Management	261	(2)
Time-Management Strategies	263	(1)
Conclusion	264	(1)
16. A Paradigm Dilemma	265	(4)
References	269	(6)
Index	275