Systemic Approaches to Social Work Practice

Dr. Marie Keenan

What constitutes a Systemic Approach?

Focus on Interpersonal Relationships Individual experiences are understood and explained in relational terms Problems and Pathology conceptualised as fundamentally interpersonal as opposed to individual Importance of Context Past, Present and Future linked through time

Importance of Language/meaning/beliefs in the construction of particular versions of a problem

Individual distress no longer seen as only the product of individuals psychology but rather as a complex interactive process that is understood in terms of relational dynamics at many levels of contextindividual, relational, family, group, societal, cultural etc and it is constructed in language

Position of Worker

Non Expert positioning- Collaborative Approach Non Pathologising search for Meaning Non Objective positioning - Coconstruction of meaning Worker as part of the system Co-authors in shared story

Position of the Worker

Power Position of the worker / Professional discourses Reflective and reflexive processes Reflecting Teams The therapy/help is in the question and in the listening and attending / no need for big interventions Holding theory lightly

Who is the Client in Social Work ?

Who is the Client of Social Work service?

What about treating people against their will?

AGS Model addresses this issue:

The delivery of a service may be abusive if you do not make clear: asks for what from Whom and for Whom? Who provides or executes what to Whom and for Whom and on whose behalf?

Who

And

Who is it that defines the situation as a problem? Or who is it that defines certain acts as helpful?
Problem solving and aid presented as helpful and indisputable can hide an execution of power, justify controversial interventions and enable the violation of individuals and groups

This is valid both in the relationship between social institutions and citizens and in the relationship between the social worker and his/her clients
This way of thinking brings possibilities for greater clarity in differentiating between the social workers contradictory tasks of executing care and control

Care and Control

Often ambiguity of the concepts traditionally built into the system of social work Sometimes social workers have difficulty uniting the double function of their profession Often a harmful split between the functions of care or service and control

The split is harmful and may become abusive in cases where social worker on discovery of certain conditions lets the control and authority function take precedence over the service function, such that social worker carries out actions against the clients will

Social worker can be trusted by client and then turn from being a supporter to being a controller
Easy for social workers to gain confidence from distressed clients by being helpful and supportive The confidence falsely received if the double function of the social worker not explicitly stated and out in the open

When double function out in the open clients might behave more cautiously towards social workers, and might be more watchful in unveiling difficulties and problems in their lives to them
Or indeed in letting them into their homes

Police inform people what they say may be written down and used in evidence against them- do social workers follow same practice?

Parents Beware

When you ask for our services, social workers will, without asking for permission, assess how your children are doing.
They also have the right and the obligation in certain circumstances to take your children away from you if they think that you cannot adequately provide for your childrens needs

Some Problems in Social Work Client Relationships

Stem from failure to clarify who is doing what for whom.

Who is the social worker serving in any one instance The social worker as a public servant executes the services which the societys institutions, laws, and elected representatives define

The social worker thus serves society when he/she gives services to the public and when he/she controls or exercises authority?
Is it either/or or both/and?

AGS Model

Strives to highlight unequal relationships by stressing the exchange of service for revenue Using terms: Commissioner (Social worker, therapist, consultant) Commission-giver (person who asks for help) Commission (the task or goals)

Commissioner

Puts oneself in serving position towards commission giver Gets ones authorisation from the commission-giver Carries out the commission with loyalty to the commission-giver, who is the one who the commissioner openly strives to satisfy

Commission-giver

Defines the goal and approves the means for the commission Decides when the commission ends and whether it has been executed satisfactorily

Whom do We Serve?

1. Those who Hire and Pay us and whom we must satisfy as long as we serve them (Primary Commission Givers)?

2. Those who sanction us to work with A. Service Users (Secondary Commission Givers)? B. Target Persons - (Tertiary Commission Givers)?

When defining problems it is important to know: WHO

is defining the situation as a problem.

agrees/disagrees?

WHO Who

is it a problem for?

Introduction to Family Therapy: Structural Approach

Dr. Marie Keenan

Three Approaches to Family Therapy

Structure

of Family (Structural Family Therapy) Strategic Family Therapy Milan or Systemic Family Therapy (although all family therapy referred to as systemic)

Phase 1: Cybernetics

The first phase 1950s to mid 1970s Dissatisfaction with effectiveness of psychoanalytic and individual therapies Emergence of general systems theory as a model and its application to research on human interaction Research on the role of communication in the dev and maintenance of certain clinical problems e.g. schizophrenia

Cybernetics

2nd Phase: Constructivism

Mid 1970s to mid 1980s Constructivism.how we construct the world (G. Kelly) Represented a change that was happening outside of family therapy in psychology Cognitive revolution focus on cognition, meaning, personal beliefs Focused on how people actively attempted to form versions of the world which shaped their actions

Third Phase: Social Constructionism

The third phase mid 1980s to present day Social Constructionism Reflecting changes in sociology and psychology Families linked to wider social and political context AND Special focus on language, power, knowledge creation

All this thinking now integrated Dominance of social constructionism emphasis on power, language, how problems are constructed Deconstructing meaning Belief systems and multiple explanations for the problem Structure can be useful for analysis of situations

Position of Worker
First Order Cybernetics Objective Observer Second Order Cybernetics- Part of the System

Cybernetics of cybernetics

Institutions vary in level of organization and differentiation Families likewise Families serve two functions: Internal: Psychological protection of its members External: Accommodation to a culture and the transmission of that culture

Structural Approaches to Family Therapy - Salvador Minuchin

Matrix of Identity

Sense of belonging Sense of being separate The place in which these ingredients are mixed is the family the matrix of identity Process of socializaion families mold and programme the childs behaviour and sense of identity

Separateness and Individuation

Occurs

through participation in different subsystems in different family contexts as well as through the participation in extrafamilial groups

Being Tom is different from being a Jones

Sense of Belonging

Individuals sense of identity influence by his sense of belonging to different groups

Tom is the father of Paddy, husband of Mary as well as the child of his parents

The Societal Function

As well as being the matrix of identity the family must also accommodate to society and ensure some continuity of its culture
Family influence by and at the same time influences and shapes the culture As the generic family changes and adapts to historical circumstances, so too the individual family constantly adapts

Open System

The family is an open system in formation Constantly receives and sends inputs to and from the extrafamilial It adapts to the demands of the developmental stages (marriage/birth of first child/leaving home etc) it faces Tasks not easy Normal families experience stresses and strains

Family Structure

Invisible set of functional demands that organizes the ways in which family members interact Repeated transactions establish patterns of how, when and to whem to relate and these patterns underpin the system Transactional patterns regulate behaviour

Family subsystems

Family differentiates and carries out its functions through subsystems Individuals are subsystems within a family Dyads such as husband / wife or mother /child etc are subsystems Subsystems formed by generation, sex, interest or function

Individuals belong to many different subsystems

Boundaries

Boundaries of a subsystem are the rules defining who participates and how For proper family functioning boundaries of subsystems must be clear Temporary movement across subsystems as long as lines of responsibility and authority are clear e.g. grandmother/ elder child etc

Rigid Boundaries .Disengaged (Overly rigid boundaries) Clear Boundaries (Normal Range) Diffuse boundaries (Enmeshed)

Theory of Structural Family Therapy

Operations at the extreme indicate areas of possible pathology