Otto Rank: Pioneering Ideas for Social Work Theory and Practice

This article examines Otto Rank's psychology and its profound implications for social work knowledge-building and practice. The paper begins with a brief biographical portrait, highlighting the significance of Rank's relationship and eventual break with Freud, and contextualizing the ideas that became the basis for the Functional Approach. We discuss Rank's conception of human functioning in the social environment, his influence on later theories, and a contemporary critique of Rank's ideas. The paper concludes with a discussion of Rank's contributions to the Functional Approach and to social work practice in general.     

Moral Risks in Social Work

ABSTRACT Social workers must often decide whether a child, at possible risk from its parents, should be removed from home. Each year some children, left at home, are abused or killed. If the procedures have been duly followed, is a bad result to be put down to incompetence or to bad luck, and, if to the latter, does that cancel moral responsibility? We examine the claim that the case is one of ‘moral luck’ and argue that the system licences greater risk than is morally justified. This is because it embodies conflicting imperatives of welfare and justice. Anyone who becomes a social worker must face a constant risk to moral integrity [1].     

Valuing Ideas of Social Justice in MFT Curricula

Training programs committed to the development of culturally sensitive family therapists must support dialogue that creates awareness of social structures promoting inequity and oppression. In order to facilitate meaningful conversations about issues of social justice educators have to critically examine their own philosophies and teaching methods to create a learning environment that promotes this dialogue for all students. This article outlines our philosophy of teaching and presents two core MFT graduate courses as examples of how issues of social justice can be valued in the didactic component of marital and family therapy (MFT) training.     

Psychoanalysis and Social Work

Abstract

This paper traces the close relationship between psychoanalysis and social work after Freudian theory's dramatic impact on social work practice in the 1920s. It shows how revisions and expansion of psychoanalytic theory beyond its traditional base influenced clinical work during later decades until the 1960s, when society turned its attention to macrosystems intervention and other theoretical frameworks and practice models. The paper considers the impact of this change in emphasis on clinicians, direct practice, and schools of social work. Although it describes the resurgence of direct practice that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, it discusses the reasons for the greatly diminished role of psychoanalytic theories in social work curricula. It concludes that there is little reason for optimism about psychoanalysis regaining a prominent position within the profession at the present time and comments on some implications of this state of affairs for those committed to advanced clinical training.     

高度人文关怀:社会工作的本质新释

从社会建构理论的视角来看,社会工作的本质是处境化的,是在不断地互动过程中产生的,是集多种因素、力量或动力逐渐建构、发展、论述出来的.高度的人文关怀是社会工作应有的本质内涵,这一本质内涵的确认有利于当代中国专业社会工作的健康发展.以"高度人文关怀"来诠释社会工作之本质的论述,主要依据在于:人文关怀孕育于现代社会工作的历史演化之中和蕴涵于专业社会工作的"金三角"之中,而人文关怀的本质建构有着深厚的中国传统文化依据,同时也是当代中国社会发展的强烈诉求.     

Social Work with Asian Americans

This paper is based upon an extensive review of the literature on Asian Americans, the practice experience of the senior author, and the research work of the junior author with one of the Asian American groups. An attempt is made to describe the socio-economic conditions of the major Asian American groups and the antecedents of those conditions, as well as the major problems experienced by most Asian Americans. The common features of the cultural values held by most Asian Americans are discussed and the reasons for their difficulty in using the available human services are analyzed. Social work approaches likely to work with Asian American clients are suggested.     

Ethical Issues in Occupational Social Work:

Social work practice in work settings, particularly employee assistance programs has experienced substantial growth over the past decade. With this growth comes a number of practice issues related to the professional conduct of social workers in work based social programs and the impact these programs have on public social services. Other relevant issues are client self-determination and degree of confidentiality. This paper clarifies these issues and also identifies potential policy and economic implications for social work practitioners and the profession.     

Solution-focused Couples Therapy Groups: An Empirical Study

The professional literature contains numerous theoretical and case study articles regarding the development and use of solution-focused therapy. However, as with many models of systems-oriented therapy in use with couples, very little has been subjected to empirical investigation. This project was designed to make a contribution to the empirical literature regarding the effectiveness of solution-focused therapy in use with couples' groups. This study utilized pre-test comparisons of treatment and comparison groups, and examined pre- to post-test changes in the scores of the treatment group couples. Twenty-three treatment group couples participated in a six-week solution-focused couples therapy (SFCT) group. A separate group of thirteen couples served as a comparison group. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) was used to assess changes in the couples' relationships. Scores on the Marital Status Inventory (MSI), as a pre-test measure indicating the couples' likelihood of divorce, indicated no significant differences between groups. The remaining analyses revealed significant improvement in DAS scores. Self-reports from the couples involved indicate improvement in a variety of areas after completing the six-week solution-focused couples group therapy process.     

社会转型与婚姻观念的变化--吴江社会的个案研究

社会转型对人类生活的各个方面都会产生影响。本文以吴江社会为研究对象 ,重点考察了社会转型与微观的婚姻生活之间的关系 ,并得出结论 ,吴江在 2 0世纪最后 2 0年的社会转型从根本上引起了吴江人婚姻观念的改变。     

专业社会工作介入社会性突发事件精神救助限制与突破

精神救助与物质救助一样.是社会性突发事件处置中一个当然的组成部分.在我国现实国情下,专业社会工作介入社会性突发事件精神救助在其理论研究与实践过程中都会暂时存在较难逾越的屏障.面对社会接受和专业自身发展所表现出来的诸多限制,专业社会工作要成功地介入社会性突发事件精神救助,发挥其优势作用,政府重视是前提,社会工作服务的本土化是根本,专业队伍建设是关键,积极行动是途径.     

Attitudes Toward Private Practice in Social Work:

This article, based upon a study examining attitudes of social workers toward private practice, describes social work educators and nonprivate clinical social workers as having some inaccurate perceptions of the private practitioner. Private practitioners do want to remain identified with social work although they are frequently dissatisfied with the profession. Findings are also described which reveal a "tension" all social workers may feel in their attempt to integrate personal goals with professional values and beliefs.     

Personality Trait Development and Social Investment in Work

A longitudinal study of employed individuals was used to test the relationship between social investment at work—the act of cognitively and emotionally committing to one’s job—and longitudinal and cross-sectional personality trait development. Participants provided ratings of personality traits and social investment at work at two time-points, separated by approximately 3 years. Data were analyzed using latent change models. Cross-sectional results showed that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability were related to social investment at work. Additionally, a positive association was found between longitudinal change in social investment in work and change in personality traits—especially conscientiousness. Finally, the correlated changes in social investment and personality traits were invariant across age groups, suggesting that personality traits remain malleable across the lifespan.     

Microcomputer Softwarefor Independent Social Work Practice

Social workers engaged in independent practice who are interested in automating their routine office tasks and more specialized management information activities face a number of important issues in, the selection of hardware and software. In the previous issue of the Journal' of Independent Social Work was a discussion of computer hardware for such purposes. Explored in this article are software programs for word processing, data base management, spreadsheets, statistical, integrated, ut~lity and accounting programs. In addition the author addresses special concerns in the selection of software including applications programs versus special purpose and public domain software, user "friendliness," program complexity, and cost.     

Using Stories in Dynamically Oriented Clinical Social Work

Abstract

This paper uses concepts from discourse analysis to understand the meaning making functions of narrative in clinical treatment and to describe the interactive processes through which these functions are achieved. “Negotiative” and “heuristic” narrative processes are described as they occur in ordinary conversation. The relevance of these concepts to clinical practice is then explored using case material.     

Disguised Ideologies in Counseling and Social Justice Work

A social justice orientation for counseling is appealing to many but appears to some to violate counselor neutrality and respect for client freedom and rights. Confusion about neutrality and advocacy in the counseling field seems to reflect confused assumptions and values in the wider culture. As a result, counseling is guided more by a disguised ideology of liberal individualism than an objective theory or value‐neutral principles. The authors suggest that a hermeneutic, dialogical framework for counseling has the potential to resolve much of this confusion and to refine and broaden a social justice approach in needed ways.     

Social Exchange and Emotional Investment in Work Groups

This study applied a social exchange perspective to examine three related aspects of work group behavior: individuals' assessment of the personal costs and rewards of group membership, the overall level of emotional investment in a group, and the external evaluation of group performance. Regression analyses of survey data from 28 ongoing student work groups (134 individuals) indicated that perceptions of personal rewards resulting from interaction over a ten-week period are an important precursor of emotional investment, defined as a relational orientation that encourages mutual caring, group loyalty, and commitment to the group as a whole. Consistent with our expectations, personal costs influenced neither emotional investment nor group performance after considering the effects of personal rewards. Emotional investment mediated the effects of personal rewards on externally rated group performance. Thus, emotional investment was a pivotal dimension of group effectiveness. Results extend our understanding of group behavior by acknowledging the relationship between personal and group development while confirming the compelling role of emotions in social exchange.     

Making Ideas Work: Ralph Bedell and the NDEA Institutes

Ralph Bedell, professor emeritus of educational and counseling psychology, was interviewed to gain insight info the influence of the National Defense Counseling and Guidance Institutes on the history of counseling and to learn about the man who was responsible for the NDEA program.     

心理咨询新模式:聚焦于问题解决的短期咨询

“聚焦于问题解决的短期咨询”是一种新兴的心理咨询模式,它因其正向思考、省时省力等优点迅速在世界范围内崛起,并被广泛应用在不同的咨询情境中。文章在对聚焦于问题解决的短期咨询简介的基础上,介绍了其产生背景,指出了该模式的应用领域,并对其作了简要评价。