Chapter 2: 8 Theoretical Perspectives Briefly Reviewed

What are theories used for?

Are useful for thinking about changing configurations of persons and environments. Are overlapping and intersecting. Differ by focus and perspective. Evolve as world views expand and change based on society. Used to guide practice interventions

Systems perspective?

Human behavior is the outcome of interaction within and among systems of interrelated parts. Systems are made up of interrelated members (parts) that constitute an ordered whole. Each part impacts all other parts and the system as a whole. Systems are subsystems of other larger systems. Maintain boundaries that give them their identities. HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS THE OUTCOME OF RECIPROCAL INTERACTION OF PERSONS OPERATING WITHIN LINKED SOCIAL SYSTEMS

Examples of systems perspectives?

General systems theory, Ecological theory, Bioecological perspective, Risk and resilience theory, Globalization theory, Autopoietic systems theory, Fuzzy set theory, Deep ecology theory

Deep ecology?

A philosophy promoting the inherent worth of living beings regardless of their utility and restructuring modern human societies in accordance with such ideas

Autopoetic?

s ystems are capable of reproducing themselves,

Fuzzy set?

States that various elements have degrees of membership to the whole

General systems theory?

Systems are made of interrelated members that constitute a linked whole. Each part impacts all other parts and the system as a whole. All systems are subsystems of other larger systems. Systems maintain boundaries that give them their identities. The dynamic interactions within, between, and among systems produce both stability and change, sometimes even rapid dramatic change.

Ecological theory?

relationships and interactions between living organisms and environments

Bioecological perspective?

includes the many and varied attempts to incorporate ongoing neuroscience research into theorizing about the ways that biological factors are intertwined with psychological and sociocultural factors in the creation of human behavior. Gene-env interactions

Risk and resilience theory?

risk and protective factors in both person and env

Globalization theory?

focusing on developments in the West, and implying if not explicitly arguing that the rest of the world had little choice but to become increasingly like the West.

Conflict perspective?

Conflicts aries due to inequalities in resource distribution. People try to advance their own interests over the interests of others. Power is unequally divided as some social groups dominate others. Non-dominant groups are manipulated and controlled by dominant groups. DRAWS ATTENTION TO CONFLICT, INEQUALITY, DOMINANCE, AND OPPRESIONS IN SOCIAL LIFE

What is a sign of exploitation in the conflict perspective?

Who becomes alienated form society in conflict perspective?

Non-dominant group members, such as disempowered staff at an agency and how thye handle their thoughts and feelings about their workplace.

What is social change driven by in the conflict perspective?

Conflict, with peridos of change interrupting long periods of stability, such as the BLM movement or ACT-UP

Critical theory?

a social philosophy pertaining to the reflective assessment and critique of society and culture in order to reveal and challenge power structures

Prosumer capitalism theory?

control and exploitation change form: the trend is toward unpaid rather than paid labor and toward offering products at no cost, and the system is marked by a new abundance not scarcity

Postcolonial theory?

seeks to build a better understanding of life from the point of view of colonized people, based on the assumption that the colonial rulers are unreliable narrators.

Neoliberalism theory?

contends that free markets encourage economic efficiency, economic growth, and technological innovation.

Critical race theory?

proposes that white supremacy and racial power are maintained over time and the law may play a role in this process. CRT also investigates the possibility of transforming the relationship between law and racial power to achieve racial equity.

Feminist theories?

aims to understand the nature of gender inequality.

Intersectionality theories?

seeks to understand how aspects of a person's social and political identities (e.g., gender, sex, race) combine to create unique modes of discrimination and privilege.

Pluralistic theory of social conflict?

considers how power and influence are distributed in a political process.

Empowerment theories?

describes empowerment as perceived efficacy and control over the social, economic, and political aspects of one's life.

Exchange and choice perspective?

Focus on the processes whereby individual and collective actors seek and exchange resources and the choices made in pursuit of those resources. People are rational and goal-directed. Try to maximize rewards/minimize cost. Values, standards, expectations, and alternatives influence assessment of rewards and costs. Reciprocity of exchange is essential to social life. Power comes from unequal resource sin an exchange. FOCUSES ON THE PROCESS WHEREBY INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE ACTORS SEEK AND EXCHANGE RESOURCES AND THE CHOICES MADE IN PURSUIT OF THOSE RESOURCES

Social exchange theory?

is a sociological and psychological theory that studies the social behavior in the interaction of two parties that implement a cost-benefit analysis to determine risks and benefits.

Rational choice theory?

individuals use rational calculations to make rational choices and achieve outcomes that are aligned with their own personal objectives.

Social network theory?

views social relationships in terms of individuals and their ties to each other.

Social capital theory?

a person's position within a particular group provides certain benefits that work to their advantage.

Interaction ritual chain theory?

attempts to develop a “radical microsociology.” It proposes that successful rituals create symbols of group membership

Actor-network theory?

everything in the social and natural worlds exists in constantly shifting networks of relationships. Nothing exists outside those relationships.

Polis model of policy analysis?

Recognizes the values of altruism and public as well as self-interests.

Social constructionist perspective?

How people construct meaning, sense of self, and a social world though interactions with each other. Learn through interactions to classify the world and their place in it. Interaction regularly reshapes reality, hopefully. Some people are judged, but this is about constructing our own reality, gain a sense by interacting, gain a sense of ourselves by taking a self-inventory, very prosocial. People perform for their social audiences, but they are also free, active, and creative.

What is social interaction grounded in?

Language customs, as well as cultural and behavioral contexts. Society consists of social processes, not structures. Social context helios guide behavior, society becomes more fluid, the more info we take in, the more accepting we become. We are all changing

Symbolic interaction theory?

analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors. . Project meaning, we have on people – stop taking in data and close off

Postmodern theories?

an attitude of skepticism toward the grand narratives and ideologies associated with modernism, often criticizing rationality and focusing on the role of ideology in maintaining political or economic power. There’s no grand explanation, no metatheory – cannot define a social worker

Phenomenological sociology?

although people shape social reality, individuals and groups are constrained by the preexisting social/cultural arrangements constructed by predecessors. We can have difficulty breaking out of a prescribed roll – some people cannot step out of the idea that SW will take their children from them

Standpoint theory?

an individual's own perspectives are shaped by his or her social and political experiences.

Queer theory?

argues that “heteronormativity,” which is a worldview that promotes heterosexuality as the normal and/or preferred sexual orientation and is reinforced in society through the institutions of marriage, taxes, employment, and adoption rights, among many others and as such is a form of power and control that applies pressure to both straight and gay individuals, through institutional arrangements and accepted social norms. Cast in certain rolls

Affect theory?

seeks to organize emotions, or subjectively experienced feelings, into discrete categories and to typify their physiological, social, interpersonal, and internalized manifestations. Ex. Anger is bad, but theories are neither good nor bad

Solution-focused practice theory?

states focusing only on problems is not effective in solving them. Instead, focus should target clients' default solution patterns, evaluate them for efficacy, and modify/replace them with problem-solving approaches that work. Focusing only on problems does not solve the problem. Is there another way to look at the presenting problem. Fake it to you make it

Narrative practice theory?

seeks to help patients identify their values and skills associated to provides them with knowledge of their ability to live these values so they can effectively confront current and future problems and develop a new narrative. We all have our own story to tell and must embrace the story. Telling of the story provides catharsis. Breakthrough is in the telling of the narrative. Ex. Bastard nation – born out of wedlock and were looking for their birth parents - Claim it and take power away from other people

Psychodynamic perspective?

How drives, needs, and emotions motivate behavior. Emotions have a central place in human behavior (conscious and unconscious emotions). Early childhood experiences are central to the patterning of an individual’s emotions and are central to problems of living throughout life. Internal/external demands can overwhelm people. Frequent use of ego defense mechanisms to avoid being overwhelmed by internal/external demands. If we have too much pressure, we begin to fragment a little. People tend to stay at the age the trauma occurs. CONCERNED WITH HOW INTERNAL PROCESSES SUCH AS PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS, DRIVES, AND EMOTIONS MOTIVATE HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Ego psychology?

focus on the ego’s normal and pathological development, its management of libidinal and aggressive impulses, and its adaptation to reality. Erikson gives us 8 stages – much more fluid. Ego – have we done what is right? Took us through adulthood

Object relations theory?

the way people relate to others and situations in their adult lives is shaped by family experiences during infancy. The first ‘object’ being one’s mother. Look at what people are drawn to – that’s where we get meaning

Self psychology?

understands individuals from within their own subjective experience via vicarious introspection, basing interpretations on the understanding of the self as the central agency of the human psyche. The individual is inwardly motivated to change. Vicarious introspection – wow, why did I do that -> moments of growth, gives you a chance to take personal inventory/ We understand individuals from their own experience

Relational-cultural theory?

we have a natural drive toward relationships, and long for acceptance. However, we come to believe that there are things about us that are unacceptable or unlovable. Natural drive toward relationships. Why do we keep selecting the same partners, friends, situations. Everyone is your teacher and all of us have much to give

Drive or instinct theory?

we all have innate patterns of behavior that help us survive and that not the result of learning or experience.

Topographical theory of the mind?

Freud’s “map” of the different systems of the mind: unconscious (do not know), preconscious (think about it a little), and conscious (info we can get at instantly). All behavior and drives can be understood within these things

Structural model of the mind?

Id (instincts, me), ego (mediator), and superego (higher sense of self)

Psychosexual stage theory?

child development takes place during 5 stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. Each stage represents the fixation of the libido on a different area of the body. From birth, we are satisfied by oral stimulation -> defecation, withholding things, hoarders -> aware of sex organs -> chill -> puberty. All of our hangups are because we are stuck somewhere – all before 12

Attachment theory?

Focuses on deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time and space. Hopefully it is secure – if parental figure is healthy. Anxious – clingy. We see it a lot to kids in foster care, early school years, can apply it to adults

Developmental perspective?

How behavior unfolds across the life course, how people change and stay the same over time - we are always developing. Development occurs in clearly defined stages - stages can be moving. Human dev is a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors - our env can help or hurt us. Each stage of life is qualitatively different from all other stages and builds on earlier stages. Moving from one stage to the next involves new tasks and changes in statuses and roles. FOCUSES ON HOW HUMAN BEHAVIOR UNFOLDS ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE

Life span/life cycle theory (Newman)?

concerns the study of individual development, from conception to death and does not cease when adulthood is reached but assumes that each major period of life has its own developmental challenges and accomplishments.

Epigenetic model of human development?

the study of heritable changes in gene function that occur independently of alterations to primary DNA sequence.

Psychosexual stage theory (Freud)?

life is built around tension and pleasure and all tension was due to the build-up of libido and pleasure comes from its release. Oral, anal, phallic,…

Psychosocial stage theory (Erikson)?

personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis has a positive or negative outcome for development.

Cognitive development theory (Piaget)?

concerned with the development of thought processes and how these processes influence how we understand and interact with the world.

Moral development theories (Kohlberg and Gilligan)?

The theory holds that moral reasoning, a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for ethical behavior, has six developmental stages, each more adequate at responding to moral dilemmas than its predecessor.

Social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner)?

a person’s sense of who they are is based on their membership in key groups, and the identity changes based on the group being considered (e.g., family vs college sorority vs intern)

Behavioral perspective?

Behavior is learned as individuals interact with their environment. Similar learning processes taking place in different env produce differences in behavior. All human problems can be formulated as undesirable behavior. All behavior can be defined and changed. Behavior is learned by association of environmental stimuli, by reinforcement, by imitation, and by personal expectations and meanings. BEHAVIOR IS LEARNED AS INDIVIDUALS INTERACT WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENTS

Classical conditioning?

a learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired: a response which is at first elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone.

Operant conditioning?

a method of learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence (whether negative or positive) for that behavior.

Cognitive social learning theory?

learning occurs in a social context with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the person, environment, and behavior

Cognitive behavioral theory/therapy?

describes how people's perceptions of, or spontaneous thoughts about, situations influence their emotional, behavioral and physiological reactions.

Dialectical behavioral theory/therapy?

some people are prone to react in a more intense manner toward certain emotional situations, primarily those found in romantic, family and friend relationships. Their arousal levels in such situations can increase far more quickly than the average person’s, and take a significant amount of time to return to baseline arousal levels.

Cognitive processing theory/therapy?

a generic term used to describe all the perspectives that focus how our cognitive processes (attention, perception, encoding, storage, and retrieval of knowledge) work. It uses a two-store model where stimuli enter the into Short Term Memory and through rehearsal and encoding get stored in Long Term memory.

Humanistic perspective?

Emphasizes individual’s freedom of action and search for meaning. Each person is unique and valuable. People always have the capacity to change themselves, even to make radical changes. Human behavior can be understood only from the vantage point of the phenomenal self from the internal frame of reference of the individual. People make psychologically destructive demands on each other, and attempts to meet those demands produce anxiety. Human behavior is driven by a desire for growth, personal meaning, and compete, and by a need to experience a bond with others. EMPHASIZES THE INDIVIDUAL’S INHERENT VALUES, FREEDOM OF ACTION, AND SEARCH FOR MEANING

Humanistic psychology?

emphasizes the individual's inherent drive toward self-actualization, the process of realizing and expressing one's own capabilities and creativity.

Existential psychology?

an approach based on understanding a "whole" person is more than the sum of their parts; understanding people requires examining their interpersonal relationships, that people have many levels of self-awareness that can be neither ignored nor put into an abstract context, that people have free will and are participants rather than observers in their own lives, and that people's lives have purpose, values, and meaning.

Positive psychology?

the scientific study of what makes life most worth living. Study human thoughts, feelings, and behavior, with a focus on strengths instead of weaknesses, building the good in life instead of repairing the bad, and taking the lives of average people up to “great” instead of focusing solely on moving those who are struggling up to “normal”.

Capabilities approach?

an approach that entails two core normative claims: first, the freedom to achieve well-being is of primary moral importance, and second, that freedom to achieve well-being is to be understood in terms of people's capabilities, and opportunities to do and be what they have reason to value.

Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs?

a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.

Transpersonal theory?

proposes that there are developmental stages beyond the adult ego, which involve experiences of connectedness with phenomena considered outside the boundaries of the ego.

Rogers’ client-centered approach to therapy?

clients would be better helped if they were encouraged to focus on their current subjective understanding rather than on some unconscious motive or someone else's interpretation of the situation.

Post-humanist approach?

We cannot separate humanity from the non-human world.

Humanistic theory of organizations?

emphasizes the use of intrinsic motivation to grow personnel qualifications, thereby increasing the economic efficiency of an organization.

Appreciative inquiry theory?

is a model that seeks to engage stakeholders in self-determined change.

What are the merits of multiple perspectives?

All theories seek to understand human behavior, but different phenomena are emphasized in each. Theories guide social work practice. Use multiple perspectives in integrated fashion to see many dimensions. Flexible and reflecting in thinking and doing. Provides better overall picture of the individual, family, and the situation