Social Work Definitions

Flashcards from lecture notes on social work and related concepts.

Andragogy

The art and science of helping adults to learn through practical ways.

BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION

Usually used in group work.

ANOMIE

The disorganization of social and general values during times of catastrophic stress.

ANTHROPOLOGY

The science of man, including his physical characteristics, his culture, his races.

ANXIETY

An unpleasant emotion similar to fear; marked by a vague feeling that something unpleasant is going to occur in the future.

APATHY

A withdrawal from emotional threat usually a consequence of frustration by retreating into a position of not caring.

APPROACH

The means used for coming near or closer to the client or client system.

APTITUDE

The potential to gain competence, assuming that training and experience are available.

ARTERIOSCLEROSIS

The thickening of arteries, particularly in the brain.

ASEXUAL

Sexless, without sex organs.

ASOCIAL

Without social or communal values.

ASSESSMENT

The estimation of the value or worth of a social situation.

ASSUMPTION

A premise or supposition that something is true for the purpose of theoretical development.

AUTISM

Extreme preoccupation with one's thoughts and fantasies.

AUTISTIC CHILD

An extremely withdrawn child.

ARTOCENTRIC.

Self-centered.

AWARENESS

Being in touch with one's existence.

BARANGAY

The smallest political unit in the Philippines.

BARANGANIC APPROACH

The application of the community organization method using the barangay council or a similar structure as a point of entry.

BASIC NEED

A fundamental or primary need of a person which must be fulfilled or met in order for him to survive.

BAYANIHAN

A Pilipino term used to describe reciprocal assistance in an undertaking for the benefit of the community.

BEHAVIOR

Anything that an individual does or says in response to another individual, stimulus or situation.

BEHAVIOR THERAPY

The process of modifying an individual's maladaptive behavior through additional learning.

BISEXUAL

The state of being equally attracted to both sexes.

BORDERLINE INTELLIGENCE

An intellectual level between feeblemindedness and normalcy.

BORDERLINE PATHOLOGY

A situation wherein the individual may exhibit signs of pathology but is in touch with reality in other areas of his functioning.

BRAINSTORM

A new idea, a flash, originating in an existing moment of insight.

BRAINSTORMING

A group problem-solving situation where members of the group contribute ideas which seem relevant to them.

BRAINWASHING

Inducing people to modify their attitudes and behavior in certain directions through various forms of social pressure.

BREAKING POINT

That point beyond which the person's coping ability cannot go further.

BROKEN FAMILY

A family in which one parent is absent because of abandonment, dissertion, divorce or separation.

BROKER

He is the worker who seeks and secures resources that the client needs or matches the client with the resources.

CAPABILITY

The quality of being physically, mentally or morally able.

CAPACITY

The ability to receive, hold, or absorb.

CAPITALISM

An economic system where the means of production and distribution are largely in the hands of private persons.

CASE

A client or a patient of a physician, psychiatrist, lawyer, social worker.

CASE MANAGEMENT

A set of procedures utilizing internal and external resources designed to uplift a client to a level of self-sufficiency and self-reliance.

CASE METHOD

A teaching method in which the members of the class are required to analyze the problem in a given case, present it, and defend their analysis within the classroom.

CASE RECORDING

An account in writing of the progress of a client or a case as it moves from the beginning of the problem-solving phase towards its eventual solution and finally its ending or termination.

BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION

Usually used in group work to shape, stabilize, modify or alter client’s behavior with the use of certain techniques such as reassurance, reinforcement, etc.

BROKEN HOME

a variant for “broken family”