Lesson 1

Change Agent (p. 28): Social worker, other helping professional, or a group of helpers whose purpose is to facilitate improvement.

Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) (p. 3): Nonprofit national association that represents over 3,000 individual members, 191 graduate programs, and 463 undergraduate programs of professional social work education; founded in 1952 and recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accreditation agency for social work education in the United States.

Diversity Perspective (p. 13): Theoretical framework that emphasizes the broad and varied differences of social workers and their clients, and how these differences can enhance society.

Ecological Systems Framework (p. 11): Perspective with emphasis on understanding people, their environments, and their transactions; major concepts of this orientation include goodness of fit between people and environment, reciprocity, and mutuality.

Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (p. 16): The criteria used to guide schools of social work in the development of professional social work curricula as outlined by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

Empowerment (p. 12): Psychological state that reflects a sense of competence, control, and entitlement; allows one to pursue concrete activities aimed at becoming powerful; and gives control over the environment, which makes it possible for people to improve their lives.

General Systems Theory (p. 8): Belief that the behavior of people and societies is explained by identifying the components of subsystems of the larger (or host) system and how those subsystems interact and impact on the larger system; holistic framework concerned with system boundaries, roles, relationships, and interactions between people in the system or its subsystems.

Micro Practice (p. 3): Work to help individuals, families, and small groups function better within the larger environment.

Macro practice (p. 3): Work to change the larger social environment so that it benefits individuals and families.

National Association of Social Workers (NASW) (p. 5): Membership organization of professional social workers with more than 150,000 members; works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, creates and maintains professional standards, and advances social policies.

Person-in-Environment (p. 7): Perspective used by social workers to understand that clients experience difficulties with their roles, self-perceptions, and expectations in their interactions with others and in the context of their surrounding environment.

Self-Determination (p. 27): Clients making their own choices and respecting the value of social workers.

Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice (p. 13): Behaviors, knowledge, skills, and attitudes that allow social workers to respond effectively across cultures.

Strengths Perspective (p. 11): View that emphasizes using clients’ strengths, resources, support networks, and motivations to meet challenges; focuses on clients’ assets rather than problems or dysfunction.