Person-in-Social Environment: A Core Social Work Concept

One of the things a successful student discovers when they study any academic discipline is that it is important to master the basics and the core concepts of that discipline before moving on to more complex matters. There is a reciprocal relationship between the two; mastering the basics makes more complex concepts even more comprehensible, and complex and specialized concepts provide one's understanding of basic and core concepts with greater depth, nuance and meaning.

There are a number of core concepts that beginning social workers should grasp: social workers are agents of change, not only in regard to client populations, but also in regard to agencies that serve those clients and overall public policy; social workers must learn to respect the self-determination of the client; and social workers must develop cultural competency, which enables them to see themselves, and their clients, as enculturated beings.

Perhaps one of the most essential concepts that social work students must grasp is the notion of client as a "person-in-a-social-environment."

The client is simultaneously a member of multiple social networks that help to form and shape that client's identity. The client is also a participant in, and impacted by, political systems, economic systems, and cultural systems that constitute the social ecology in which the client "swims". The client does not exist in an air-tight bubble; rather, the client lives within a societal context.

If a social worker is to be effective in his or her practice the social worker must be able to analyze the client's relationship to that larger societal context.

Most social workers don't have difficulty recognizing that if they have a client who has difficulty holding down a job the social worker should be particularly attentive when the client provides hints of potentially underlying reasons for their spotty work history, especially if this entails substance abuse or uncontrollable bursts of anger.

In a situation such as this one, most social workers can readily understand that in order to improve the likelihood that their client will be able to hold down a job it will be necessary to work on breaking the client's physiological or psychological addiction, or to work with the client on anger management.

But it is also important for the social worker to look at the situation from another angle: in a social environment where many jobs have been phased out and unemployment, or underemployment is stubbornly high, or even rising, it should not be surprising that these conditions tend to exacerbate any preexisting tendency toward substance abuse or uncontrollable outbursts of anger. Sheer frustration over being caught in the trap of unemployment, or underemployment, can bring behavioral problems to the fore, or even make those problems worse.

The client's behavior may make it more difficult for the client to find a steady job, but the lack of available steady jobs may make it more likely that the client will develop behavioral problems. The social worker must be knowledgeable enough about the social context of the client's situation in order to be an effective helping professional.

The same is true when one is problem-solving and searching for solutions. The presenting problem, which brings the client to the social worker in the first place, may be triggered by an outburst of anger, or a bout of substance abuse that the client was unable to conceal -- or it may be the client's persistent concern about long-term unemployment or underemployment.

In order to effect a solution, the social worker must be able to identify both formal and informal social networks that have weight in the client's life -- or that could potentially play a positive role toward mitigating the problem.

Sometimes being engaged in productive labor, or volunteer work, can give a client a sense of self-esteem, and help the client to form an identity that will enable them to exert more control over their behavior. Likewise, having friends who serve as sounding boards, a listening ear, or who can offer advice, may provide  outlets to reduce or control problematic behavior.

The same can be said for group recreational activities or faith-based communities. The challenge for the social worker will be to identify social networks that are significant and have meaning in the client's life; social networks that provide a useful counter-balance against negative influences, and that may be enlisted as resources to address problematic behavior directly, or conditions -- such as unemployment -- that might exacerbate those problems.

Social work is a profession that draws its knowledge base from both sociological and psychological literature. At the core of social work values, knowledge and skills, therefore, is the ability to understand one's client as a social being, and to be able to see one's client as one who impacts, and is impacted by social conditions. The social worker should be able to see the client as a person who exists within a social context.

C. Matthew Hawkins

A Key Function of Entry-Level Social Work Counseling

Image Credit: Donna Garcia Associates, Inc.

One of the questions that frequently comes up in class is this: "On the one hand, social workers are expected to respect the self-determination of the client, but on the other hand, what clients want for themselves may not be things that are in their best interest -- such as a tendency to satisfy short-term gratification at the expense of long-term growth and stability, or the inability to remove oneself from psychologically abusive relationships."

One of the most essential functions that social workers have, in their professional practice, is the function of being a good listener. Being a good listener does not just involve an activity of the ear, it also involves the activity of the mind. The social worker should not just be passive listener, but an active one; a listener who asks open-ended questions, and picks up on phrases, non-verbal facial expressions and gestures, and other clues that help to emphasize what is most important about what the client has said, and help to reveal what is often left unspoken.

There are several reasons why it is essential that the social worker learn to be a good listener. For one thing, we live in an age where everyone wants to be heard, and few people want to listen. Few of us get the chance to sound out the situations we are struggling with before we are interrupted by the person we are talking to as they smother us with their "advice."

Even if the advice is sound, and, perhaps, "research-based", we won't really know whether or not the advice is appropriate if we haven't taken the time to thoroughly hear the client out so that we can grasp the essence of the situation, and the contextual issues that are related to it -- making the situation, and its solutions, unique to the client.

But even more to the point, part of the process of honoring the right of the client to self-determination is to create space, and create an environment, in which clients can discover constructive conclusions for themselves. It is important to give the client a chance to do the very thing that they frequently do not have the opportunity to do -- which is to transform vague thoughts and feelings into specific and concrete words, and to turn fragments of assorted impressions into recognizable patterns and identifiable relationships.

Part of our role, in consulting with a client, is not to give the client the answer, but to listen, ask probing follow-up questions, and create an opportunity for them to make discoveries -- to have epiphanies -- and, from there, to work out solutions for themselves. You want them to discover patterns and solutions that cannot just be handed to them.

"But", some students may object, "what if you work for a government agency where you are not paid to have the client sound out their situation, and you don't have the time to work with them toward an epiphany? What then?"

Basically, you're screwed in that situation.

But seriously, even when there are legal or administrative mandates for what must come out of the session, an effective practitioner will take the time to give something in order to get something from the client. The practitioner cannot expect the client to listen to, or respect what the practitioner is saying, if the practitioner does not first demonstrate the willingness to listen to, and respect what the client is saying.

The interaction has to go both ways.

In order for the governmental or institutional mandate to be understood, the representative of that government or institution -- which would be you, the social worker -- must engage the client and establish trust. The representative of that government or institution must demonstrate the capacity to understand the client, his or her perspective on things, and his or her situation.

So whether your interaction with the client is the result of the client coming to you voluntarily or involuntarily, active listening is an indispensable part of your role as a social worker, in order to be an effective practitioner.

The social worker has to hear the client out; understand how the client sees the world and why the client's perspective makes sense to the client -- and the social worker must probe for insights into the client's formal and informal social networks and overall situation -- in order for the social worker to effective as a "helping professional."

C. Matthew Hawkins