Ch02_PPT.ppt
- 1. CHAPTER 2 ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES
- 2. A HISTORICAL DISCUSSION OF ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES • THE IDEAS ASSOCIATED WITH SYSTEMS THEORY WERE FIRST DISCUSSED BY LUDWIG VON BERTALANFFY AS A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING BIOLOGY AS AN ORGANIZED SYSTEM OF INTERRELATED PARTS OF A WHOLE. • MORE COMPLEX VIEW OF BIOLOGY THAT MOVED AWAY FROM JUST LINEAR EFFECTS • VON BERTALANFFY SUGGESTED A MORE COMPLEX VIEW OF BIOLOGY, DESCRIBING RECIPROCAL TRANSACTIONS AS A BETTER EXPLANATION FOR HOW ONE ELEMENT OF A SYSTEM MAY AFFECT ANOTHER.
- 3. • SYSTEMS THEORY BEGAN TO OFFER BROAD APPLICATION TOFIELDS SUCH AS ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS, AND TECHNOLOGY. • THE TENETS OF SYSTEMS THEORY ALSO OFFERED IMPLICATIONS TO DISCIPLINES WITHIN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, BECAUSE UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL SYSTEMS SUCH AS FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS AS ENTITIES THAT WERE MAINTAINED BY INTERRELATED PARTS HELPED IN DESCRIBING HOW THESE SYSTEMS FUNCTIONED.
- 4. ECOLOGICAL THEORY • ECOLOGICAL THEORY FOCUSES ON RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ORGANISMS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS • ALTHOUGH ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES WERE DEVELOPED AS SEPARATE FRAMEWORKS, THEY ARE OFTEN INTEGRATED AND SOMETIMES CALLED ECOSYSTEMS THEORY OR ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY BECAUSE OF THE SIMILARITIES IN THEIR UNDERLYING EXPLANATIONS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR. • ECOSYSTEMS INCLUDE THE SUM OF A SET OF DIVERSE ORGANISMS AND NONLIVING ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS THAT IMPACT AND ARE IMPACTED BY ONE ANOTHER • ECOLOGY THEORY SUGGESTS THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE ORGANISMS WHO MAINTAIN HELPFUL OR UNHELPFUL TRANSACTIONS WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENTS • BRONFENBRENNER DISCUSSED ECOLOGICAL THEORY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT BY IDENTIFYING THE MICRO, MESO,
- 5. PERSON-IN-ENVIRONMENT • A PERSPECTIVE INFORMED BY BOTH ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES • PERSON-IN-ENVIRONMENT IS A BROAD PERSPECTIVE THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH SOCIAL WORK’S MISSION AS DEFINED BY NASW (2008)
- 6. ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY: PRACTICE PRINCIPLES FOR SOCIAL WORK • PRINCIPLE 1: A SYSTEM CONSISTS OF INTERRELATED AND INTERDEPENDENT PARTS • PRINCIPLE 2: A SYSTEM IS DEFINED BY ITS BOUNDARIES AND RULES • PRINCIPLE 3: SYSTEMS TYPICALLY DEMONSTRATE PREDICTABLE PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR • PRINCIPLE 4: A SYSTEM IS MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS • PRINCIPLE 5: CHANGING ONE PART OF A SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE OTHER PARTS OF THE SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE • PRINCIPLE 6: POSITIVE GROWTH AND ADAPTATION OCCUR WHEN THERE IS A GOODNESS OF FIT WITH THE ENVIRONMENT
- 7. ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES: KEY CONCEPTS • A SYSTEM IS A SET OF COMPONENTS THAT ARE RELATED TO ONE ANOTHER, OFTEN TO ACCOMPLISH A COMMON PURPOSE • BOUNDARIES ARE THE REAL OR SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED BARRIERS THAT SEPARATE A SYSTEM FROM ITS ENVIRONMENT • RECIPROCAL TRANSACTIONS ARE THE INTERACTIONS THAT OCCUR BETWEEN A PERSON AND HIS OR HER ENVIRONMENT OR BETWEEN TWO SYSTEMS • THE FEEDBACK LOOP DESCRIBES THE PROCESS BY WHICH SYSTEMS RECEIVE INFORMATION NEEDED TO MAKE NEEDED ADJUSTMENTS • HOMEOSTASIS REFERS TO A SYSTEM’S DESIRE TO RESIST CHANGE AND PRESERVE THE STATUS QUO.
- 8. ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES: KEY CONCEPTS, CONTINUED • ECOLOGICAL THEORY SUGGESTS SYSTEMS HAVE A TENDENCY TO PROTECT AND GROW TO ACCOMPLISH A GOAL, ALSO KNOWN AS ADAPTATION. • THE MICROSYSTEM REFERS TO THE SYSTEMS THAT ARE CLOSEST IN PROXIMITY TO THE CLIENT SYSTEM • THE MESOSYTEM ACCORDING TO BRONFENBRENNER (1979) REFERS TO THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SYSTEMS IN THE MICROSYSTEM. • BRONFENBRENNER (1979) DEFINES THE EXOSYSTEM AS WHEN THE INTERACTION BETWEEN TWO SYSTEMS EXERTS AN INDIRECT INFLUENCE ON ANOTHER
- 9. ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES: KEY CONCEPTS, CONTINUED • THE MACROSYSTEM REFERS TO THE LARGER SYSTEMS THAT INFLUENCE A CLIENT’S LIFE • BRONFENBRENNER (1979) REFERS TO THE CHRONOSYSTEM AS THE EVENTS THAT IMPACT THE CLIENT SYSTEM.
- 10. APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES WITHIN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE • ENGAGEMENT ACCORDING TO ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY INVOLVES DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE CLIENT AND WITH IMPORTANT SYSTEMS IMPACTING THAT CLIENT • ASSESSMENT ACCORDING TO ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY INVOLVES UNDERSTANDING A CLIENT’S “GOODNESS OF FIT” WITH HIS OR HER ENVIRONMENT BY COMPLETING AN ECOMAP, A PICTORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CLIENT’S RECIPROCAL TRANSACTIONS WITH HIS OR HER ENVIRONMENT
- 11. APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES WITHIN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE, CONTINUED • GOAL SETTING INVOLVES SETTING GOALS THAT WOULD IMPROVE A CLIENT’S GOODNESS OF FIT AND MIGHT INVOLVE CHANGE IN THE CLIENT AND/OR GOALS TO CHANGE SYSTEMS IMPACTING THE CLIENT • INTERVENTION INVOLVES ANY ACTIVITY THAT SEEKS TO IMPROVE THE RECIPROCAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN A CLIENT AND HIS OR HER ENVIRONMENT
- 12. APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMS THEORIES WITHIN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE, CONTINUED • INTERVENTION CAN OCCUR ON THE MICRO, MEZZO, OR MACRO LEVELS OF PRACTICE, MEANING SOMETIMES CHANGES HAPPENS WITH THE CLIENT AND SOMETIMES CHANGE HAPPENS IN THE SYSTEMS IMPACTING THAT CLIENT • EVALUATION INVOLVES DETERMINING THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE INTERVENTIONS HELPED THE CLIENT TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS
- 13. CASE EXAMPLE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS • PROBATION OFFICER TAKES A LOT OF TIME. WHEN USING AN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE, WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT FOR A SOCIAL WORKER TO MEET WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN A CASE? • WHEN CONDUCTING AN ASSESSMENT ACCORDING TO AN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE, A SOCIAL WORKER MUST IDENTIFY THE MICRO, MEZZO, AND MACRO SYSTEMS PRESENT IN THE ENVIRONMENT OF CLIENT SYSTEM. WHAT ARE THE SYSTEMS IMPACTING AND BEING IMPACTED BY ROBERTO (RECIPROCAL INTERACTION)?
- 14. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY • STRENGTHS • BROAD PERSPECTIVE OFFERS IMPLICATIONS FOR ALL SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE • PROVIDES THE FOUNDATION TO SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE • PUSHES SOCIAL WORKERS TO LOOK AT THE NEED TO ADVOCATE CHANGES TO SOCIAL STRUCTURES • LIMITATIONS • DIFFICULT TO MEASURE • BECAUSE IT IS BROAD, OFFERS LESS SPECIFIC DIRECTION TO SOCIAL WORKERS