Chapter 10 focllses on the dimensions used to assess families. Family is broadly defmed in light of the various ways in which family membership is acquired. Practice with families as discussed in this chapter emphasizes both a cultural and family variant perspective, so that families are assessed within their own idiosyncratic context.
Chapter 10 focllses on the dimensions used to assess
families. Family is broadly defmed in light of the various
ways in which family membership is acquired. Practice
with families as discussed in this chapter emphasizes
both a cultural and family variant perspective, so that
families are assessed within their own idiosyncratic context.
Like other systems, the family is a dynamic and
transactional system in which its constituent parts and
subsystems interact with one another in a predictable
and organized fashion that is governed by rules and relationships.
Because families are a social system that interacts,
influences, and is influenced by other systems in the
social environment, these factors are discussed as well.
As a result of reading this chapter you will:
• Understand that assessments involve both
gathering information and synthesizing it into
a working hypothesis.
• Learn questions to bear in mind while conducting
a family assessment
• Use assessment dimensions guidelines for
assessing family interaction, relationships, and
patterns of behaving.
• Understand the family as a social system that has
organized in predictable roles and relationships.
• Recognize the diverse way in which the family is defined.
• Be aware of stressors that influence family functioning.
• Understand how to assess family strengths and
resources.
EPAS COMPETENCIES IN THE 10TH
CHAPTER
This chapter will give you the information needed to
meet the following practice competencies:
2.1.1c Attend to professional boundaries
2.1.lf Use supervision and consultation
2.1.2a Recognize and manage personal values in a
way that allows for professional values to
guide practice
2.1.3a Distinguish, appraise, and integrate multiple
sources of knowledge, including researchbased
knowledge and practice wisdom
2.1.4a Recognize the extent to which a culture’s
structures and values alienate, create, or
enhance privilege and power
2.1.4b Gain sufficient self-awareness to eliminate
the influence of personal biases and values in
working with diverse groups
2.1.4c Recognize and communicate their
understanding of the importance of
difference in shaping life experiences
2.1.5a Understand forms and mechanism of
oppression and discrimination
2.1.7a Utilize conceptual frameworks to guide the
processes of assessment, intervention, and
evaluation
2.1.7b Critique and apply knowledge to understand
person and environment
2.1.10. Substantively and affeclively prepare for
action with individuals, families, groups,
communities, and organizations
2.1.10d Coliect, organize, and interpret client data
2.1.10e Assess client strengths and limitations
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252 Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills
Social Work Practice
with Families
From its historical beginning social work has been concerned
with the family as a unit and as the focus of
intervention. Nichols and Schwartz (2004) trace social
work’s contributions to families to the Charity Organization
Societies (COS), led by Mary Richmond. Family
caseworkers, known as friendly visitors met with families
in their homes, and, in effect, their work marked
the beginning of outreach and home-based family services.
Richmond’s conceptualization of the family as a
social system is considered to have been the vanguard
of “family’s therapy’s ecological approach, long before
systems theory was introduced” (Nichols & Schwartz,
2004, p. 17). Her classic 1917 text, Social Diagnosis,
introduced the family as a treatment unit and clarified
the family as a social system.
While the focus on the family as a system remains
intact, social work practice with families has continued
to evolve, integrating post-modern family-centered
methods, such as narrative, social constructionist, feminist,
and solution-focused, each of which have made
significant contributions to practice with families.
As a social system, the family interacts with and is
influenced by other systems. Therefore, practice with
families has also been influenced by perspectives and
models that include attention to the situational, relational,
or environmental stressors and the multiple
. .
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