100748: Ending Social Work's Grudge Match: Problems vs. Strengths

About the Course:

Some in social work have called for a paradigm shift away from a focus on problems to a focus on strengths, empowerment, and capacity building. This call sets up an unnatural dichotomy, asking social workers to identify with one side or another. In this article, the authors review social work history to argue that the best social work practice has always maintained a dual focus on both problems and capacity building. Throughout our history, those who championed a problem-oriented practice also emphasized strengths and growing client capacity, and today’s strength-based, capacity-oriented practitioners typically advocate for the solving of consumer’s presenting problems. COURSE SYLLABUS I. Introduction II. The Problem Focus in Social Work III. A Briefer History on the Capacity-Building Approach in Social Work IV. Evidence of Capacity Building Within the Problem-Solving Tradition V. Evidence of Problem-Solving in Capacity-Based Frameworks VI. The Dual Focus

Publication Date:

2004 /Vol. 85, No. 3

Authors

J. Curtis McMillen, PhD, LCSW; Lisa Morris, PhD; Michael Sherraden, PhD

About the Authors:

Associate Professor, George Warren Brown School of Social Work Washington University

Assistant Professor Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service University of Southern Maine

Professor George Warren Brown School of Social Work Washington University

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for social workers, counselors, psychologists, and other human services and behavioral health professionals who seek knowledge about strengths-based practice. It is appropriate for participants with all levels of knowledge about the topic.

Course Objectives:

1. describe evidence from social work history that supports the notion that the best social work practice has always had a parallel focus on both problems and capacity building.