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Problem Solving Approach

The document discusses the evolution of problem-solving approaches in social work. [1] It traces the origins from William James' pragmatism and John Dewey's reflective thinking to Helen Harris Perlman's development of a formal problem-solving model for social work practice. [2] Perlman's influential 7-stage model focuses on engaging the client, collecting data, assessing factors, setting goals, planning implementation, evaluating, and terminating. [3] While widely adopted, the model also faces some limitations regarding ambiguity of problems, its basis on a single thought process, its potential cultural boundedness, and reliance on non-experimental evidence.

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Anoop Choolayil
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518 views

Problem Solving Approach

The document discusses the evolution of problem-solving approaches in social work. [1] It traces the origins from William James' pragmatism and John Dewey's reflective thinking to Helen Harris Perlman's development of a formal problem-solving model for social work practice. [2] Perlman's influential 7-stage model focuses on engaging the client, collecting data, assessing factors, setting goals, planning implementation, evaluating, and terminating. [3] While widely adopted, the model also faces some limitations regarding ambiguity of problems, its basis on a single thought process, its potential cultural boundedness, and reliance on non-experimental evidence.

Uploaded by

Anoop Choolayil
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Problem Solving

Approach
APPROACHES

 A lens to see an event/thing/process


 A vantage point
 The focus point
 How we approach something
 A different angle to deal with something
The Mary Richmond Tradition
Background
Influence of medical methods of
intervention (i.e., “study”,
“diagnosis” and “treatment”)
(Richmond, 1917)
Implication
Cases vs People
Compartmentalisation
Broad vs To the point
Long Term vs Immediate
Generalisation vs Felt Needs
Problem-solving: The Evolution
 1907: William James' “ common sense” Pragmatism

 a philosophical approach to truth which also sought to develop


methods that were “helpful in life’s practical struggles”

 Goal: to help individuals to find their own truth through


observation and experience .

 1910: John Dewey's “reflective thinking”

 four central elements: recognizing and formulating a problem,


gathering facts that will lead to a solution, testing each proposed
solution, and deciding upon a course of action
Adaption into Social Work Practice

 Criticism >>> contributed to incorporation of new


theories

 Focus area: short-term methodology and


problem solving in here and now situations

 Helen Harris Perlman: The first social work author to


use the term “problem-solving”

 credits Dewey’s writings as her inspiration for the


concept (Perlman, 1971)
Main Tenets

 People can make decisions in their own best


interest
 Problem solving capacity of use
 Inability to make decisions is usually a result of
internal and external barriers
 Must identify strengths
 Social case work: A process used by certain human welfare
agencies to help individuals to cope more effectively with their
problems in social function. (Perlman)

Focus: Help the individual to deal more effectively with problems


related to social functioning. The social worker should aim at
improving the self healing powers in the client and not take over
the control. She describes the core of casework as such:

 A person with a problem comes to a place where a professional


representative helps him by a given process (ibid.).
The Four P's
 The four Ps:
1. person
2. problem,
3. place
4. process.
 These characteristics of casework are so general that they can be
relevant for any welfare institution
 the characteristic of the problems of the person
 what the problem is
 the institution’s (place) tasks
 the process in the problem solving
 what is happening between the client and the social worker.
1. The person
needs help with certain social and emotional parts of life.
2. The problem
Life as a long problem
When people have problems they cannot deal with, their social
functioning becomes poor.
Reasons: (any/combinations)
1.Limited motivation to work in a goal oriented manner
2.Limited abilities in dealing with the problems
3.Limited possibilities in doing something about the problem

The problems will be created by shortcomings in the relationship


between the client and other people, groups or situations.
3. The place
 The institutions in which the social workers work have as their aim
to work with problems related to mastering one’s own life.
 The aim is to help individuals with social handicaps so that the
individual and/or the family can function better.
 The outcomes are effectuated by the social worker and his or her
way of acting.

4. The process
 a series of problem‐solving operations within a meaningful relation.
 a relationship which lays the ground for problem solving.
 The goal is that the client themselves can be more capable of
dealing with the problems
Intervention stages

a) Ascertaining and clarifying the facts of the problem.


b) Thinking through the facts.

c) The making of some choice or decision.

(Perlman, 1957)

Building from this foundation, she brilliantly formulated a unique


cognitively-oriented and client-centered problem-solving process
for social work intervention

“focus” and “partialization”: aiding the client to overcome


difficulties by tackling small problems first and thus building confidence
to move on to more challenging goals
Perlman problem-solving model: 7 stages

1. Identify issue and engage

2. Collect data: explore strengths, formal and informal support


systems

3. Assess: bio-psycho-social, understand situation and develop


hypothesis of internal and external factors of problem

4. Set goal: Formulation of problem based on tasks in Stages 1 and 2

5. Plan implementation

6. Evaluation

7. Termination
Corollaries
 Task Centered Case Work (Reid and Epstein)

 Setting tasks than focusing on problems

 Reaching goals through steps

 Short Term Task Centered Practice

 Time-limited

 Structured

 Goal-oriented
Limitations
1. Ambiguity of Problem:
 Social workers and their clients deal with tremendous uncertainty
and rarely with well-identified problems
 therefore problem “solving” does not often happen
 practical: problem reduction and management-goals (Schon,
1983).

2) Problem-solving is only one form of thought

 fixation on the problem-solving mode of interaction can constrict the


client’s ability to freely tell his or her “story”

 thus fail to tap into alternate styles of thought and reflection (


Anderson, 1997).
3. Culture-bound
 Developed in the context of white, middle-class culture
 may be unsuitable for clients from other cultures or social groups.
 especially inappropriate for individuals from cultures that rely on
less organized and less focused methods to address difficulties in
social life (Sue, 1981; Galan, 2001).

4) Based on non-experimental evidence

 Since Perlman developed her model when social work research


was in its infancy, most of her supporting documentation was drawn
from clinical and anecdotal sources, plus her own extensive clinical
experience.

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