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Social Work Vocabulary

Robert Lollar

22 July 2021

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Problem Solving Casework

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a form of social casework, developed primarily by Helen Harris Perlman. This model stresses clear delineations of the goals of the casework intervention, focused and time-limited intervention, and concern for the environmental and social forces that influence and are influenced by the client.

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Public Assistance

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also known as social assistance, a government's provision of minimum financial aid to people who have no other means of supporting themselves. Funds come from the general revenues of the federal and state governments and not from any social insurance funds such as old age, survivors, disability, and health insurance. Some public assistance programs are administered at the federal level, including SSI payments, which cover the old age assistance, aid to the blind, and aid to the permanently and totally disabled programs. Other public assistance programs are administered by states and localities, sometimes with the help of federal funding. These include TANF for those ineligible for any other categorical assistance programs.

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Systems Theories

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Those concepts that emphasize reciprocal relationships between the elements that constitute a whole. These concepts also emphasize the relationships among individuals, groups, organizations, or communities and mutually influencing factors in the environment. Systems theories focus on the interrelationships of elements in nature, encompassing physics, chemistry, biology, and social relationships.

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Assessment

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the process of determining the nature, cause, progression, and prognosis of a problem and the personalities and situations involved therein: the social work function of acquiring and understanding of a problem, what causes it, and what can be changed to minimize or resolve it.

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Goal-setting

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A strategy used by social workers and other professionals to help clients clarify and define the objectives they hope to achieve in the helping relationship and then to establish the steps that must be taken and the time needed to reach those objectives. The community organizer=social worker uses goal=setting by helping key members of the target population or client community define their objectives and spell out the goals they want their people to achieve.

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Social Group Work

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An orientation and method of social work intervention in which small numbers of people who share similar interests or common problems convene regularly and engage in activities designed to achieve certain objectives. In contrast to group psychotherapy, the goals of group work are not necessarily the treatment of emotional problems. The objectives also include exchanging information, developing social and manual skills, changing value orientations, and diverting antisocial behaviors into productive channels. Intervention techniques include, but are not limited to, controlled therapeutic discussions. Some groups also include education and tutoring; sports; arts and crafts; recreational activities; and discussion about topics such as politics, religion, sexuality, values, and goals. Although social group work draws on the theoretical perspectives of existential theory, its major theoretical perspective to describe group functioning is social systems theory. This orientation provides workers with a way to conceptualize about the effect of group dynamics and interrelationships outside the group. Social group work theorists delineate three major conceptions of group work: 1 the social goals model, 2 the reciprocal goals model, and 3 the remedial goals model.

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Guardian Ad Litem

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an individual appointed by a judge to protect a party to litigation who is assumed to be unable to protect his or her own interests, such as a child in a custody dispute or an adult who is alleged to be incompetent. The responsibilities of the guardian ad litem are temporary and limited to the course of the litigation.

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Tactics

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carefully designed and implemented procedures an individual or, more often, a group uses to bring about short-term changes in another group or individual. Tactics refers to short-term or day-to-day maneuvers, whereas strategies refer to the long range approaches and ultimate goals.

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Target System

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the individual, group, or community to be changed or influenced to achieve the social work goals. This is one of the four basic systems in social work practice. Target systems and client systems are sometimes but not always identical. They are different when the client is not to be changed. For example, a client may be a poor family that is being evicted, and the social worker's target system might be the landlord. Target systems and client systems may be the same when the client wants to achieve some self-change, such as relief from symptoms of emotional distress.

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Intervention

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interceding in or coming between groups of people, events, planning activities, or an individual's internal conflicts. In social work the term is analogous to the physician's term \"treatment\". Many social workers prefer using \"intervention\" because it includes \"treatment\" and other activities to solve or prevent problems or achieve goals. Thus it refers to psychotherapy, advocacy, mediation, social planning, community organization, finding and developing resources, and many other activities.

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Cost Benefit Analysis

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an administration and management procedure in which various goals of the organization are evaluated systematically, along with the expenses and resources required to achieve them.

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Least Restrictive Environment

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the term educators use for the legal requirement to place children with disabilities in learning situations that meet their special needs while most closely approximating that of the child without disabilities.

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Poverty Line

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a measure of the amount of money a government or a society believes is necessary for a person to live at a minimum level of subsistence or standard of living. The original poverty line in the US, issued in 1962, was determined by figuring three times the cost of a subsistence food budget. Since 1989 the poverty line, or threshold, has meant the previous year's poverty line adjusted for the change in the consumer price index.

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Policy

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the explicit or implicit standing plan that an organization or government uses as a guide for action.

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Practice Wisdom

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the accumulation of information, assumptions, ideologies, and judgments that are practically useful in fulfilling the expectations of the job. Practice wisdom is often equated with \"common sense\" and may or may not be validated when subjected to empirical or systematic analysis and may or may not be consistent with prevailing theory.

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NASW

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the organizations of social workers established in 1955 through the consolidation of the American Association of Social Workers, the American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers, the American Association of Group Workers, the Association for the Study of Community Organization, the American of Medical Social Workers, the National Association of School Social Workers, and the Social Work Research Group. NASW's primary functions include promoting the professional development of its members, establishing and maintaining professional standards of practice, advancing sound social policies for the betterment of the nation, and providing other services that protect its members and enhance their professional status. The organization has developed and adopted the NASW Code of Ethics and other generic and specialized practice standards. Certification and Quality assurance are promoted through several credentials, including the Academy of Certified Social Workers, the Qualified Clinical Social Worker, the Diplomate in Clinical Social Work, and other specialty certification programs. NASW maintains a lobbying group to influence national poly and it's Political Action for Candidate Election organization. NASW also sponsors professional conferences and continuing education programs and produces journal, books, and major reference works such as The Encyclopedia of Social Work and the Social Work Dictionary.

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Variance

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in research, a measure of dispersion within the distribution of events. In statistics, the square of the standard deviation. In social administration, the difference between budgeted expectations and actual results. In urban development, a legal exemption from zoning and building codes.

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Ventilation

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in the social worker -client therapeutic relationship, the process of permitting the client to express feelings during the description of the problem situation. According to the psychosocial theorists this releases or discharges emotions that have built up and caused the individual to have internal stress and conflict. It is also referred to as catharsis. Confidentiality, a principle of ethics according to which the social worker or other professional may not disclose information about a client without the client's consent. This information includes the identity of the client, content of verbalizations, professional opinions about the client, and material from records. Confidentiality does not preclude the communication of pertinent information about the client to relevant colleagues in the worker's agency. In specific circumstances, social workers and other professionals may be compelled by law to reveal to designated authorities some information such as threats of violence, commission of crimes, and suspected child abuse that would be relevant to legal judgments.

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Acceptance

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recognition of a person's positive worth as a human being without necessarily condoning the person's actions. In social work, it is considered one of the fundamental elements in the helping relationship.

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Dual Relationships

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in clinical social work, the unethical practice of assuming a second role with the client, in addition to professional helper, such as a friend, business associate, family member, or sex partner. Dual relationships tend to exploit clients or have long-term negative consequences for them. Workers who engage in these relationships are liable to legal as well as professional sanctions. The NASW Code of Ethics has explicitly forbidden sexual relationships since 1979; the explicit prohibition against other dual relationships was included in the 1994 code revisions. The prohibition against dual relationships has been in the code of ethics of the Clinical Social Work Federations since 1988.

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Accountability

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the state of being answerable to the community, to consumers of a product or service, or to supervisory groups such as a board of directors. An obligation of a profession to reveal clearly what its functions and methods are and to provide assurances to clients that its practitioners meet specific standards of competence.

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ACSW

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Academy of Certifies Social Workers. An NASW credential established in 1962 to evaluate and certify the practice competence of individual social workers with advanced degrees. Social workers are eligible for ACSW membership if they have obtained an MSW, DSW, or PhD degree from and accredited school; have two years of full time or 3,000 hours of part time practice experience under the supervision of a qualified social worker; provide references from a colleague and sign an agreement to adhere to the NASW Code of Ethics and the NASW Standards for Continuing Professional Education; and successfully pass the ACSW examination.

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Action System

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the people and resources in the community with whom the social worker deals to achieve desired changes. For example, the actions system for a client who is being evicted might include the other residents of the apartment building, local housing officials, and the media contacted by a social worker in an effort to change a landlord's policies.

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Activity Group

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a form of group involvement, which may or may not have a specifically designed therapeutic purpose, in which the participants work on programs of mutual interest. The members engage in activities as diverse as cooking, folk singing, carpentry, or crafts. Historically, activity groups were prevalent in early social group work, especially in settlement houses and youth services organizations. Their primary orientations was not therapeutic per se, but was a means for learning social skills, engaging in democratic decision making, and developing effective relationship capacities. More recently, activity groups are found in nursing homes, mental hospitals, and recreation centers.

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Acute

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intense conditions or disturbances of relatively short duration. For example, a mental disorder lasting fewer than six months often is considered to be acute, and one lasting more than six months is considered chronic. 2. The relatively sudden onset of a condition.

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Jane Addams

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one of the founders of social work, she was a community organizer, peace activist, and leader of the settlement house movement. With Ellen Gates Starr, she founded Hull House in Chicago, which became a prototype for other such facilities. She was corecipent of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

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Adolescence

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the life cycle period between childhood and adulthood, beginning at puberty and ending with young adulthood. Adolescents struggle to find self-identity, and this struggle is often accompanied by erratic behavior.

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Adversarial Process

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a procedure for reaching decisions by hearing and evaluating the presentation of opposing viewpoints. The adversarial process is most notably seen in courts of law, in which opposing attorneys present evidence and arguments in support of their respective views or clients.

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Advocacy

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1 the act of directly representing or defending others. 2 In social work, championing the rights of individuals or communities through direct intervention or through empowerment. According to the NASW Code of Ethics, it is a basic obligation of the profession and its members.

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Affect

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an individual's expression of mood, temperament, and feelings; an individual's overt emotional state.

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Saul Alinsky

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a community organizer based in Chicago, he developed methods for effectively mobilizing a community such as realistic goal setting and personalizing social problems by identifying scapegoats or \"villains\".

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Mary Richmond

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considered one of the principal founders of professional social work, Richmond led the Charity Organization Societies movement to develop schools to train social caseworkers. She taught volunteers and paid employees in various settings and developed some of the first teaching programs for social work. Her books were among the first to be used in training for social work. They included Friendly Visiting Among the Poor, Social Diagnosis, and What is Social Case Work.

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Almshouse

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a home for poor people; a form of indoor relief prevalent before the 20th century, in which shelters funded by philanthropy were provided for destitute families and individuals. In recent decades, almshouses have largely been replaced by outdoor relief programs in which needy people are provided with money, goods, and services while living in their own homes.

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Altruism

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unselfish regard for the well-being of others, accompanied by motivation to give money, goods, services or companionship.

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Analysis of Variance

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ANOVA - a statistical procedure commonly used in social work research for determining the extent to which two or more groups differ significantly when one is exposed to a dependent variable.

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Applied Research

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systematic investigations to acquire facts that can be used to solve or prevent problems, enhance lifestyles, advance technologies, or increase income. This is contrasted to basic research. Most social work research is applied research because it pertains mostly to the interactions between people and their environment, social problems, and methods for helping.

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Charity Organization Societies

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privately administered and philanthropically funded organizations that were the essential forerunners of modern social services agencies. The first COS was founded by Octavia Hill in London in 1869. The first American COS was in Buffalo, New York, in 1877 and was duplicated in most larger eastern cities soon thereafter. As more COS workers, sometimes known as friendly visitors, gradually became professionalized, they were called social workers.

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Autonomy

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1 an individual's sense of being capable of independent action; the ability to provide for one's own needs. 2 Independence from the control of others.

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Baseline

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the frequency with which a specific behavior or event occurs in a natural state, measured before any attempts are made to influence it.

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Block Grant

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a system of disbursing funds to meet a locality's health, education, and social welfare needs while permitting the recipient organizations to determine how best to distribute the money. Used mostly by the federal and sometimes state governments, the system is designed to consolidate budget itemizations and eliminate the necessity of earmarking funds for every individual and categorical program. Proponents say it increases efficiency and local control, and opponents suggest that it is a covert way of reducing expenditures for social welfare needs.

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Bonding

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the development by one person of attachment for another. The process begins when the individual has needs that are regularly fulfilled by the other, and his or her identity is partially shaped by the interrelationship.

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Broker Role

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a function of social workers and community organizers in which clients are helped identify, locate, and link available community resources, and various segments of the community are put in touch with one another to enhance their mutual interests.

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Case Management

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a process to plan, seek, advocate for, and monitor services, resources, and supports from different social agencies to enhance client strengths and well-being in helping them achieve their goals.

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Single Subject Design

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a research procedure often used in clinical situations to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention. Behavior of a single subject, such as an individual client, is used as a comparison and a control. Typically, the results of progress or change are plotted graphically. Single subject design is also known as N=1 design or singly system design.

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Categorical Assistance

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welfare programs for specific groups of people identified in the social security act. Originally, the programs were old age assistance, aid to the blind, aid to dependent children, and aid to the totally and permanently disabled. Needy people in these categories could receive financial assistance from their respective states supplemented by federal grants. In 1974, responsibility for the three adult categories was assumed by the federal supplemental security income program.

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Certification

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an official assurance that someone or something possesses the attributes he, she, or it claims to have. Legal certification of a profession is the warranting by a state that the people certified have attained a specified level of knowledge and skill. Professional certification is such warranting by a professional association. Certification typically does not prohibit uncertified people from engaging in the specified activity, but it prevents their use of the title \"certified\". Certification is usually considered to be stronger form of regulation than registration but weaker than a license.

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Change Agent System

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the organizations, social agencies, and community institutions that provide the auspices and additional resources through which the social worker provides service.

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Chicano

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a term sometimes used to describe American citizens of Mexican birth or ethnic heritage. Some Mexican Americans dislike the term because of its identification with political agitation and civil rights activism.

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Childhood

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the early stage in the human life cycle characterized by rapid physical growth and efforts to model adult roles and responsibilities, mostly through play and formal education. Many developmental psychologists say this stage occurs after infancy and lasts until puberty or until adulthood. This stage is sometimes divided into early childhood and middle or late childhood.

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Chins

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children in need of supervision, a designation used in some states for young people, for those who habitually are truant, use drugs or alcohol, runaway, or are antisocially aggressive. In most instances those designated as CHINS are children who have committed offenses that would not be considered illegal if they were adults.

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Chronic

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pertaining to problems, abnormal behaviors, and medical conditions that have developed and persisted over a long period. Many helping professionals consider problems that have lasted more than six months to be chronic and those that last fewer than six months to be acute.

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Class Action Suit

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a civil legal action taken by or on behalf of a group, community, or members of a social entity against an alleged perpetrator of harm to that group or some of its members.

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Client System

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the client and those in the client's environment who are potentially influential in contributing to a resolution of the client's problems. For example, a social worker may see a nuclear family as the client and the extended family and neighbors, teachers, and employers as making up part of the client system.

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Closed System

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in systems theories, a self-contained system with rigid boundaries that is organized to resist change and maintain the status quo. For example, a closed family system is relatively uninvolved with non-family members, less tolerant of ideas that differ from the family myths, and structured to maintain its interrelationships with minimal outside interference.

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Code of Ethics

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an explicit statement of the values, principles, and rules of a profession, regulating the conduct of its members.

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Coercion

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forcing or compelling an individual or group to perform some activity. This may occur through legal actions, government interventions, social influence, or political pressure, as well as through threats of violent harm.

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Informed Consent

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the granting of permission by the client to the social worker and agency or other professional person to use specific intervention, including diagnosis, treatment, follow- up, and research. This permission must be based on full disclosure of the facts needed to make the decision intelligently. Informed consent must be based on knowledge of the risks and alternatives. One of the greatest risks in professional malpractice suits is failure to achieve informed consent.

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Cognitive Theory

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a group of concepts pertaining to the way individuals develop the intellectual capacity for receiving, processing, and acting on information. Cognitive concepts emphasize that behavior is determined by thinking and goal determination, rather than primarily resulting from instinctive drives or unconscious motivations.

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Coming out

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the process of self-identification as a lesbian or a gay man, followed by the revelation of one's sexual orientation to others.

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Committee on Inquiry

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permanent and ad hoc groups of professionals and others brought together to determine if any wrongdoing has been committed by or to a peer. Of particular interest to such committees are alleged violations of professional codes of ethics, illegal activities, or other disputes among professionals or between professionals and clients. These committees also exist to raise the public consciousness about mistreatment of peers by governments or political organizations. Such groups are often sponsored by professional associations, third-party organizations, or alliances of consumer. For example NASW has a national committee for dealing with violations of the NASW Code of Ethics and personnel standards, and association's standards require that each chapter maintain a committee on inquiry.

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Common Law Marriage

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cohabitation by a man and a woman who consider themselves, and are generally considered by others, to be married but who have not had a civil or religious marriage ceremony. In some jurisdictions, this marriage is recognized by law for some purposes.

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Validity

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in social research, the concept concerned with the extent to which a procedure is able to measure the quality it is intended to measure.

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Reliability

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1 in psychosocial assessment, the individual's degree of dependability and consistency. 2 in social research, the dependability and consistency of scores on a test that is repeated over time with the same group. Researchers use three types of reliability: test-retest reliability, split-half reliability, and interrater reliability.

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Contract

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a written, oral, or implied agreement between the client and the social worker as to the goals, methods, timetables, and mutual obligations to be fulfilled during the intervention process.

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Control Group

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in research, a group of subjects who are equivalent in every possible respect with an experimental group, except that they are not exposed to the variable being tested.

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Correlation

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in research, a mutual relation; a pattern of variation between two phenomena in which change in one is associated with change in the other. High correlations are not necessarily indicative of causality.

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Cost of living index

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a measure to determine the relative purchasing power of money at a given time in a given society. In the US, the index is calculated by weighting the average prices of the major commodities that are considered important or representative of people's overall needs.

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Creaming

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selection of clients, not based on their need, but on their likelihood of benefitting from the intervention. The effect is for the agency to appear to have more success than if all clients had equal access.

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Crisis theory

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concepts pertaining to people's reactions when confronted with new and unfamiliar experiences. These experiences may come in the form of natural disasters, significant loss, changes in social status, and life-cycle changes. This theory suggests that when people experience crises, they tend to follow predictable patterns of response.

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Curandero

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in the cultures of some Hispanic groups, a person without formal medical training who is consulted about cures for various physical, emotional, or spiritual problems.

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Dependent Variable

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in systematic research, the phenomenon or reaction to be tested or measured when a new stimulus, condition, or treatment is introduced. The factor that is introduced is the independent variable.

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Diagnosis related groups

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the name applied to a federally mandated prospective payment mechanism designed to control the costs of medical and hospital care for Medicare recipients. Payments made to the hospitals caring for Medicare patients are determined in advance, based on which one of 467 discrete categories of disorder or DRG the patient has at the time of admission, as well as on the patient's age; whether surgery is necessary; and in some cases, the presence of complications. Each category, with relevant additional factors, is equated with a flat sum. If costs for care exceed the predetermined amount, the hospital is expected to bear the excess; if they are lower than the predetermined amount, however, the hospital may keep the difference.

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Dorthea Dix

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social activist and advocate for the humane treatment of prisoners and especially for people with mental illness. Her lobbying activities led to the establishment of many public and private mental hospitals.

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DSM IV

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the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Associations.

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Educator Role

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in social work, the responsibility to teach clients necessary adaptive skills. This is done by providing relevant information in a way that is understandable to the client, offering advice and suggestions, identifying alternatives and their probable consequences, modeling behaviors, teaching problem solving techniques, and clarifying perceptions. Other social work roles are identified as the facilitator role, the enabler role, and the mobilizer role.

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Enabler role

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1 an individual who makes something possible. 2 the term is used increasingly to indicate the actions of one who facilitates the dysfunctional behavior of another. An example is a spouse who keeps alcohol around while the partner is trying to deal with alcohol addiction.

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Entitlement Programs

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Government-sponsored benefits of cash, goods, or services that are due all people who belong to a specified class. Examples include the social security programs such as old age, survivors, disability, and health insurance and Medicare in the US and family allowance in many European nations.

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Equifinality

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1 the property of living systems that permits them to reach identical points, although by different routes. 2 a concept in systems theories stating that different behaviors by living organisms can lead to the same or \"equal final\" results. The opposite of equifinality is equipotentiality or multifinality.

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Eriksonian Theory

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in human psychosocial development theory, the eight stages of life as proposed by Erik Erikson. The stages are trust vs mistrust which occurs at about ages 1-2, autonomy vs shame and doubt which occurs at about ages 2-4, initiative vs guilt which occurs at about ages 3-6, industry vs inferiority which occurs at about ages 6-12, identity vs role confusion which occurs at about ages 12-18, intimacy vs isolation which occurs at about ages 18-24, generativity vs stagnation which occurs at about ages 24-54, and integrity vs despair which occurs in those older than 54.

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Extended theory

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should this be extended family?

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Facilitator

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one who serves as a leader or catalyst for some group experience, usually to improve working relationships between members of the group. The facilitator seeks to help individuals and groups determine their own goals, develop their own solutions to problems, and coordinate their efforts to resolve conflicts. This typically occurs without imposing solutions or using formal authority, but through persuasion and nurturing.

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Family

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a primary group whose members assume certain obligations for each other and generally share common residences. The NASW Commission on Families defined a family as two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socializations, income support, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life.

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Family therapy

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intervention by a professional social worker or other family therapist with a group of family members who are considered to be a single unit of attention. Typically, the approach focuses on the whole system of individuals and interpersonal and communication patterns. It seeks to clarify roles and reciprocal obligations and to encourage more adaptable behaviors among the family members. Variations in family therapy techniques are practiced by proponents of psychosocial, behavioral, systems, and other orientations. Some of the more influential family therapy \"schools\" have been influenced by Salvador Minuchin, Jay Haley, Virginia Satir and the Palo Alto Group, Murray Bowen, Carl Whittaker, Henry V. Dicks, Mara Selvini-Palazzoli, and Peggy Papp.

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Feminism

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the social movement and doctrine advocating legal and socioeconomic equality for women. The movement originated in Great Britain in the 18th century.

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Freedom Riders

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Civil rights activists who rode buses into the American South in the 1960's to challenge racial segregation laws and practices.

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Generalist

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in social work, a practitioner whose knowledge and skills encompass a broad spectrum and who assesses problems and their solutions comprehensively. The generalist often coordinates the efforts of specialists by facilitating communications between them, thereby fostering continuity of care.

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Group Leader

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an individual who facilitates group processes. The leader can be an indigenous member who through charisma, skill, or other attributes, influences the others. The leader also can be external, whose position or expertise usually results in some influence over the group. Each group has a leader, but the leader may change from one meeting to the next or from one minute to the next.

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Group therapy

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an intervention strategy for helping individuals who have emotional disorders or social maladjustment problems by bringing together two or more individuals under the direction of a social worker or other professional therapist. The individuals are asked to share their problems with other members of the group, discuss ways to resolve their problems, exchange information and views about resources and techniques for solving the problem, and share emotional experiences in a controlled setting that enables the members to work through their difficulties. A typical format in group therapy is to have six to eight members meet with a professional therapist in a facility provided by the therapist for 90 minutes once each week. Among the many variations of group therapy are closed group and open group. Group therapy is a format used by practitioners of many orientations, including behaviorism, transactional analysis, family therapy, gestalt therapy, and psychoanalysis.

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Hawthorne effect

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a phenomenon in social research in which subjects behave differently from their norm because of their awareness of being observed.

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Hispanic

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persons who identify themselves as coming from or being descended from people from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central America, or South America. Hispanic-origin persons may be of any race and in census statistics may be included in any one of these racial groups. The term refers to Spanish-language users, rather than any racial or ethnic identity.

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Homeostasis

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the tendency of a system or organism to maintain stability and, when disrupted, to adapt and strive to restore the stability previously achieved.

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Impaired social worker

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one who is unable to function adequately as a professional social worker and provide competent care to clients as a result of a physical or mental disorder or personal problems, or the inability or desire to adhere to the code of ethics of the profession. These problems most commonly include alcoholism, substance abuse, mental illness, burnout, stress, or relationship problems. And organization that provides confidential collegial assistance is Social Workers Helping Social Workers.

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Incrementalism

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gradual change in policies, attitudes, and behaviors. Social welfare planners tend to use incrementalism because of public resistance to adopting comprehensive programs all at once.

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Independent variable

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in systematic research, the factors that are thought to influence or cause a certain behavior, phenomenon, or reaction. The factor that is being influenced is the dependent variable.

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Individualization

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the ethical value in social work and other helping professions for understanding the client as a unique person or group rather than as one whose characteristics are simply typical of a class. In social work practice, the term emphasizes the needs and welfare of each and every person as identifiable and unique and focuses on that which sets the person apart from all others.

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In loco parentis

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the legal expression referring to the circumstances in which an organizations assumes the obligations of parenting a child or other person without a formal adoption. Most commonly, such relationships exist when a child is in a residential institution such as a reformatory or boarding school.

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Institutional discrimination

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prejudicial treatment in organizations based on official policies, overt behaviors, or behaviors that may be covert but approved by those with power.

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Intake

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procedures used by social agencies to make the initial contacts with the client productive and helpful. Generally, these procedures include informing the client about the services the agency offers; providing information about the conditions of service, such as fees and appointment times; obtaining pertinent data about the client; interviewing to get a preliminary impression of the nature of the problem; arriving at an agreement with the client about willingness to be served by the agency; and assigning the client to the social worker or social workers who are best suited to provide the needed services.

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Interval Measurement

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in research, a level of measurement that includes the properties of nominal measurement and ordinal measurement but requires that there are equal intervals between the units of measurement. Most of the well-standardized psychological tests use interval measurement.

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Jargon

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special language that is used by various professional groups as a shorthand method of communicating complicated concepts, which usually seem obscure and confusing to those outside the group.

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Jim Crow Laws

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statutes requiring or condoning racial segregation in the United States. Such laws have been ruled unconstitutional.

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Labeling theory

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the hypothesis that when people are assigned a label, such as \"paranoid schizophrenia\", to indicate some kind of disorder or deviance, others tend to react to the subjects as though they were deviant. Also, the subjects may begin to act in a way that meets the others' expectations. This may be a type of self-fulfilling prophecy and an example of the Hawthorne effect.

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Laissez Faire

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1 in social policy, the idea that government should not interfere with the economy and that individuals will provide all services and fulfill all needs by means of financial incentives. 2 in social administration, the management practice of minimal involvement. A laissez-faire leader lets staff make their own decisions.

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Latency stage

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in the Freudian theory of psychosexual development, the stage of personality development in the child that follows the phallic phase, and precedes the genital stage. Sigmund Freud viewed this as a time in which no new conflicts are introduced, but the child consolidates previous progress. Other analytic theorists saw this stage as important for the child's developing social skills and sexual identity.

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Lesbian

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a woman whose sexual or erotic orientation is for other women.

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Liability

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a legal obligation to perform some duty, pay for some action, or refrain from doing something. Professional liability can take the form of paying clients who have been harmed by the intervention, and the liability can extend beyond the direct practitioner to that person's supervisor, as in vicarious liability.

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Licensing

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granting a formal government authorization to do something that cannot be done legally without that authorization. Before one can legally engage in the practice of clinical social work in any jurisdiction in the US, one must obtain a license in that jurisdiction.

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Life model

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the social work practice approach designed by Carel Germain and Alex Gitterman that uses the ecological perspective as a metaphor for focusing on the interface between the client and the environment. The social worker who uses this approach views stressful problems in living as consequences of person-environment transactions.

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Longitudinal study

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repeated testing of the same phenomenon or group of subjects over an extended period.

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Macro practice

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Social work practice aimed at bringing about improvements and changes in the general society. Such activities include some types of political action, community organization, public education campaigning, and the administration of broad-based social services agencies or public welfare departments.

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Mainstreaming

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bringing people who have some exceptional characteristics into the living, working, or educational environments to which all others have access. In education, for example, a child with certain learning or physical challenges is permitted to attend classes and activities available to all the other children. Mainstreaming permits individuals to have greater opportunity for socialization and integration. However, it also subjects them to greater risks of social rejection and reduction of special care.

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Malpractice

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willful or negligent behavior by a professional person that violates the relevant code of ethics and professional standards of care, and that proves harmful to the client. Among a social worker's actions most likely to result in malpractice are inappropriate divulging of confidential information, unnecessarily prolonged services, misrepresentation of one's knowledge or skills, the provision of social work treatment as a replacement for needed medical treatment, the provision of information to others that is libelous or that results in improper incarceration, financial exploitations of the client, sexual activity with a client, and physical injury to the client that may occur in the course of certain treatments.

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Managed health care program

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1 health care delivery systems within the context of fiscal responsibility. 2 a formal network of health care personnel, third-party funding organizations, and other fiscal intermediaries that provide for health care costs in exchange for regular premium payments. Cost containment, effective marketing, and provider oversight are emphasized in many of these programs.

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Mean

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a measure of central tendency, also known as the arithmetic average, found by adding scores and dividing this sum by the number of the scores. For example, if an agency wanted to know the mean, or average, amount of time each client was seen during a week, it would add the total amount of minutes the agency social workers spent with clients that week and divide the sum by the number of clients seen.

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Means test

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evaluating the client's financial resources and using the result as the criterion to determine eligibility to receive a benefit. The client applying for certain economic, social, or health services will be turned down if the investigator determines that the person has the \"means\" to pay for them. Programs and services that use the means test to determine client eligibility include Medicaid, TANF, and the SNAP program. Means test evaluators usually consider the client's income, assets, debts, and other obligations, number of dependents, and health factors.

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Medicaid

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the health care program established in 1965 to pay for hospital and medical services to people who cannot afford them. Eligibility is based on demonstrating that one's income and resources are insufficient to pay for health care insurance. Funding comes from federal, state, and sometimes county governments under the auspices of the US department of health and human services centers for Medicare and Medicaid services. In most areas, the program is administered through local public assistance offices. SSI recipients may also be helped with Medicaid applications in their local social security offices.

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Micro practice

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the term used by social workers to identify professional activities that are designed to help solve the problems faced primarily by individuals, families, and small groups. Usually micro practice focuses on direct intervention on a case-by-case basis or in a clinical setting.

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Misfeasance

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performing a proper act in a way that is harmful or injurious, especially by public officials.

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Multifinality

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the systems theory concept in which subsystems have identical beginnings or origins but achieve different outcomes. This term is synonymous with equipotentiality and is the opposite of equifinality.

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Mulitproblem family

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a kinship group whose members are seen by the social worker and treated for a variety of different social, economic, and personality difficulties at the same time. Viewing some family clients as \"multiproblem\" enables the social worker to use many intervention techniques to address more than one problem at one time.

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Mutuality

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the efforts of two or more people to act together in ultimate harmony to achieve benefits for each. In systems theories it is the concept of interdependence between various subsystems, such as a social worker and client, landlord and tenant, or parents and children.

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NAACP

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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The largest and oldest of the US civil rights organizations. It was established in 1909, when social worker Mary White Ovington and others helped organize African American and white people who were outraged about a series of lynchings. NAACP now has more than 1,500 local chapters throughout all 50 states and works to achieve its goals primarily through legal actions to protect the rights of black citizens, nonpartisan political action to enact civil rights laws, and education and public information.

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Native Americans

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the name applied by some to the ethnic-racial-cultural groups of American citizens whose ancestors lived in the Western Hemisphere before its exploration and settlement by Europeans. The designation has been applied to 350-400 distinct ethnic groups that use more than 250 languages.

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Natural Helping Network

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informal linkages and relationships between people who voluntarily provide important services and supports to people in need and those to whom they provide the services. Most natural helping networks develop among members of the needy person's family or neighbors, fellow employees, members of the person's church members of associations or social classes to which the person belongs, or altruistic people in the community.

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Needs assessment

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systematic appraisals made by professionals in evaluating their clients for problems, existing resources, potential solutions, and obstacles to problem solving. In social agencies, needs assessments are made on behalf of the clients who receive clinical services and in communities to document needs and establish priorities for service.

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Negligence

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failure to exercise reasonable care or caution, resulting in others being subjected to harm or unwarranted risk of harm; also, failure to fulfill responsibility that is necessary to protect or help another. Contributory negligence may occur when a person's failure to exercise prudent caution, combined with the negligence of another, results, in harm to a third individual. For example, if a social worker does not report knowledge about a person's neglect of a child who has been harmed, the social worker could be charged with contributory negligence. Criminal negligence may occur when one is so reckless, careless, or indifferent to other's safety that injury or death results.

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Nonprofit agencies

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organizations established to fulfill some social purpose other than monetary reward to financial backers. Technically, the term includes government or tax-supported agencies, but it is usually reserved for private, voluntary social agencies and excludes for-profit proprietary social agencies. Nonprofit agencies have explicit policies and established boards of directors. They are funded by a variety of sources, including revenue coming directly from clients, third parties, public contributions, philanthropic contributions, and government grants-in-aid; they are usually tax exempt. Most of the traditional social agencies, professional associations, and social change organizations are nonprofit.

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NOW

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National Organization for Women. A volunteer organization, with local chapters throughout the US, established in 1996 to enhance the economic and social opportunities for women through educating the public, lobbying, taking legal action against discriminatory procedures, and helping elect candidates sympathetic to NOW's goals.

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Nuclear family

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the kinship group consisting of a father, a mother, and their children.

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Null Hypothesis

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a negative statement about proposed relationships in research data. A typical hypothesis stated in null fashion would be \"there is no difference between the results of A and B\". The null hypothesis permits statistical tests of significance and demands more rigorous testing procedures than needed to prove an affirmative statement.

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Ombudsperson

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an advocate or spokesperson for the people who are served by an organization to ensure that the organization's obligations, ethical duties, and rules are being followed. Also, and individual employed by a government or other organization to investigate possible illegal, unethical activities or harmful unforeseen consequences of that organization's actions and to facilitate negotiations or actions toward satisfactory solutions. The term is gender-neutral for \"ombudsman\".

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Open adoption

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the legal and social services process of adoption in which adoptive parents and the birth mother or birth parents become known to each other and, in many instances, continue some contact throughout the child's development.

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Open ended question

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in systematic opinion research and clinical interviews, a form of questioning that permits respondents to give extensive answers. For example, the social worker may ask, \"why do you think it is difficult to get a job?\"

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Open system

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in systems theories, a system that accepts input from outside and is amenable to change based on conditions in the environment. For example, an open family system is structured so that its members can become involved with outsiders, bringing them and their ideas into the family unit to effect some changes in the way the family interrelates. The open system concept is generally applied to living systems rather than nonliving or mechanical ones.

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Organizational theory

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conceptual frameworks about the ways an organization fulfills its functions, which several theories or schools have tried to explain. The classical school emphasizes bureaucratic structure, defined lines of authority, specialized functions by employees, and criteria for performance evaluations. The scientific management school emphasizes the use of measurements of human activity and uses time and motion studies and \"efficient experts.\" The human relations school emphasizes the interrelationship of the work-group members, the informal network of workers, and the relationship between the organization's goals and the workers' social needs. The structuralist or systems orientation sees the organizations as an adaptive whole within a changing environment. Human services organizations differ from others in that their \"raw material\" and product are the people being served.

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Paradigm

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a model or pattern containing a set of legitimated assumptions and a design for collecting and interpreting data. For example, the psychosocial paradigm begins with an assumption that behavior is determined largely through learning the experiences of interpersonal relationships.

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Parens patriae

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a legal doctrine that refers to the role of the state as guardian of people who are unable to care for themselves. The concept is used legally in deciding to intervene in family matters, such as custody of children, divorce disputes, and removal of children to foster care. Under this authority, the child is not the absolute property of a parent, but a trust granted to a parent by the state.

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Partialization

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the social work process of temporarily considering a client's interconnected problems as separate entities so that work toward their solution can be more manageable. The process includes developing priorities or distinguishing those problems or needs that demand immediate attention from those that can be postponed for a time.

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Passing

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the process in which gay men and lesbians present themselves to others as being heterosexual. The practice occurs among the gay and lesbian people who seek to avoid stigma, hostility, and discrimination.

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Passive aggressive

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the behavior of an individual who uses covert actions to fight another person or organizations. The individual may feel angry but powerless in direct confrontations and so becomes obstructionistic, obstinate, and inefficient and tend to pout and procrastinate. Because the anger is often unconscious, the reaction is also usually unconscious. When this behavior is deeply ingrained and persists through many situations and life phases, it may indicate the presence of a personality disorder.

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Pauper

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a poor person. The term originated in Europe in the early Middle Ages from \"pauperes\", referring to dependence. Those called paupers were not necessarily in need but could be in their dependent stat voluntarily. The paupers Christi spent their time praying near churches and depending on donations.

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Peer review

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a formal evaluation by a specific group of one's fellow professionals to determine general competence or specific actions. In social work and other professions, the term refers to a formal periodic process in which professional standards of intervention have been spelled out and practices are monitored by colleagues.

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Personality disorders

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long-term or lifelong patterns of relating to and understanding others that are so maladaptive, inflexible, and deeply ingrained that they produce significant social impairment. Personality disorders are usually recognizable in one's adolescence. The DSM-5 delineates six different types of personality disorders: antisocial, avoidant, narcissistic, obsessive compulsive, schizotypal, and borderline. DSM-5 also specifies a residual category called \"personality disorder trait specified\"

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Person in environment system

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PIE- a tool social workers use to describe and classify problems of social functioning. The system is used for the systematic collection of relevant information that can produce a comprehensive assessment of the social functioning problems adult clients bring to social workers. The system also helps the worker draw conclusions about the interrelated factors contributing to the client's problems and select interventions that might relieve or solve problems. PIE calls for a description of the client based on four factors: factor I-social functioning problems; factor II- environmental problems; factor III- mental disorders; and factor IV- physical health problems. The degree to which these problems require social work intervention is rated in a severity index. The length and recency of the client's problem is related in the duration index. The coping index is a rating of the client's resources for dealing with the problem.

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Phobia

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an intense and persistent fear of an object or situation.

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Plagiarism

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the act of appropriating the scientific or literary writing of another persona and presenting it as one's own work. Plagiarism is a crime when such work has been copyrighted or when state laws specify conditions in which such acts are unlawful. The act is considered unethical by social workers.

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Poor law of 1834

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the English legislation enacted to revise the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601. The new law was punitive and based on the premise that poor people lacked strong or moral character. The laws discontinued public assistance for all able-bodied citizens except those in public institutions and imposed the less eligibility principle so that no beneficiary would receive as much as the lowest wage earner. The program was taken from local authorities and administered nationally. The principles of the Poor Law of 1834 had a significant influence on public welfare policy in the US for more than a century.

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Prejudice

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an opinion about an individual, group, or phenomenon that is developed without proof or systematic evidence. This prejudgment may be favorable but is more often unfavorable and may become institutionalized in the form of a society's laws or customs.

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Presenting problem

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the perceived symptoms, overt issues, or difficulties the client believes to constitute the problem and for which help is sought. The one who presents the problem may be the person for who help is sought, or others may recognize the need for helping that person. Because the social worker recognizes that the problem may be the result of underlying causes or that there can be inaccuracies in the way the problem is understood by the client, consideration of the presenting problem is only the beginning of the assessment phase.

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Primary care

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in health care delivery system, the first contact type of intervention that occurs in hospital emergency rooms, outpatient clinics, and doctor's offices. Primary care usually includes monitoring symptoms, screening for diseases, treating minor injuries, and managing chronic diseases.

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Privileged communication

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the premise and understanding between a professional and client that the information revealed by the client will not be divulged to others without expressed permission. In fact, the laws and judicial interpretations in each state are not always consistent or clear about this premise. Courts in many states have honored privileged communication for social workers and other professional groups, except when there is a risk of public danger or a threat to the public good.

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Problem oriented record

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POR - a format used by physicians, social workers, nurses, and other professionals to develop and maintain efficient case records. The record contains four components: 1 the database, 2 the problem list, 3 the plan and 4 the follow up action. POR is highly focused on specific problems and their progress and resolution and thus makes the professional more easily accountable than do less focused, chronological summaries.

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Process recording

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a method of writing about the social worker-client interactions during the intervention process. The case record using this format begins with a face sheet of factual data about the client and relevant social, environmental, economic, and physical factors. Then, it briefly describes the presenting problem and includes documenting data about the problem. The social worker then includes a statement of goals, obstacles to reaching the goals, means to reaching them, and where applicable, a written contract signed by social worker and client. The record then contains entries for each contact the client makes with the social worker or agency, including telephone calls and messages from other family members. The entry is headed by the date and time of the visit or contact and a summary of the factual information obtained as well as any subjective impressions the social worker has developed. These entries are not as elaborate as those in verbatim recording but are more chronologically stated than in the problem-oriented record. Because of recent legislations, court rulings, and ethical principles, social workers are often advised to prepare their records so they are accessible to other social workers, clients, peer reviewers, or providers of third party payments. This is to protect the client's rights during emergencies, when the social worker is inaccessible, or in cases of quality assurance evaluations and peer review.

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Professionalism

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the degree to which an individual possesses and uses the knowledge, skills, and qualifications of a profession and adheres to its values and ethics when serving the client.

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Proprietary social agencies

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organizations or facilities that are usually owned or staffed by social workers and other professionals and that are intended to make a profit by providing a specified social service. These agencies provide essentially the same services as traditional nonprofit agencies, except that the charges to the recipient or recipient's agent may be higher. Examples of such organizations are private halfway houses, residential and educational facilities, camps, impatient mental health facilities, training centers, research institutes, consultation services, privatized prisons, and social action and community organization programs.

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Purchase of service agreements

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a fiscal arrangement or contract between two or more organizations; one organization agrees in advance to pay a specified amount to the other for providing a predetermined number of services within a specified period. Purchaser organizations are thus able to extend services to their clientele, and provider agencies can increase their budgets, extend their services, and in some cases increase their profits. Such agreements are often between government entities as the purchaser and social agencies as providers. This term is known as purchase of service contracts - POSCs-

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Racism

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stereotyping and generalizing about people, usually negatively, because of their race; commonly a basis of discrimination against members of racial groups. Racism is an ideology that a group's genetic physical characteristics are linked in a direct causal way to psychological, intellectual, or behavioral traits, and these distinguish superior and inferior groups.

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Randomization

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in social research, the assignment of subjects to experimental and control groups in such a way that each subject has an equally likely chance of being assigned to either of the groups.

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Referral

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the social work process of directing a client to an agency, resources, or a professional known to be able to provide a needed service. This process may include knowing what the available resources are, knowing what the client's needs are, facilitating the client's opportunity to partake of the service, and following up to be certain that the contact was fulfilled.

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Reliability

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1. In psychosocial assessment, the individual's degree of dependability and consistency. 2. In social research, the dependability and consistency of scores on a test that is repeated over time with the same group. Researchers use three types of reliability: test-retest reliability, split-half reliability, and interrater reliability.

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Right to treatment

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the legal principle, established in the Wyatt v. Stickney decision, that an individual who is confined in an institution has the right to receive the treatment necessary to offer a reasonable chance for improvement so that the person can function independently and be released from that institution. This right has led many facilities that lack the resources for individual treatment to discharge their clients.

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Roe v Wade

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the 1973 decision by the US Supreme Court that state laws forbidding abortion were unconstitutional under specified circumstances. The court held that, in the first trimester, abortion must be left to medical judgment. In the second trimester, the state may, if it chooses, regulate abortion to protect maternal health but may not prohibit abortion. In the third trimester the state may regulate or prohibit abortion except when necessary to preserve the mother's life. The decision has been the source of considerable controversy, and there have been numerous challenges in the courts. Political action in support of the decision is led by the prochoice movement, and the opposition is led by the right-to-life movement.

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Role theory

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a group of concepts, based on socio-cultural and anthropological investigations that pertain to the way people are influenced in their behaviors by the variety of social positions they hold and the expectations that accompany those positions.

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Rural social work

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social work practice oriented to helping people who have unique problems and needs arising out of living in agricultural, nonmetropolitan, or sparsely populated areas or small towns. These people face many of the same problems and needs as do urban clients; in additions, however, they often encounter difficulties because of limited services and resource systems, less acceptance of any variations from the social norms prevalent in the area, and fewer educational and economic opportunities.

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Self-disclosure

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in the social work interview, the social worker's revelation of personal information, values, and behaviors to the client. The profession does not declare that such revelation should or should not be made, and in certain limited circumstances it may be considered useful. However, there is some consensus that self-disclosure should not occur unless it serves a therapeutic purpose of is designed to help achieve the client's goal.

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Settlement houses

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neighborhood based facilities established in urban centers to bring together people of different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds to share knowledge, skills, and values for their mutual benefit. These centers are financed primarily through voluntary contributions and grants and are staffed primarily by people indigenous to the neighborhood, educators, recreation specialists, and social workers whose primary orientation is social group work, community organization, and social planning. The social settlement movement began in London in 1884 at Toynbee Hall, where university students lived and met with their neighbors to exchange ideas. Soon hundreds of settlement houses were established around the world with the same goals.

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Sexist language

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the use of written or spoken words that imply or convey the idea that one of the sexes is more important that the other. Sexist language is found most commonly in using males to represent humanity or in applying generic masculine pronouns for both sexes.

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Sickle cell anemia

answer

a genetically transmitted blood disorder in which a large proportion of red cells assume sickle like shapes. The disorder affects primarily people of West African descent. In the US, government grants have led to the establishment of fee testing for the sickle cell trait in health centers around the nation.

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Significance level

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the degree to which a value that has been obtained through systematic data collection will not occur by chance. In research reporting, this level is expressed numerically to indicate the number of times out of a specified number of samplings that the result would probably occur by chance. In the social sciences, the significance levels are most often .01, .05, or .001, even though any other figure could be used as well. For example, if the .05 level is used, a specified outcome would occur by chance five times among 100 samplings.

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Single subject design

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a research procedure often used in clinical situations to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention. Behavior of a single subject, such as an individual client, is used as a comparison and control. Typically, the results of progress or change are plotted graphically. Single subject design is also known as N=1 design or single system design.

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Sit in

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a method of passive resistance, in which demonstrators occupy a public place and refuse to leave until action is taken to redress their grievances. Sit ins were used extensively during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's, especially in segregated restaurants, legislators'' offices, and bus stations.

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Sliding fee scale

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the practice, found among many social agencies and workers, in which clients are charged fees for services based on their ability to pay, rather than on a fixed rate established in advance for everyone who receives the same service.

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Social action

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a coordinated effort to achieve institutional change to meet a need, solve a social problem, correct and injustice, or enhance the quality of human life. This effort may occur at the initiative and direction of professionals in social welfare, economics, politics, religion, or the military, or it may occur through the efforts of the people who are directly affected by the problem or change.

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Social casework

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the orientation, value system, and type of practice used by professional social workers in which psychosocial, behavioral, and systems concepts are translated into skills designed to help individuals and families solve intrapsychic, interpersonal, socioeconomic, and environmental problems through direct fact to face relationships. Many social workers consider social casework to be synonymous with clinical social work practice.

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Social group work

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an orientation and method of social work intervention in which small numbers of people who share similar interests or common problems convene regularly and engage in activities designed to achieve certain objectives.

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Social history

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an in depth description and assessment of the current and past client situation, often included in the case records and medical records of clients. It is a document that describes the person's family and socioeconomic background and relevant developmental experiences. Typically, this document is prepared by social workers and social work assistants based on interviews with the client and members of the client's environment. The social history often precedes and forms the basis for social work assessment and service planning. It may also be used by other professionals, such as physicians, lawyers, and teachers, in their own decision making to serve the client. Many social histories are written in a narrative, chronological fashion. Others are organized topically. They frequently include the information under specific headings similar to the following nine headlines: presenting problem, symptoms of the problem, history of the problem, current situation, family background, educational and vocational background, client goals, social worker's assessment, and social worker's recommendations. The history also may include other information the social worker deems relevant to the presenting problem, goal, or agency function.

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Social insurance

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government programs to protect citizens against statutorily stipulated risks, such as loss of income due to old age, disability, death of a bread winner, unemployment, and work related injury and sickness. Social insurance programs are characterized by compulsory contributions and participation, presumptive needs, clearly defined benefit formulas, and the absence of the means test. Unlike private insurance programs, benefits under social insurance programs are not necessarily proportional to contributions. Major social insurance programs in the US are OASDHI, unemployment insurance, worker's compensation, and state temporary disability insurance.

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Social planning

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systematic procedures to achieve predetermined types of socioeconomic structures and to manage social change rationally. These procedures usually include designating some individual or organization to collect the facts, delineate alternative courses of action, and make recommendations to those empowered to implement them. Social planning is one of the methods of social work practice.

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Social security act

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the federal legislation enacted in 1935, with several subsequent amendments, designed to meet many of the economic needs of older people, dependent survivors, people with disabilities, and needy families. In its original form the act contained two major provisions, a compulsory insurance program for workers and public assistance program financed jointly from the federal and state treasuries. The insurance program collected payroll taxes from certain groups of workers and matching contributions from their employers and, with those funds, established specific funds used to pay benefits to retired workers. Surviving dependents could also receive benefits varied according to how much the worker had earned and contributed. Through grants to the states, the act also established and Unemployment Insurance program and awarded funds to states to develop uniform programs to care for poor children, needy older people, and blind people. The social security act has been used as the framework for much of the subsequent national legislation that provides for people's economic and social welfare needs.

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Social welfare

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1. A nation's system of programs, benefits, and services that help people meet those social, economic, educational, and health needs that are fundamental to the maintenance of society. 2. The state of collective well-being of a community or society.

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Social work

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1. The applied science of helping people achieve and effective level of psychosocial functioning and effecting societal changes to enhance the well-being of all people. 2. According to the NASW, \"social work is the professional activity of helping individuals, groups, or communities enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and creating societal conditions favorable to this goal. Social work practice consists of the professional application of social work values, principles, and techniques to one or more of the following ends: helping people obtain tangible services; providing counseling and psychotherapy with individuals, families, and groups; helping communities or groups or improve social and health services; and participating in relevant legislative processes. The practice of social work requires knowledge of human development and behavior; of social, economic, and cultural institutions; and of the interaction of all these factors\". 3. The International Federation of Social Workers adopted its official definition at its General Meeting in Montreal, Canada, July 25-27, 2000. \"The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships, and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of human behavior and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.\"

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Strategies

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carefully designed and implemented procedures an individual or group uses to bring about long-term changes in another individual or group. Strategies refers to long-range approaches and ultimate goals, and tactics refers to short-term or day-to-day maneuvers.

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Sunset laws

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statutes that require an organization to demonstrate periodically that it is achieving the goals it was established to achieve, or be automatically discontinued.

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Sunshine laws

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legal requirements that government meetings and hearings are to be conducted in public. The law was enacted in 1976. This term now applies to the requirements that other organizations and levels of government also conduct their business open to the scrutiny of those affected.

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Support system

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an interrelated group of people, resources, and organizations that provides individuals with emotional, informational, material, and affectional sustenance. Members of a support system may include an individual's closest friends and family members, key members of the peer group, fellow employees, membership organizations, and institutions that can be called on for help in times of need.

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Systems theories

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Tactics

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carefully designed and implemented procedures and individual or, more often, a group uses to bring about short-term changes in another group or individual. Tactics refers to short-term or day-to-day maneuvers, whereas strategies refers to the long-range approaches and ultimate goals.

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Target system

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Termination

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the conclusion of the social worker-client intervention process; a systematic procedure for disengaging the working relationship. It occurs when goals are reached, when the specified time for working has ended, or when the client is no longer interested in continuing. Termination often included evaluation the progress toward goal achievement, working through, resistance, denial, and flight into illness. The termination phase also includes discussions about how to anticipate and resolve future problems and how to find additional resources to call on as future needs indicate.

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Third party payment

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financial reimbursement made to the client's service provider by an insurance company or government funding agency.

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Transfer payments

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cash benefits, theoretically taken from one population group and redirected to another. Typically, this is done indirectly with money withheld from one group and placed into the government treasury, which then disburses funds to the eligible other party. For example, money is transferred from younger to older people in social security, from employed to unemployed people in unemployment compensation, and from more affluent people to poor people in TANF. In the US, some of the other major income transfer programs are SSI, Medicare, and Medicaid. In other countries, including most European nations, a major income transfer program is the family allowance.

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Uncle Tom

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a term of contempt, based on the character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, referring to a black person whose behavior toward white people is considered servile or whose behavior is seen as antithetical to the interests of African Americans as a group.

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Values

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the customs, beliefs, standards of conduct, and principles considered desirable by a culture, a group of people, or an individual. Social workers, as one group ascribe to a set of core values on which social work's mission is based. These core values, as specified in the NASW Code of Ethics are service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence.

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Variable

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in social research, a characteristic that may vary or assume different quantified values. For example, the number of applicants for welfare benefits varies when more jobs are available.

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Vendor

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one who sells a product or service. Because they are paid to provide social services, social workers and their agencies are referred to as vendors by insurance companies and other third party funding organizations.

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WASP

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White Anglo Saxton Protestant. Virtually the only population group in which male members are not considered \"minorities\" or socially disadvantaged. The term also is frequently applied to white people who are Catholics and to people of non-English European ancestry, that is, white non-ethnic persons. The WASP label often is used to imply that there is a single lifestyle, political orientations, and economic value orientations among these people, even though they are highly disparate in these characteristics.

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War on Poverty

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President Lyndon B Johnson's plans and programs established during his administration to encourage economic well-being, promote equal opportunity for all, and realize the Great Society. The \"war\" was to be fought primarily through the programs of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. This included a major revision of the Social Security Act of 1935, including greatly extended coverage. The Economic Opportunity Act established Volunteers in Service to America, the Job Corps, Head Start, the Legal Services Corporation, and the Community Action Program.

Social Work Vocabulary

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