Have you ever found yourself well into a conversation? When you suddenly
realized you weren't talking about the same thing your friend was.
This happens surprisingly often between two or more people. And if it happens
in casual conversations,
What makes us think it can't happen in a more professional environment?
So imagine the kind of chaos that can result from miscommunication between
pros who literally make it their job to improve lives and societies.
So what do you say to a quick talk?
About theories, perspective, and believe it or not. A little bit of
grammar.
You know, English can be a tricky language. It has a highly complex
system of grammar and syntax, but an additional little quirk to English is
that any given word can have a wide variety of definitions. Take the word
theory, for instance. Depending on where you look, you're going to trip
across any number of definitions, all of them perfectly valid for the concept
of a theory. OK, now, social workers approach their practice from a variety
of theoretical perspectives.
They also have to collaborate with any number of other disciplines who also
use a variety of theoretical perspectives, so is it any real
surprise.
That when we discuss theory at a professional level, if we're not
careful.
We can wind out talking about two different things in the exact same
conversation.
Let's take a look at psychology here.
As mentioned, psychologists study the human mind and human behavior. It's
that focus on the mind that guides a great deal of psychological research.
You see, to understand the mind.
One has to have a strong foundation in the physiology of the human central
nervous system, the endocrine system, and a variety of other physiological
processes in the body to understand how that contributes to cognitive processes
which in turn contribute to human behaviors. As such, psychology has to
have a very strong biological element.
Incorporated into the discipline, but they also study something very abstract,
the human mind.
Something you cannot take a picture of in a CAT scan or something like that,
it is an abstract concept and as such it can be very resistant to certain
types of what's known as empirical inquiry, um.
As a result, there is also a very strong psychological component in the
discipline of psychology, big surprise, right, is very smart people use their
rational abilities to theorize how the mind brings the entire scope of
cognition together. And contributes to behavior. So can you see where we're
going with this? We've got a bio component. We've got a psycho component
just in the field of psychology and of course because they are at heart a
scientific discipline requiring rigorous scientific methods.
Whenever possible.
A theory That results in the field of psychology is known as a scientific
theory. It is the result of a hypothesis that has been processed
through a scientific method that can be replicated time and again.
OK, let's take a look at the sociologist's perspective of theory. OK,
sociologists have a lot in common with social workers. Number one, they are of
course interested in studying the behavioral dynamics that contribute to
group activities, to societies at large, and other similar ideas. They also can
practice at a micro, meso, or macro level, much like social workers. In
fact, sociologists even propose what are known as grand level theories that
apply more or less at a planetary scale.
But that being said, they are still theories, which means they are a work
in progress of some sort. They're different a little bit, however, quite
often from the scientific theory we just discussed. You see, sociologists
use historical data, they use current event data, they use active
observational data. They take all of this knowledge, and very smart people
use it. To suggest how things come about and how things can be modified to
achieve results going forward with regards to social dynamics. In other
words, they can literally.
Have a theory about how things work.
Now because this is a field literally called sociology, there is a very, very
strong social focus in much of what they do. And if you've been paying
attention the last couple of slides, you will note that sociologists and
psychologists bring together a very solid mix. To contribute to a
biopsychosocial perspective, something very important in the field of social
work.
So as social workers, as professionals.
We can Reference the entire frame of theoretical perspectives. In other
words, we can wrap our head around the grammar and syntax of multiple
disciplines as we go about our business. A solid foundation can pull from the
biological foundations of medicine and psychology. We can pull from the social
foundations of sociology and other romance disciplines. We can pull from
the psychological foundations of the fields of psychology and others that
are similar and develop a truly biopsychosocial understanding. Of human
behavior and how it contributes to societies at large.
In addition to that
This comprehensive theoretical capacity allows us to interact seamlessly across
disciplines.
Many disciplines practice what's known as an eclectic approach. To their
fields Social work is no different. Eclecticism is a capacity to use a
large variety of methods and perspectives and tools and skills, and
we can pick and choose which ones are necessary right now to work on this
client's. Problem to work on this agency's continued success, to work on
this society's best practice, it allows for a level of adaptability that can
become truly impressive with time.
At their best, social workers combine their expertise with the efforts of
Countless other professionals to improve the lives of people and
societies.
But you see, recognizing that multiple perspectives exist. is not enough.
As social workers, we must learn to balance and consider a sizable
abundance of input in our efforts to evaluate best practices and solutions.
Over the course of your studies and careers, you will build a toolkit of
skills and knowledge to help you get things done.
So let's start.
Let's start with one of the most important skills to add to your toolkit.
Join me in the next video as we discuss.