The Strength Theory Is a Positive Approach for Social Science

¶ … Strength Theory as a worthy sustainable concept in social work, based on the four criteria presented in the 1988 article by Stanley L. Witkin and Shimon Gottschalk ("Alternative Criteria for Theory Evaluation"). The paper will use descriptions of the strength theory found in books by Stephen Joseph (Positive Psychology in Practice: Promoting Human Flourishing in Work, Health, Education and Everyday Life. Second Edition) and by Charles A. Rapp and Richard J. Goscha (The Strengths Model: A Recovery-Oriented Approach to Mental Health Services).

Evaluation of the Strength Theory

In Joseph's narrative, called "Strengths model case management" (SMCM), the author refers to how SMCM helps to bring recovery to people with psychiatric disabilities, which fits well in the Witkin / Gottschalk Criterion 1 ("explicitly critical"). Because life can be a struggle for people with psychiatric problems; they often they live in "poor conditions," have gone through "destabilizing life events and need professional care and help" (Joseph, 2015). SMCM can create empathy for the positive qualities of people with psychiatric disabilities; in fact Joseph asserts that -- in line with Criterion 1 -- SMCM promotes the potential of humans and it offers social workers a chance to lower the emotion of " ... negativism, hatred, misery, and pain" (689). This appears to parallel Criterion 1's point; that is, to "demystify" the so-called "truth" of disabilities, and to propose an "alternative conceptualization" of the individual (Joseph, 689).

As to Criterion 2, the assertion that human beings are capable of "self-transformation," and that as "active agents" humans are perfectly capable of "reflecting on their actions, surmounting temptations and distractions" in order to achieve what they envision is important and by adopting new principles (Witkin / Gottschalk, 219). Joseph believes that "assets, strengths, and protective factors" can be found in people once social scientists stop searching for "problems and deficits" (Joseph, 690). Joseph notes that when it comes to getting past distractions and disabilities, recent work on posttraumatic growth (following a posttraumatic event) shows that clients are capable of "self-transformation" (690).

Criterion 3: Social scientists should take into account the life experiences of the client, but not assume to "attribute meaning to human experience" because people are known to "infuse meaning" into their experiences (Witkin / Gottschalk, 220). Rapp / Goscha echo the concepts of Criterion 3 when they point out that people create (or bond to existing) "niches" (Rapp, et al., 2011). People definitely receiving meaning from the niches they are linked to. If the client is part of an "entrapping niche," they may be outcasts, or are "totally defined by their social category," and they may not receive any "reality feedback" (Rapp, 35-36). In the "entrapping niche," Rapp asserts, there is "little chance to learn the skills and expectations that would facilitate escape" (36). The task under Criterion 3 then is to move the client into an "enabling niche," a key part of the strength theory; to wit, a major focus of the strength model " ... posits that ... creating enabling niches" to enhance the recovery process (Rapp, 37).