Systems Perspective and Social Work Practice

Working with clients in the field of social work requires an understanding of the various systems that interact to affect the individual on different levels. Generally, there are many factors that shape an individual's development in his/her early years and influence his/her present life. Some of the most common factors that affect a person's development and influence his/her present life include religious community, family, lifestyle, job situation, and friends.

According to Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2016), clients are usually affected by continuous vibrant interactions with other systems such as family, organizations, and communities. Therefore, a social worker needs to consider systems that interact with a client when addressing his/her needs. An understanding of these systems helps in better evaluation of the client's situation since they either provide support or contribute to the client's current problems. An example of a situation that shows how systems interact with clients to affect their current situation is the case of Lester.

Lester, a 59-year-old African-American widower, suffered from injuries after getting involved in a multiple car crash (Plummer, Makris & Brocksen, 2014). Before his involvement in the accident, Lester was an electrician living independently in a family home and an active member in his community and church. Following the accident, Lester is unable to carry out some of the tasks he used to do before the accident such as clothing or cleaning himself. He has become dependent on several support systems including his family, social workers, and rehabilitation centers.

This situation is an example of a scenario in which a systems perspective can be applied when working with client with disabilities in social work practice. A systems perspective is significant for social work practice because it helps in gaining a comprehensive understanding of factors that contribute to a client's current problems. In this case, the social worker examines the various systems that are present in the client's life and their role/link in current problems.

Additionally, the use of a systems perspective helps to understand resources that are available to client and his/her interactions with these resources. The information is in turn utilized to develop a suitable treatment plan for the client based on available resources and his/her interactions with the multiple systems in his/her life. Based on this scenario, one of the important support systems or resources for Lester's condition is his family.

As shown in the case, Lester is close with his family, especially his sister-in-law who has enhanced the level of support she gives to Lester (Plummer, Makris & Brocksen, 2014). The second vital support system for Lester is his religious community who he has stronger connections with. Therefore, using a systems perspective in addressing the needs of Lester would entail engaging his family and religious community to provide necessary resources and support.

However, this process will not entail involving Lester's children since they have not been involved in providing any support. Actually, his children should not be considered as a system that Lester can depend upon for his situation. Given the challenges he faces because of the injuries he sustained in the accident, new support systems such as social workers would have to be created for Lester since he is unable to do so by himself.

As a social worker, I would apply a systems perspective in social work practice through enabling the client to identify and see people who truly care about him/her and.