Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … 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"...
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…
Works Cited
Joseph, S. (2015). Positive Psychology in Practice: Promoting Human Flourishing in Work,
Health, Education and Everyday Life. Second Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Rapp, C.A., and Goscha, R. J. (2011). The Strengths Model: A Recovery-Oriented Approach
to Mental Health Services. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
social science research are qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative research is believed to operate from a subjective, constructionist view of reality, whereas quantitative research operates from an objective, positivist viewpoint of the world. There has been quite a bit of debate over the merits of each of these approaches, often with one paradigm belittling the assumptions of the other. The current literature review explores the philosophical foundations of
Reduction of Prejudice The Contact Hypothesis of Gordon Allport and the Reduction of Prejudice The literature covering the nature of prejudice, its scope, the effects of prejudice, and methods to reduce on prejudice is among the most extraordinary body of literature in all of social science. The total volume of research on the topic of prejudice is quite extraordinary and this body of work reflects several decades of scholarly investigation of the
In conclusion, although positive psychology has been accused of naive optimism, the truth is that research in the area can have a real impact upon people's mentalities and lives. Its character is more descriptive than prescriptive. Its purpose is to prevent rather than to heal. In order to achieve this purpose it relies upon strengths, such as optimist, a state of mind which can be learned and measured. Although there
Another common assumption is that the development of virtual social interactions based on the ideal self, is not reflective of how real people will interact with you in the real world and therefore could potentially give the individual a false sense of confidence, regarding their ability to appropriately interact in the real world. Yet, many would also argue that confidence is the most attractive social attribute, almost regardless of
The study also asked whether people would develop paranormal beliefs more readily if those in a higher life status than themselves would promote such beliefs. Social influence refers to changes in feelings, beliefs, values or behaviors that result from the actions of others. Examples of influenced behaviors may include: following orders at work (obedience to authority), dressing like one's peers (conformity to a group), and convincing a friend to change her
Safeguarding the privacy of the respondents is vital. Setting a certain criteria to guarantee the security and privacy of the respondents will be useful like informing the respondents that their names will be kept confidential, their location and company will be mentioned only if they give their consent, participation is completely voluntary, and it cannot be imposed. In any way, no such information will be publicized that can help to