THE "PROBLEM" IN THE SOCIAL WORK "PROBLEM-SOLVING" PROCESS

THE "PROBLEM" IN THE SOCIAL WORK "PROBLEM-SOLVING" PROCESS by Associate Dean, Wurzweiler CHARLES S. LEVY, D . S . W . School of Social Work, The Ne...
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THE "PROBLEM" IN THE SOCIAL WORK "PROBLEM-SOLVING" PROCESS by Associate

Dean, Wurzweiler

CHARLES S. LEVY, D . S . W . School of Social Work,

The Need for Professional Boundaries

A

sions,

for

"the

own ? "

whole

an

abiding

man"

and

concern multiples

thereof, cannot presume to draw rigid boundaries

around their peculiar

fessional functions in

serving

pro­

human

beings, they are obliged to delimit their primary

fuctions sufficiently

them distinguishable.

to

make

1

as a criterion for

status the question,

professional

"Has social work

a well-defined scope and function, with a

content

and

It

was

method

New

particularly

York

around

it has always been

a basic one—that social work had long encountered difficulty

in its quest for

professional status. Tufts considered

social work to be

"not a clearly defined single field cor­ responding

to

a

single

need,"

but

rather a complex of "many diverse oc­ cupations which have as their tasks to supplement the work of the other pro­

Sir Ralph Cilento some years ago in­ cluded

2

University,

this criterion—for

L T H O U G H human service profes­ with

Teshiva

peculiarly

its

1 Although the target of this presentation is the social work profession, other professions owe themselves a bit of soul-searching. Not untypical of the elastic conceptions which professions entertain of themselves is this excerpt from a recent editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association: " I t is not just a pious thought that medicine is more than a science, more than an art or a profes­ sion, but as it has to do with the fulfillment of a man—his health, it is one of the human­ ities. Whether practiced in an ivory tower or at the crossroads, medicine must concern itself with human values. A physician, part philoso­ pher and part scientist, must learn to take the artisan aspects of his practice in his stride and not hold them as his central concern." Vol. 180, No. 1 (April 7, 1962), p. 136. 2 ' < The World Moves Toward Professional Standards in Social W o r k , " in Social Work As Human Relations, New York: Columbia University Press, 1949, p. 229.

fessions."

8

This

theme

had

already

been more pessimistically enunciated by Abram Flexner: Social work . . . appears not so much a definite field as an aspect of work in many fields. . . . The field of [social work] em­ ployment is . . . so vast that delimitation is impossible. . . . The high degree of spe­ cialized competency required for [profes­ sional] action and conditioned on limitation of area cannot possibly go with the width and scope characteristic of social work. . . . Would it not be at least suggestive therefore to view social work as in touch with many professions rather than as a profession in and by itself T *

Granted that much systematic work has been done since 1915 to clarify and s James H. Tufts, Education and Training for Social Work, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1923, p. 28. * " I s Social Work A Profession!" Pro­ ceedings of the National Conference of Chari­ ties and Correction 1915, Chicago: The Hilomann Printing Co., 1915, pp. 585-86.

define the function of social work and

enough as a group to attempt to cover

industrious efforts along these lines are

the waterfront in their conceptions if

in progress at this very moment, never­

not in their practice.

theless, sufficient confusion remains to

their problem-solving efforts on behalf

make this a matter of continuing con­

of agency clients have been so broadly

cern.

and so variously interpreted that they

I would like to suggest that one

of the deterrents to clarity is the con­

defy

ception of social work as a problem-

understanding.

delimitation

The objects of

and they

challenge

solving process. In order to merit the sanction of the community and to communicate knowl­ edge adequately for interpretive

The "Problem" in Problem-Solving

and

The problem-solving nature of the so­

teaching purposes, a human service pro­

cial work function has evidently been

fession is obliged: ( 1 ) to clarify

its

accepted

as an

"underlying assump­

function; ( 2 ) to delineate, at least in

tion."

broad terms, the focus and boundaries

nimity

of its operations; and ( 3 ) to distinguish

what makes a problem a problem, and

its

what makes a selected problem a valid

primary purposes

from

other helping professions.

those

of

6

However, there is hardly una­ among

social

workers

about

The proposi­

target for the social worker's specific

tion to be considered here is that the

intervention, to the virtual exclusion—

widely accepted emphasis on the prob­

at least as a primary responsibility—of

lem-solving nature of the social work­

other professions.

er's professional function leads to de­ ficiencies on all three counts because of:

It is axiomatic in

conceptualization

and research that any concept to be at

1) the elasticity of the conception of

all useful, let alone valid, must limit

"problems" in social work; 2 ) the in-

the inclusiveness of its meaning.

clusiveness of the conception of prob­

broader the scope of its meaning, the

lems in social work; and 3 )

less useful it is.

tensive and undisciplined

the ex­

The

The meaning of the

overlapping

concept, problem, in social work con­

between the problems described in so­

ceptualization has exceeded the bounds

cial work literature as the province of

of professional decorum.

social work practice and those which constitute the declared domain of prac­ tice in other professions. Mary

Richmond might

have

Is the Social Work Problem Always A "Problem?"

been

If the recent emphasis on the unity of

thinking of the social worker's dilemma

the social work profession may be taken

regarding practice responsibility when

seriously, and the professional concepts

she quoted Hans Gross' aphorism re­

which have been employed applied to

garding knowledge:

all of the social work practice methods, the offense becomes gargantuan.

Thus,

Only the sham knows everything; the trained man understands how little the mind of any individual may grasp and how many must cooperate in order to explain the simplest things

in social group work, social casework

Social workers can hardly be accused

problem is a problem because clients,

of being shams, but they are earnest

group

s Quoted on the fly leaf of Social Diagnosis, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1917.

« " T h e Nature of Social "Work," Social Work, Vol. 3 (April, 1958) No. 2, p. 10.

testing for the meaning of "problem" and community organization work, one is

hard-put to members,

determine or

whether

committees

a

and

boards

experience difficulties

or

afflic­

the problems created b y faulty

t i o n s ; or because these objects o f soeial

to-person,

w o r k ministrations are presented

to-situation

with

issues to resolve or conditions to cope

person-to-group, relationships."

of

cal environment

tions . . . "

poses particular

chal­

a

series

personThe

cial casework process, then,

w i t h ; or because their social or physi­

person-

or

so­

"consists

o f problem-solving opera­ 7

This view o f the subject matter of

lenges; o r because they, themselves, in­ social

the soeial worker's basic concern is ob­

w o r k e r ; or because life—theirs or some­

viously endorsed b y Boehm for he con­

one else's—generates specific or general

siders

tensions, or offers specific opportunities

social w o r k its ' ' focus on social relation­

with which a social worker is equipped

ships. "

herently pose challenges to the

to

be

helpful;

or

because

the

the

distinguishing

i ( f o r the

purposes

worker as an intervening variable him­

c l a r i t y ) , however, H a r r y

self represents a complicating or

van, like other

psychiatrists and

chologists,

defined

bling factor in their lives?

ena­

W h i c h of

has

Stack

orders, mild or s e v e r e , " as

represents

of

focus o f the

problem-

solving process, or is the focus any and all o f these?

I f this is indeed

true,

inadequate or

and

Kolb

. . ."*

venture

their

psy­ dis­ inter­

A n d Noyes definition of

then is a problem always pathological in

psychiatry " a s that branch of medicine

its effects or its implications?

which deals with the genesis, dynamics,

I f both

pathological and non-pathological condi­ tions

are

included

in the

concept o f

problem, then w h y is this not explicit, o r at least consistently apparent, in so­ cial w o r k literature?

I f the concept is

in fact so inclusive, then w e are back to the sional

initial consideration

as

a

discussion of

problem-solving

process, does not exactly define the con­ cept but she does offer generous descrip­ tions

of

cases

which

presumably

subsumed under the concept.

are

She does

suggest that each o f these cases " a r i s e s from some need or obstacle or accumula­ tion of frustrations or

maladjustments,

and

these

sometimes

all

of

treatment

undesirable

o f such function-

ings o f the personality as disturb either the subjective life o f the individual or his relations with other persons or with society."

1 0

That the identification o f social work a

terminal point

in

hardly

conceptualization

m a y be indicated—aside

from the

free

and unhampered use o f the description in our society—by a recent description o f illness

as a problem-solving process.

Otto v o n Mering offers this conception of

illness: We regard illness as an intricate, innermoving problem-solving experience. Thus, we

together,

which threatens or has already attacked the adequacy o f the p e r s o n ' s living sit­ uation or the effectiveness o f his efforts to deal with i t . "

and

and

as a problem-solving process is in her

casework

disordered

o f profes­

boundaries.

Mrs. Perlman, social

manifestations

7 Social Casework: A Problem-Solving Pro­ cess, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1957, pp. 4-5. s Loc. cit, p. 17.

She goes o n to de­

9 The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry

scribe the purpose o f the soeial service

(New York: W . W . Norton and Co., Inc., 1953), p. 313. K> Arthur P. Noyes and Lawrence C. Kolb. Modern Clinical Psychiatry (Fifth Ed.; Phila­ delphia: W . B. Saunders Co., 1958), p. 1.

agency as being " t o

help

j

"patterns

inappropriate

personal relations

of

Sulli-

"mental

these, and numerous other possibilities, the

of

8

Unfortunately

social

feature

individuals

with . . . social handicaps which hamper g o o d personal o r f a m i l y living a n d with

j \ ]

define it as a process of adaptation with both functional and dysfunctional effects whose purpose is to counteract, alleviate, change or exist with continual disequilibrating internal psycho-physiological stresses as well as ex­ ternal socio-emotional tensions and conflicts. 11

This is not terribly inconsistent with Mrs. Perlman's conclusion that the idea of casework as a problem-solving pro­ cess "stems from a conception of hu­ man life as being in itself a problemsolving and

process, a

movement

in

continuous

change

which

human

the

being works on so adapting himself to external objects o r them to himself as to

achieve maximum

satisfactions.''

12

Gisela K o n o p k a suggests that social

group as compared to the growth-oriented group. In the former, the group-enabler's primary responsibility is to support the group to accomplish its task; in the latter, the enabler's primary responsibility is to help members to use the group experience to resolve problems which are interfering with their personal growth and their social adjust­ ment. . . . Diagnosis is the core of [social group work] practice. . . . The soeial group worker serving a "growth-oriented" group understands as much as he can about the specific problems of each member in the group he is serving.is

Where

Havighurst

" t a s k s " the

normal

sues which human

1 6

considers

as

developmental is­

beings face in

the

process of growth, Miss W i l s o n evidently

group work method, to merit the desig­

prefers to allocate this label to more nar­

nation

a

r o w l y defined a n d circumscribed g r o u p

the

missions. Moreover, Miss W i l s o n reserves

o f method, must

problem

to be s o l v e d . ' '

relate 1 3

"to

Since

definition of social g r o u p w o r k on which

for social g r o u p work—as a method o f

she relies refers to the contribution o f

social work—the responsibility f o r deal­

g r o u p interaction and p r o g r a m activity

i n g not with g r o w t h processes generally

" t o the growth o f the individual the

achievement

goals," lem"

of

desirable

and

social

this presumably is the " p r o b ­

to which the

method o f social

group work is applicable.

She

refers

but with problems which interfere personal growth and social

with

adjustment

of g r o u p members. For

R a y m o n d Fisher,

o n the

other

hand, " s o c i a l g r o u p w o r k is treatment-

to the help with " t h e g r o w i n g u p pro­

f o c u s e d , " its aim being " t o help per­

c e s s " to y o u n g people through

sons develop their capacities for

social

g r o u p work, but acknowledges the role of other agents in this p r o c e s s .

14

This

concept of problem is quite broad.

ade­

quate social functioning in a democratic society.''

1 7

assert that

H o w e v e r , he "the

goes on

to

social g r o u p worker

The breadth o f this concept m a y be

will have to take responsibility f o r spe­

contrasted with the more circumscribed

cial planning for individuals who indi­

view of it implied in Gertrude W i l s o n ' s

cate that they

distinction between w o r k with

groups

usual difficulty in their social relation-

The distinction is to be found in the differ­ ence between the nature of the task-oriented

i 6 ' ' Social Group Work Theory and Practice Viewed Against New Trends and Develop­ ments," New Developments in Theory and Practice of Social Group Work, New York: Council on Social Work Education, 1956, pp. 41-42.

are having more than

and social g r o u p w o r k :

11'' Disease, Healing and Problem-Solving: A Behavioral Seience Approach," The Inter­ national Journal of Soeial Psychiatry, Vol. V I I I (Spring, 1962) No. 2, p. 138. 12 Op. cit., p. 53. is "The Method of Social Group W o r k " in Walter A. Friedlander, ed., Concepts and Methods of Social WorTc, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1958, pp. 117-18. uibid., pp. 125-26.

is Bobert J. Havighurst. Human Develop­ ment and Education, New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1953. 1 7

' ' Social Group Work in Group Service Agencies," Social Work With Groups 1959, New York: National Association of Social Workers, 1959, p. 21.

ships and ability to function. . . . [With

with problem-solving although there has

such individuals] the problems become

been some question as to whether the

too complex and technical to be handled

problem in focus is the improvement of

by personnel who have not had ade­ quate preparation.'' differentiation

18

This implies a

between

professional

community interaction through

profes­

sionally guided experience in the art of

solving

problems, and hence,

work with groups, as carried on by so­

improvement of the community's

cial

lem-solving

workers,

formed

by

the

function

per­

non-social

and

workers

with

groups, on the basis of the

guishable

skill from

(presumably the

social

the

prob­ distin­

worker's

intensity

problem-solving skill); or the problem

of the difficulty experienced by group

in focus is "the accomplishment or sus-

members in

their

social

relationships

tainment of a solution to one or more

and participation in the group's life.

specific welfare problems" which "usu­

This difficulty, in effect, represents the "problem" to which the social group worker's role is related.

Another pos­

sible interpretation would provide for a range of professional problem-solving efforts from those applied to non-patho­ logical or normal developmental condi­ tions to those applied to pathological conditions.

Marion

services."

21

In discussing this issue John Turner describes the relative risks in the choice between an orientation, on one hand, which regards interpersonal and inter­ group relationships as the primary dys­ function

to

which the

social worker

addresses his professional function, and

In a vein similar to this interpreta­ tion,

ally involves the initiation or realign­ ment of concrete welfare

Sloan

and

an orientation which regards the sub­

Harleigh

stance of community group concerns—

Trecker recognize social group work as

viz., the social problems—as the pri­

a "method in social work which seeks

mary

to further the development and social adjustment of individuals through the conscious use of group experience,''

mensions of the social group worker's A t the same time

she identifies as the pathological factor, in the social group worker's focus of practice in a psychiatric

setting,

the

special condition that "Group living for patients entering the hospital commu­ nity presents difficult problems of adjust­ ment due to the drastic changes in the usual patterns of their l i v e s . ' '

20

The community organization method in social work has also been equated isf&toT., pp. 21-22. i » "The Eole of the Group Worker in the Adult Psychiatric Hospital," in Harleigh B. Trecker, ed., Group Work in the Psychiatric Setting, New York: Whiteside and Morrow, 1956, p. 56.

20 laid.

with

which

the

Implicit in either or both

of these orientations is such dysfunction

19

thus again emphasizing the broad di­ "problem" in focus.

dysfunction

worker deals. as

may

characterize

the

community

group's skill in solving problems, which might also independently represent a prior professional problem-solving ori­ entation.

In all three there is evident

an assumption that the worker is deal­ ing with pathology—that is, a need or a deficiency which calls for professional intervention and correction, ostensibly because the existing condition is de­ ficient in some demonstrable respect or requires improvement for some prede­ termined reason. customary

It is not a simple and

developmental

task

which

2i John B. Turner. "Community Organizazation and Community Theory," in Curriculum Content in Community Organization, Workshop Beport, Proceedings, Annual Meeting, Council on Social Work Education, 1959 (Mimeo­ graphed).

the

community group may be

relied

upon to work things out for itself in a sound and enduring

fashion.

Although Murray Ross makes this as­ sumption

clear

community

in

his

explication

organization

as

a

of

social

work method, he also helps to under­ score the confusion which attends the shifting and plural perspective of the conception of problem in social work. Dr.

Ross insists

that,

if

community

organization is to qualify as a social work process, it must conform to cer­ tain

fundamental

principles,

among

which are: It must deal with problems whieh the com­ munity recognizes as its problems . . . It must engage the community in an active way in the solution of its problems . . . It must encourage growth through problemsolving.22

"Problem" is thus denned in accor­

not only conceivable but perhaps essen­ tial for purposes of consistency, the fol­ lowing complaint is cited as relevant to a definition of social work: . . . Man's search for a meaning is not pathological, but rather the Burest sign of being truly human. Even if this search is frustrated, it cannot be considered a sign of disease. It is spiritual distress, not mental disease. How should the clinician respond to this challenge? Traditionally, he is not prepared to cope with this situation in any but medical terms. Thus he is forced to conceive of the problem as something pathological. Further­ more, he induces his patient to interpret his plight as a sickness to be cured rather than as a challenge to be met. By so doing, the doctor robs the patient of the potential fruits of his spiritual struggle.23

In summary, what makes a problem a problem in the context of the social worker's

"problem-solving"

function,

dance with the community group's per­

whether it be with individual, group or

ception which may or may not corre­

community, seems to be—at least as far

spond

with

perspectives above.

one of

or the

another concept

of

the

reviewed

This is reminiscent of a position

as may be determined from social work literature—anything mal, readily

from

anticipated,

nor­

once held in social work that the social

pecially

worker's service had to await the cli­

tasks

which

ent's plea for help—in effect, the cli­

and

communities,

ent's acknowledgement of a problem to

appropriate or maladaptive responses to

be

these tasks or other tasks, and the spe­

subjected

to

the

social

worker's

"problem-solving" intervention.

"Ag­

disconcerting

the

and not es­

face

developmental

individuals, through

groups the

in­

cial situational reversals and distortions

gressive" intervention at this level in

whieh emerge because or in spite

social work is fairly recent.

these tasks; and on to societally defined

Not all the methods of social work are evidently

equally

non-pathological

orientation

in

a

their

deviations and abnormalities whieh are externally stamped as problems regard­ less of the client's view of them.

Indeed not all

A s now defined, by assertion or im­

of some of the methods

plication, a problem—depending on the

problem-solving aims. practitioners

amenable to

of

can be said to agree upon such an ori­

source of its definition—may be a prob­

entation.

lem simply because it is subject to the

Perhaps to reveal a bias, but pri­

ministrations of the social worker or be­

marily to suggest that a non-pathologi­

cause it inheres in the client who is

cal orientation in social work practice is

served by the social worker, or because

22 Case Histories in Community Organiza­ tion (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1958), p. 13.

as Viktor E . Frankl. Psychiatry and Man's Quest for Meaning," Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. I (January, 1962) No. 2, p. 94.

it is provoked by the social worker as a

which the social worker intervenes is

medium for the client's growth-acceler­

either a reflection on the nature of hu­

ating or growth-insuring experience.

man growth or a dilution of the signifi­

Or a problem may be a problem be­

cance of a problem.

On the other hand,

cause it represents one or another vari­

if a valid professional role is associated

ety of challenge which the social worker

with "normal" growth processes, then

faces in the performance of his profes­

the processes need not be subverted into

sional function.

In this sense, the prob­

lem to be solved by the social worker is

problems.

Developmental tasks are usu­

ally satisfactorily resolved and satisfy-

one that he faces as a social worker

ingly resolved.

fulfilling an agency or professional mis­

that

sion and not one that the client feels,

They cannot very well be a problem

they

It is when they are not

may represent

a problem.

has or incurs by virtue of his exposure

coming or going.

to the social worker's service.

give—if not the concept then the def­

The

social work profession has evi­

dently arrogated to itself responsibilty

Something has to

inition of the nature of the social work function.

ranging from the intrapsychic level to

The addition of the functions of pro­

the all-embracing societal level, imput­

vision and prevention has not been es­

ing to the social worker, therefore, pro­

pecially helpful since they have been

fessional responsibility for the resolu­

cast in

tion

solving function imputed to social work.

of

beings,

internal

conflicts

interpersonal

and

in

human

the

context

of

the problem-

inter-group

Perhaps, if one traces their origin, one

conflicts among them, and for the elimi­

may find that they were created to pro­

nation of large hazards which threaten

vide for the existing realities of social

or afflict huge masses of people.

Even

group work and community organiza­

if one grants to the social worker—as a

tion as well as the burgeoning aspira­

social worker—a share of responsibility

tion of social statesmanship.

at each of these levels this does not

that

help to define primary, readily identifi­

stretching their points unduly in order

able and communicable professional re­

to find a plausible unity among the so­

sponsibility.

cial work methods.

The Need for Alternatives to the Problem-Solving Concept

sociated

social

It may be

work thinkers

have been

The word problem—especially as as­

The

difficulty is especially evident as

attempts are made to discover a unify­ ing character in all social work methods. If a problem is defined in casework as a distortion in or deviation from satisfac­ tory

social

relationships,

then

some

equivalent conceptualization is required for social group work and community organization

work—unless

of

with

rather specific

course

problem-solving ceases to be the key­

human

behavior—has

connotations.

Problem

behavior has thus been defined as "be­ havior

that

perplexes

the

observer

(sometimes also the person behaving)" and as "behavior that is at least some­ what antisocial or abnormal and, hence, creates a problem either for the actor or for those about h i m . "

2 4

One is reminded that word problem derives from the Greek word signifying anything thrown forward.

The forth-

stone of the conceptual structure of so­ cial work. This may be a necessary con­ clusion—pending

additional

evidence

and clarification. To refer to growth as a "problem" in

2* Horace B. English and Ava C. English.

A Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychological and Psychoanalytical Terms (New Tork: Long­ mans, Green and Co., 1958), p. 409.

right definitions of social work's func­ tion notwithstanding, conceptualization of the distinguishing focus of social work practice has been thrust backward by the diversity and variety of mean­ ings which have been attributed to the

concept of problem. This suggests the need either for clarity and consistency in the employment of the concept, or a reexamination of the insufficiently ex­ plored assertion that "social work is a problem-solving process.''

An International Meeting of Leading Figures in Jewish Communal Serviee from Europe, North and South America, and Israel August 19-23, 1967 Jerusalem

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