Practice terminology and its confusions

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Practice terminology and its confusions

• What is meant by terms such as skills,
  interventions, competence and transferability?

Pamela Trevithick School for Policy
Studies University of Bristol
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Outline

• Coverage of practice terms in social work texts
  and guidance documents
• Confused terminology how key terms have been
  defined
• Knowledge base of social work further confusion
• Revisiting the term competence
• Different conceptual framework linking skills to
  capacities

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Coverage of practice terms

• Common problems
• Some terms relating to practice not covered in
  key social work texts
• Skills and interventions referred to without
  reference to theory
• Poor indices do not aid the student
• Lack of common agreement on how to define key
  terms

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Lack of a common language

• Can be seen in
• Some terms relating to practice not covered in
  indices for key social work texts
• Skills and interventions often referred to
  without reference to theory
• Lack of common agreement on how to define key
  terms

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Practice terminology

• Important differences in terminology can be seen
  in relation to practice in the terms used to
  describe what takes place when social workers
  work with service users and carers. This
  confusion is particularly marked in the use of
  terms such as

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• Practice terminology (cont)
• Approach e.g. cognitive-behavioural approach
  (Davies 2000)
• Methods - described by Davies (2000)
• as social work methods and by
• Thompson (2000) as methods of intervention
• Models - Adams et al. (2002a) list
  biopsychosocial model under this heading. The
  term model is a key
• category in Stepney and Ford (2000) (eds.)
• Practice often include anti-oppressive practice
  and
• reflective practice. Davies (2000) lists
  feminist practice
• Transferability not referenced in any indices

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Approaches

• Davies (2000) (ed) Blackwell Encyclopaedia lists
• care programme approach
• cognitive-behavioural approaches
• eclectic approaches
• ecological approach
• humanistic approaches
• life course approach
• psychodynamic approaches
• psychotherapeutic approaches
• welfare approaches

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• Approaches (cont)
• Adams et al. (2000a) (eds.) Critical Practice in
  Social Work list
• perspectives/approaches
• competence-based approaches to social work
• constructionist approaches to social work
• counselling approaches
• cognitive-behavioural
• eclectic and integrative
• humanistic
• psychodynamic
• emancipatory approaches
• feminist approaches/perspectives
• maintenance approaches to social work
• Participatory approach to research
• Postmodernism/Postmodernist approaches
• psychosocial approaches
• therapeutic approaches/views

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• Approaches (cont)
• Adams et al. (2002a) (eds.) Critical Practice in
  Social Work list
• anti-discriminatory approach
• Care Programme Approach (CPA)
• task-centred approach

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• Approaches (cont)
• Davies (2002) (ed) Blackwell Companion list
• ABC approach
• Care Programme Approach
• Islamic approach
• narrative approach
• person-focused approaches
• psychodynamic approaches
• single study approach

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NOS definitions 44 key words and concepts
used specifically within different units

• Approaches
• Assess/assessment
• Associated Risks (sic)
• Case Notes (sic)
• Colleagues
• Conflicts (no definition)
• Continuing professional development
• Cost Services
• Crisis situations
• Culture
• Discrimination and social exclusion
• Ecological
• Effectiveness
• Ethical dilemmas (no definition)

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NOS definitions (cont)

• Evidence and knowledge based practice
• Groups
• Handover processes
• Holistically
• Inclusively
• Individuals, families, carers, groups and
  communities
• Information
• Justify
• Legal duties/requirements
• Methods
• Models
• Multi-disciplinary multi-organisational teams,
  networks and systems
• Networks
• Non-discriminatory practice
• Organisations

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NOS definitions (cont)

• Others
• Plans
• Potential resources
• Preferred options
• Professional assertiveness
• Reflective practice
• Requests for Action (sic)
• Research
• Resources
• Social work theories
• Supervision and support
• Type of support
• Values and principles
• Violence and abuse
• Well being

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Approaches (NOS)

• Approaches - are a set of principles and values
  where there is insufficient evidence from
  research or the expertise of individuals, carers,
  families, groups and communities, practitioners
  and managers. Often these are innovative and form
  the basis for future theories and methods.
  Approaches to, or perspectives on complex human
  activity allow participants to order their minds
  sufficiently to be able to manage themselves
  while participating.
• (TOPSS 2000)

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Methods and models

• Methods have been used to cover tested,
  accepted and recognised social work procedures
  and practices
• (TOPSS 2002)
•  
• Models - describe what happens during practice in
  a general way. They apply to a wide range of
  situations and will extract certain principles
  and patterns of activity to give the practice
  consistency
• (TOPSS 2002)

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Practice theories

• Practice theories are relatively discrete sets of
  ideas prescribing appropriate social work actions
  in particular situations. Psychological or social
  explanations of human behaviour are applied to
  social work situations, and actions are
  prescribed, based on the workers assessment of
  the situation. Practice theories are usually
  informed as separate, relatively complete and
  coherent sets of ideas. However, aspects of them
  are often used eclectically, in combination.
• (Payne 2000 332-3)

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Competence

• Competence in social work is the product of
  knowledge, skills and values. In order to provide
  evidence that they have achieved the six core
  competences students will have to demonstrate
  that they have met practice requirements
  integrated social work values acquired and
  applied knowledge reflected upon and critically
  analysed their practice and transferred
  knowledge, skills and values in practice.
• (GSCC 2002 15)

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The knowledge base of social work

• Three sources of knowledge
• Theoretical knowledge
• Factual knowledge
• Experiential knowledge

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Effectiveness

• The acquisition and demonstration of effective
  social work skills and interventions the meeting
  of three capacities -
• the capacity of the practitioner
• the capacity of the service user
• or carer
• the capacity of the environment

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Capacity

• Identifying current abilities - what is
• Identifying the potential for further
• development what can be
• References
• Adams, R., Dominelli, L. and Payne, M. (2002a)
  (eds) Critical Practice in Social Work.
  Basingstoke Palgrave.
• Adams, R., Dominelli, L. and Payne, M. (2002b)
  (eds) Social Work Themes, Issues and Critical
  Debates. 2nd edn. Basingstoke Palgrave.
• Davies, M. (2000) (ed.) Blackwell Encyclopaedia
  of Social Work. Oxford Oxford University Press.
• Davies, M (2002) (ed.) The Blackwell Companion to
  Social Work. 2nd edn. Oxford Blackwell.
• General Social Care Council (2002) Assuring
  quality for the diploma in social work - 1. Rules
  and requirements for the DipSW. London General
  Social Care Council.
• Palgrave.
• Stepney, P. and Ford, D. (2000) Social Work
  Models, Methods and Theories. Lyme Regis Russell
  House.
• Thompson, N. (2000) Understanding Social Work
  Preparing for Practice. Basingstoke Palgrave.