Behavioural and Feminist Theories in Social Work - Essay Example

Behavioural and Feminist Theories in Social Work Society is the product of interactions among individuals living in shared an environment with sharedsocial values like culture and resources. According to Macionis and Plummer (2005, p. 12), an individual is part of smaller social groups like family, which are part of larger units like communities, which in turn interact with each other to form a society. Therefore, society is a system made up of various components that are in constant interaction with each other. The thoughts, actions, and reactions of smaller subunits in a society have an effect on other subunits and society as a whole. On one hand, an individual’s activities have an effect on other people that interact with him or her, and in turn, the actions of others affect him; the total effect of their actions is evident in the society. On the other hand, society affects the individuals in it, expecting them to do according to its demands. By so doing, society ensures its survival by making its various components live together in harmony, and individuals build their society by interacting with each other constructively (Berberoglu 2005; Baert and Silva 2010). The role of a social worker is to use social work values, principles, and methods for counselling, helping a society or a community help itself or individuals in it; acting as the agent that maintains balance in society. For instance, a social worker would be involved in the provision and improvement of social, health, and legislative services. The principles of social work include, acceptance, affirming individuality, purposeful expression of feelings, non-judgementalism, objectivity, controlled emotional involvement, self-determination, and confidentiality. According to Ritzer and Goodman (2004), social work is the art and science of identifying conflicts in society analysing them, and using the various available theories on society to come up with possible solutions. However, the work of a social worker does not end at identifying and recommending solutions, it extends using the recommendations to solve the conflict at hand practically. Therefore, a social worker is an essential component of a society that acts as a bridge between the needs of an individual and those of the society, by ensuring that individual do not suffer in silence due to the pressure of society expectations. The aim of this essay is to identify two social work theories, relate them to social work principles and relate them to domestic violence, in addition to discussing power imbalances, between the social worker and his or her client (Adams 2003; Jenkins 2002). Feminist Social Work According to Walters (2005), feminism involves many of the movements and organisations that promote the concept of fighting for women’s political, social, and legal rights and freedoms in a male dominated society. In addition to groups that explicitly use the word feminism, scholars argue that any group that advocates for equality between men and women is feminist. These groups also fight for equal education and employment chances between men and women. Feminist theory is the framework that attempts to explain society structure and the role of gender in the functioning of society, accounting for all the opportunities that an individual stands to gain or lose by respect of being in this or that gender. For instance, not so long ago, society reserved some job positions for men as it considered them the breadwinners (Bell 2008). Gardiner (2002) asserts that, in 1928, Lucretia Mott and others played a pivotal role in campaigning for the abolishment of the slave trade, after which they focussed their efforts on women rights. They worked hard to ensure that all states in the United States of America passed laws that would allow people from all genders to enjoy equal rights and freedoms. Maxine Hong Kingston and others criticised early feminists for only campaigning for the rights of the working class white women, and wanted to include black women in the feminist movement. In addition, these third generation feminists campaigned for equality rather than suffrage, insisting that what women needed was an equal opportunity, rights and freedoms not favours as earlier feminists had postulated. They emphasised that campaigning for women to get preference treatment, it portrayed them as a weaker gender who could only survive on favours, a concept that went against the very spirit of feminism (Hochschild and Machung 2003). There are many classes of feminists depending on their approach in the fight for equality between men and women, though all agree that a person’s gender should not have a role in determining the opportunities and chances that society gives him or her. Two of the main different feminist approaches have a basis on the belief in society and gender roles; some believe that there are roles in society for a person depending on gender while others believe that gender roles are because of social conditioning. The former advocate for the needs of the society, believing of the need for someone to perform certain duties based on gender, while the latter advocates on individual rights and preferences, ensuring that everyone has a choice to do what they want regardless of gender. Behavioural Theory Behavioural theory views society in a perspective that identifies social behavioural patterns of individuals living in a particular social environment. This theory assumes that all thoughts and deeds of a person are behaviours and are acquired, meaning they must have been learnt from somewhere. Therefore, it attempts to illustrate how individuals observe and interact with their environment, learn from their own experience and those of others, and put the knowledge acquired into practise when interacting with others and their environment. The behavioural theory occurs as three components and is an adaptation of the work of Albert Bandura. These three components of Bandura’s work are the cognitive theory, the behavioural theory, and the social learning theory. The cognitive theory explains how an individual acquires knowledge by virtue of his or her interaction with the environment by observing other people, following instructions, or learning from non-live models like fictional characters (Barry 2002). Behavioural theory explains how the environment in which a person lives affects his or her personality. Therefore, after acquiring knowledge, a person applies it in one’s day-to-day life, portraying the qualities acquired from the cognitive part of one’s life practically. The social learning theory explains how people acquire some common tendencies, factors that influence learning, and their effect on an individual. For instance, if a child demands a toy and even cries for it, the parent may buy the toy; this shows the child that he or she can bully other people into giving in to his or her demands if she cries. On the other hand, if the parent refuses to buy the toy, it conditions the child not to cry when asking for something. The child learns that one gets things when he or she asks politely, and it is not always that a parent will meet his or her demands. Therefore, in order to change the behaviour of a person, it is easier for the concerned party to attempt and change the environment first, including the people, culture, and other factors of the environment that the person interacts with (Miley Omelia and Dubois 2004). Relevance and Application in Domestic Violence Domestic violence means when one or both partners are abusive physically, psychologically, or in other ways to their partner, mainly for the power of control in the relationship or using the other party as an outlet to one’s problems. Domestic violence takes many forms and in many cases goes unnoticed until it is too late for anybody to take corrective measures. There are many causes for domestic violence in marriages, dating, cohabitation, and other relationships, including psychological, behavioural, and jealousy. For a social worker to handle cases of domestic violence effectively, he or she must understand these causes, and establish which of them the cause of conflict is. In psychological causes, either or both the culprit and the victim may have beliefs that fuel the abusive habits, but cases are easier to handle if the culprit is the one having those beliefs. The task is heavy if the victim believes that the abuse is justified. In addition, one of the spouses may be predisposed to characteristics like short-temperedness, which may result to abusive habits. Finally, a spouse, especially if he or she is introverted may be jealous of the relationships or achievements of the other spouse and become abusive. Jealousy is a common factor for a partner feels lower self-esteem in comparison to the other (Smith 2006, p. 67). The Feminist Theory Statistics show that men perpetrate over 80 % of all documented cases of domestic violence against women, obviously due to the reluctance of men in reporting such cases against them for fear of appearing weak. When dealing with a case domestic violence case, a social worker should weigh the effect of abuse on the children (if any), physical and psychological effects; and ensure that the results of his or her decisions promote the rights of women or any girls involved. For instance, if they have learnt to act, think, and feel inferior, the social worker should work on their positive attributes, to improve their self-worth and self-esteem. In addition, feminism promotes the use of legal, economic, cultural, and other available resources to solve a case of domestic violence against women. A social worker should ensure that the victim of domestic violence knows her rights, and help her make a case in a court of law in order to find a legal solution for the conflict. According to Johnson (2006), however, this should come as a last resort after a delicate balancing act; that is after, all efforts to solve the conflict out of court fail. Since court judgements have far-reaching repercussions, the social worker should hold consultations with various stakeholders and ensure that everyone makes informed decisions, with the knowledge of the results of their thoughts, beliefs, and actions. The Behavioural Theory This theory assumes that the domestic violence is because of learnt behaviours, either on the victim, or on the culprit. Society has taught women to be submissive to their husbands using various agents like family and religion among others. It does this by ensuring that the women feel inferior and inadequate such that they need a man in their lives, albeit an abusive one. In this case, a woman prefers to live with an abusive spouse other than live alone. The other approach that society takes is that of convincing women that an abusive relationship is synonymous to a loving one. These are just some of the beliefs held due to enculturation that a social worker has to deal with. He or she should investigate to find out the cultural background of the victim and the culprit and then decide the approach to take in handling the case. This theory proposes the use of reverse-enculturation to teach other beliefs that have an opposite effect. In this case, the social worker should use the knowledge of learning mechanisms, coupled with background knowledge about the clients, as a basic in designing the lessons to give each of them. For instance, if a man is suffering from low self-esteem, he should learn other ways that a person can acquire high self-esteem without putting his relationship with others in jeopardy. On the other hand, if society has made a woman believe that she is inferior to a man; then she should be taught that, in the new world, there are no roles for a person based on his or her gender. In conclusion, this theory indicates that achievement and success is the solution to all social problems, and everyone should strive to convince him or herself that some common beliefs are misplaced. Social Work Values and Power Power is the ability of an agency or structure to achieve its objectives by use of a means when available and to create a one if not available. There are many sources of power, but they are in two main categories, aggressive power, and manipulative power depending on the source where the former uses force to achieve its ends and the former uses persuasive language to convince others to bend to is demands. A social worker has power due to possession of knowledge about the workings of society and individuals, and the knowledge they acquire when people confide in him or her. Therefore, due to the corrupting potential of power, a social worker should be careful not to use it to pursue selfish means (Hepworth, Rooney and Larsen 2002; Sanderson 2006, p. 1387). According to Hodge (2005, pp. 314-323), people are trusting towards social workers and tend to trust them with sensitive information. A social worker should put the needs of these people first instead of using this information in his or her pursuit to create a perfect society; civilisation has already done this, with disastrous results. In this regard, a social worker should choose the tactics to use their power such that his or her actions go in line with the social work values that prioritises the needs of others instead of one’s own. For instance, a social worker should choose a soft approach instead of a hard one when dealing with social problems. For instance, when handling a case of domestic violence, the social worker should reason sympathetically and advise them, since the culprit might be psychologically disturbed and in need of counselling. Therefore, the social worker should not be quick to judge but should listen to what both parties have to say (Moore 2003, pp. 558-61). Secondly, a social work should choose a rational approach when using the power in his or her disposal to assist, as opposed to using an irrational approach. The final tactic in power application that ensures abiding to the social work code of conduct is using a bilateral approach as opposes to a unilateral one. This, according to Zapf (2005), means that the social worker should listen to both parties as opposed to the appealing option of siding with the victim, giving both the victim and culprit the chance to give their preferred path of action to solve the conflict. Consequently, all conclusions made by the social worker will give the client a sense of participating in the quest for answers to restore balance (Babbie 2003). Conclusion Social work is the link that works to provide solutions to the needs of individuals with society expectations in mind. In this regard, when in duty, a social worker should not limit himself or herself to one theory or perspective. The ability to see things from other people’s points of view is a vital skill in a social worker to avoid doing things just because they feel right; instead, a social worker should do things because they are right. Feminism deals exclusively with women rights, and a social worker should not limit him or herself to using this theory since it leaves out the needs, rights, and privileges of the other party. However, since humanity has had a history of violation of rights of women, behavioural theory alone would not be sufficient basis when solving a case of domestic violence, as it does not consider the possibility that the abuse is taking place due to gender related perceptions. In conclusion, no one theory is enough for use as the single basis of social work; a combination of theories gives more perceptions and increases the chances of making the right decisions. References Adams, R 2003, Social work and empowerment (3rd ed), Macmillan, Palgrave. Babbie, E 2003, The practice of social research (10th ed), Thomson Learning Inc., Wadsworth. Baert, P and Silva, F 2010, Social theory in the twentieth century and beyond, Polity Press, Cambridge. 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Zapf, M 2005, ‘The spiritual dimension of person and environment: perspectives from social work and traditional knowledge’, International Social Work, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 633-642. Read More