Social Work Theories and Methods: Case Study Application & Analysis

This essay delves into the application of social work interventions and sociological theories to a case study involving a 16-year-old boy, Toby, who is facing challenges such as marijuana addiction and the desire to move out. It examines theories like task-centered, solution-focused, and crisis intervention, as well as sociological theories such as symbolic interaction and social constructivism. The essay also analyzes the impact of the Diversity domain of the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF3) on social work practice. By linking these theories to Toby's case, the analysis aims to highlight the challenges faced by social workers when addressing different service user groups, emphasizing the importance of understanding the emotional, psychological, behavioral, and physical reactions of individuals in crisis situations. The essay further suggests the use of the Crisis State Assessment Scale (CSAS) and family interaction sessions to effectively address Toby's problems and promote his well-being.

Running head: SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
Social Work Theories and Methods
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
The aim of this essay is to apply a social work intervention or method and a sociological
or a psychological theory to a chosen case study in order to understand the theories and methods
better. The theories can be applied to a particular service user group as will be found in the case
study. The limitations of these theories will be determined in this essay as well. Another thing
that will be discussed within this essay is the fact how the Diversity domain of the Professional
Capabilities Framework (PCF3) would have an impact upon the practice. Further, the essay also
aims to analyze the effects the application of the theories to the particular service group would
have on the overall understanding of the theories. In addition to that, finding the limitations
would provide a clearer picture for the social practitioners as to what things they need to avoid
and implement while approaching a particular age group. The social intervention theories would
be much helpful to determine how the case study can be linked to the theories. The chosen case
study involves a 16-year-old boy faced with certain challenges and wants to overcome it and this
is the service user group in which, the interventions and sociological theories will be applied.
Overall, the essay aims to establish that applying the theories of interventions and sociology will
help unearth the problems faced by the social workers while addressing the different service user
groups.
Some of the social work intervention theories are ‘task-centered’, ‘solution-focused’ and
‘crisis intervention’. It is the role of the social workers to implement these theories into their
practice so the service user groups can understand the relevance of those theories like social
constructivism and crisis intervention (Higgins 2015). The demands of the service users should
be met by the social workers for the betterment of the work standards. This might also be favored
by the people included in the social work. The various elements of the different practice

2SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
approaches might be used in solving the issues within the social work. The crisis intervention
theory thus offers the proper explicit guidance for the individuals.
In this scenario, the crisis intervention theory should be applied to the situation for the
better understanding. This is why the social workers should go on to thinking about the matter in
the best ways and try to bring out some solution (Greene 2017). It is a mental health crisis for
Toby since he is addicted to marijuana. Also he would like move out to another place.
The strengths of the human beings would be very much important for the human beings
to know about their true potentials (Greene 2017).These strengths will be much effective for the
human beings and respect their potentials properly. Only then the social workers would be able
to reach to the desired goals. The strength-based practice is one of the most important factors for
the achievement of the goals by the social workers on their clients.
Some other social intervention theories would be discussed in this section. The theories
will be linked up with the case study of Toby. The theories to be discussed are the systems
theory and problem solving theory. The systems theory is a kind of intervention theory i.e.
associated with the several complicated systems of the social behavior (Greene 2017). The
human behavior is believed to be a very complicated system and it concerns about the idea that
the effective system is mainly based on the needs of the individuals. When the individuals will
need the appreciation of their works this systems theory can really be effective. The expectations
and rewards ate some main issues within the system. According to this theory the families of the
individuals are greatly related to get the best rewards in the system (Hawkins and Weis 2017).
All the people including the families and organization members would be involved in resolving
the several issues and problems (Greene 2017). The case of Toby is significant in this context

3SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
since he needs the interference of his family members to cope up with the problems he has been
going through. His parents should give him the proper attention that would provide him with the
care and trust he needs to be assimilated into the family.
The other theory related in this issue is that of the problem solving theory. The problem
solving theory would be a very interesting fact to look into the problems of Toby. Through this
problem solving theory of social work Toby can seek to be aware of the several new processes
that can add up to the betterment of the situation. The responsibility of the social workers would
be to help Toby with the problem solving skills. It is very crucial for Toby to be aware of the
problematic situations in which he is in. This would be much beneficial for him from certain
point of views (Hawkins and Weis 2017). When the social workers would help Toby to know
about his problems he will realize that his decisions would not improve his social condition. So,
the social workers would have to apply some of the problem solving methods that would surely
help to mitigate the problems of Toby. Toby would be able to make up the best solutions in the
situations he has been facing till date by the help of the problem solving methods (Healy 2014).
The sociological theory that would be described and explained in this section is that of
the symbolic interaction theory. The symbolic interaction theory is one of the most interesting
theories in the context of sociology. The diverse conditions in the society should be properly
dealt with. This theory is believed to be one of the major frameworks for sociology. The people
within the constraints of society should build upon a system in which the interaction among the
people should be treated as a major element for the social development (Parker 2017). As per the
words of Max Weber, it can be said that the individuals will only act as per their ways in which
they will interpret the world (Kanel 2014). Toby might have experienced some social
interactions in which he might have found that it would be problematic for him to live with his

4SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
parents. Also he might have experienced the issue that his parents did not support him
financially. This is why he opted to move out of his house and begin earning by himself.
These assumptions might be true or might not be true but his decision to quit living his
parents at the age of 16 cannot be supported since he still needs some guidance from his parents.
Some actions or words from his parents might have hurt him so he had taken that decision
(Greene 2017). This is why it is very much significant for Toby to interact with his parents more
as well as the social workers. The social workers would simply make him understand the fact
that he needs to interact with all the people around him and take advice how he can improve his
condition and share the incidents he faces with his parents (Parker 2017). The several events or
the behaviors should be discussed with Toby so that he can define the situation to his parents.
The social workers should opt to make Toby and his parents sit in an interaction session. This
would surely develop the condition in a better manner. Toby should build up an image in front of
his peers.
In this section the details about the social constructivism would be discussed for the
better understanding of the service user groups. According to the expert scholars, social
constructivism is a sociological theory in which the service user groups have to interact with the
people like the teachers, peers and the parents (Hepworth et al. 2016). The learning of the
students or the service user groups is dependent on the fact how they would be able to cope up
with the several learning difficulties by the proper collaboration.
The crisis intervention theory is very appropriate since it is usually effective when the
social workers would work with the individual service users (Teater 2014). When the service
user feels that he or she might need a change, the social workers would surely thrive positively

5SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
for this matter. The crisis situations might be short term but it would be much effective in nature.
The crisis period might last between only one to six weeks. It is the responsibility of the social
workers to try some methods by which they can identify the reasons why they want the change
(Teater 2014). The stressful events should be dealt with much patience as per the several aspects
of the crisis intervention method. Some have counter-argued that stressful participations can also
put a negative impact on the minds of the people. Then the entire crisis intervention method
might fail. As per the method, the unusual behaviors of the service user groups should be
analyzed by the social workers to ensure Toby could come out of the situations in an effective
manner (Payne 2015). The aspect of ego-psychology is very much associated with the social
intervention theories to be specific. This ego-psychology has made Toby to make the decision
that he would move out of the house and begin a job.
The psychoanalytic issues are ingrained within the social work intervention methods like
crisis intervention. The social workers should have to intervene into the matter because they
should make Toby feel better in this crisis scenario as he is only 16 years old as of now. The
purposes of implementing the crisis intervention theory are to find a way to resolve the issue in
the case study (DuBois and Miley 2013). This is why the social workers must be able to identify
the intensity of the emotional, psychological, behavioral and physical reactions.
The PCF3 is one of the most important factors to determine how the social workers
would progress with their works of dealing with the clients and service users of different
backgrounds. The PCF3 is concerned with the diversity among the professionals. The different
issues like the anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice will have to be discussed in this
practice for the social workers (Healy 2014). The social workers should always keep in mind that
no discriminations should be made between the service-users who belong from the different

6SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
backgrounds. In this case scenario, if Toby feels he has been marginalized in the society he can
take consult with the social workers that might be useful for him to get rid of the social
discriminations. Toby would be able to challenge against the social oppressions through the
active interest of the social workers since they will surely speak against these issues (Payne
2015).
According to this PCF3 framework, the scholars have suggested that the individuals like
Toby would get the immediate and short-term help that would help him to grow effectively.
Toby might have been suffering from several physical and behavioral distresses (Chapin 2014).
It is very important to make the members of the service user group like Toby to use the problem
solving and coping skills. The emotional and mental distresses are responsible for such behavior
of Toby as well.
The main issue that the social worker might face is regarding the lack of the built-in
outcomes. The Crisis State Assessment Scale (CSAS) should be used by the social worker to
measure how effectively he has dealt with the problem. The social worker should take the
sessions with their parents and Toby to identify the problems from both the sides. Only then he
would be able to make out a viable resolution process for the situation. If the social worker
observes any sort of psychological trauma he would have to mitigate the problem from
discussions and sessions. The social worker would thus be able to measure the strength of the
client and convince him to give up the habit of taking the marijuana and live a healthy life by
completing his studies at school and live with his parents.
As per the different issues of social constructivism, it can be said that the gaining of
knowledge largely depends on the uniqueness of the learners and how much he has been able to

7SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
deal with the difficulties of life. The main purpose of implementing this theory is to develop the
human beings within the society with an aim to invent the several properties of the world. The
negotiation among the learners would be done on the base of the interactive discussion between
the service user groups (Chapin 2014). However the case of Toby can be used to elaborate more
on this topic. Toby should be more interactive with his parents instead of leaving his house. The
critics have suggested that these interactions would make a great deal of development in the
psychology of the service users so they can cope up with the situation.
The social constructivism theory has been in practice in the constraints of social work.
There are some limitations of this theory that needs to be discussed to get an understanding of its
implementation process. There are so many versions of the social constructivism and the service
users very often get confused regarding this (DuBois and Miley 2013). The social constructivism
theories have developed in different forms like sociology, philosophy and cultural aspects. Here
the social work practitioners are also confused as well. Toby will not be able to increase his grow
his coping skills amidst so much problems. If the implementation of this theory is not on the
right hands the issues cannot be resolved.
There are certain problems in the crisis intervention methods as well. When the equality
is not there in the process, the crisis situations will surely arise. Toby is not properly in his
conscious self so that will impact on his behavior in the negative ways. He is not exactly aware
of the several social rules and responsibilities (DuBois and Miley 2013). If the normal
mechanisms of Toby do not function properly, the social workers should intervene into this
matter to cope up with the crisis.

8SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
On a concluding note, it can be said that the importance of the social intervention theories
in the domain of social work is immense. The social workers often use several theories to help
their service users to help in the different situations. The social intervention methods have been
in use for over many decades. The practitioners apply some skills that are crucial to understand
the problem situations and decide the proper ways to resolve them. The crisis intervention theory
has been very much effective in some situations and the social workers have applied this very
often. The family members are associated with the manners by which the service users would
cope up with the situations. The symptoms should be found out by the social workers and make
the recommendations of how they can resolve the issues in big time. The primary concern of the
social workers should always be to look after the psychosocial well being of the individual
service users.

9SOCIAL WORK THEORIES AND METHODS
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