Autor Filipe de Freitas Leal
Muitas vezes acredita-se que o conflito no Médio Oriente teve início em 1948. No entanto, um olhar atento à história revela que esta é, na verdade, uma tragédia de milénios, onde camadas teológicas e políticas se sobrepuseram.
Para que uma sociedade se desenvolva em justiça social é fundamental a cultura da solidariedade.
According to Maria José Núncio (2010; 113, 114), methodology in Social Work is essential for creating a systematic body of practices. These aim to understand the reality of the client system's problems and the surrounding social circumstances. It also aims for theorization which, once put into practice, is critically analyzed to correct and redefine methods for a new, updated theorization.
The classical methods are "Social Casework," "Social Group Work," and "Community Organization/Social Work." Their methodologies share the goal of eliminating obstacles, releasing resources, and enhancing capacities (NÚNCIO, 2010: 114). Moving from the individual to society, these three types of methodologies evolved into two different approaches (Caparroz, 1997): the first is psychological in nature, focusing on individuals, their relationships with other groups, and the satisfaction of their needs; the second focuses on the relationships within groups and/or the community relations of the client system.
Social Casework has been at the genesis of Social Work since its earliest days (Viscarret, 2007: 38) but was significantly developed in the 1950s (Núncio, 2010: 115). It advocated for a casuistic methodology ("each case is unique") and a personalist approach (centered on the person and their context). This methodology aimed to help the client participate in solving their own problems while improving the individual’s social and family situation, combating social exclusion such as poverty, drug addiction, unemployment, housing shortages, school failure, maltreatment, domestic violence, delinquency, abandonment, and discrimination (Garcia, 2004: 424).
Social Group Work aims to solve individual problems within a group context while also considering the global social interest. This methodology only began to develop after 1930, based on the understanding that groups can help people with their problems through participation in groups and communities. This provides a sense of purpose and encourages the client to acquire social skills and motivation. Social Group Work focuses on psychotherapeutic and socio-educational methods (Garcia, 2004: 433) with the objective of combating isolation and exclusion through rehabilitation, learning, guidance, and information.
Community Social Work developed from the second half of the 20th century, though it was conceptualized in 1939 (Moix, 1991). It was heavily supported by the UN with the aim of promoting social policies and improving living conditions in underdeveloped countries.
The aforementioned methods of casework, group work, and community work were distinguished by the specificity of the client(s). However, starting in the 1960s, a unifying method for these three areas was developed. Thus, according to Maria José Núncio (2010: 126), an integrative method in Social Work was born, focusing on the concept of intervention to provide a better response to concrete problems.
The integrative method seeks to solve problems through an intersectional approach involving the client, family, group, and community, moving from the micro-social to the macro-social (Núncio, 2010: 127). This became much more suitable for the social worker, despite opposition from conservatives in the field who resisted the implications of a method that was, in reality, integrative and an agent for change, encompassing both "what to do" and "how to do it." Consequently, the need arose to define Intervention Models in Social Work.
According to Maria José Núncio (2010: 127), the integrated method of intervention in Social Work is associated with the theoretical development of the concept of Intervention Models. This concept evolved from the 1970s onwards, covering theoretical, methodological, philosophical, and functional components, and was no longer exclusively directed at the client as in classical methods (Hill, 1986). Models aim to study, plan, and determine the action to be implemented, the desired objectives, and the methods and techniques necessary to achieve that end (Núncio, 2010: 128). The main intervention models in Social Work are:
Psychosocial Model: Utilizes a synthesis of scientific knowledge from psychiatry, psychoanalysis, social psychology, and sociology, encompassing social, economic, physical, psychological, and even emotional aspects surrounding the process and the problem.
Behavior Modification Model: Based on the principles of "Behaviorism" and "Learning Theory," focusing on the problem/behavior.
Systemic Model: Views phenomena not individually or as simple cause-and-effect, but through a "totalizing" perspective of analysis. In addition to the factors mentioned above, it includes material, cultural, and relational aspects (Núncio, 2010: 132).
Crisis Intervention Model: Strongly rooted in Psychology, Psychiatry, and Social Psychology. Here, a crisis is caused by an event of great proportions that affects social and individual stability (e.g., catastrophes, emotional ruptures, material losses). This model is centered on "victim support" based on protection, acceptance, validation, and promotion (Nelson, 1980).
The Systemic Model in Social Work is an intervention model in which the Social Worker attempts to promote change not through a purely assistance-based or linear approach, but in an integrative and circular manner, involving the client's entire socio-economic, psychological, cultural, family, and interpersonal environment.
The Systemic Model is the most widely used by SCML – Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa and institutions such as the Centro de Medicina e Reabilitação de Alcoitão (CMRA), as stated on their institutional website.
The illustration on the previous page [referencing the original document] exemplifies the application of the Systemic Model in a Rehabilitation Medicine Center, where it is stated that a system is a set of elements in dynamic interaction, organized toward a defined objective.
By inference, I can deduce that the Systemic Model represents a global interaction system of all aspects and interdependencies of the client's life. It is no coincidence that social solidarity institutions like CMRA and their social workers use the Systemic Model as their professional praxis. In other words, it is a Modern Social Work oriented toward an epistemological methodology, having broken away from the past of "welfare-ism" (assistencialismo) and consolidated the values of Social Action based on scientific study and the rigor of humanist and integrative action.
Theoretical Dimension of the Systemic Model: It stops viewing the problem as an individual issue and advocates for a circular causality relationship in understanding problems, taking into account all surrounding factors in the client's life (individual, group, or community).
Methodological Dimension: Focuses on the systemic interview, the neutrality of the social worker, and the circularity of group analysis. The helping process is not based on individual conflict; intervention is only possible when a relational conflict is detected.
Philosophical Dimension: The philosophy of this model is the reintegration of the client such that a change in one element of the relationship will positively affect the entire group. The more elements are modified, the more effective the transformation of the collective reality.
Functional Dimension: After a circular analysis of the problem via its interdependencies, the Social Worker develops hypotheses for a solution aiming to induce change. Change occurs in the whole rather than the parts; thus, a global change is more effective than a minor partial change.
Final Conclusion: Social Work methodology, according to Núncio (2010), evolved from fragmented classical approaches (casework, group work, community work) to integrated methods starting in the 1960s/70s. This evolution sought to overcome traditional, palliative views, focusing on systemic intervention and social change [Núncio, 2010; Caparroz, 1997]. The Systemic Model, anchored in Bertalanffy’s General Systems Theory, proposes a circular causality where the social worker intervenes in the client's relational network to generate transformation.
The transition to the Integrated Method, driven by the "Reconceptualization of Social Work," sought to overcome classical fragmentation, positioning practice as an agent of social change. The Systemic Model, grounded in General Systems Theory and Human Communication Theory, adopts circular causality for more effective interventions with greater scientific rigor.
References: Núncio, Mª. José (2010) Introdução ao Serviço Social – História, Teoria e Métodos, Lisboa, ISCSP. Carmo, Hermano (2002) Intervenção Social com grupos, Lisboa, Universidade Aberta.
Author: Filipe de Freitas Leal
Blog de cariz humanista, com artigos sobre serviço social, solidariedade, filosofia, política, cultura, artes, trabalhos académicos. O Logotipo do Blog, representa o movimento e a centralidade que Humanidade deve ter nas questões sociais.
Blog de cariz humanista, com artigos sobre serviço social, solidariedade, filosofia, política, cultura, artes, trabalhos académicos. O Logotipo do Blog, representa o movimento e a centralidade que Humanidade deve ter nas questões sociais.