Explain Intervention in context of social casework practice.

Intervention.

Strengths-oriented, social workers engaged in direct intervention or in case management refuse to identify clients according to their deficits or pathologies. To refer to a human being as a paraplegic, a manic-depressive, an unmarried mother, an addict, an offender, a borderline personality, a sexual psychopath, a lady, a orgasmic or a post-traumatic is to elevate the deficit or deviance to the status of dominant identity of that person.

Assessments and interventions built on the foundations of such pathology derived definitions of persons and situations are more likely to perpetuate the pathology than to modify it. Professionals trained to view them clients as human beings using their strengths and resources to cope with adversity as best they can have a much better chance of helping those clients find the means to improve their situations.

The such professionals use to describe their clients is the same language they use to converse with them, it is the plain, direct language persons who work with other persons, not the “scientific” language of persons who classify other persons. The language is also not stigmatizing (except for those unusual cases in which clients may choose to be identified by a stigmatizing label as sometimes happens.

According to Skidmore and Thackeray, intervention is guided by the following set of principles:

• Client’s right to decide his/her course of action. Worker considers the limits of client’s capacities to make sound choices.
• Acceptance of the client’s capacity to change and he/she will utilize his/her resources to improve.
• Social work relates to strengths and,weaknesses rather than sickness or disorders.
• Knowledge about the client’s family and various situations are used responsibly for the welfare of the family. Worker shares this information aptly to give knowledge to the client.
• Worker is responsible to the client, himself/ herself, agency, community and the profession in which he is working.

Categories of Intervention:

There are three types of intervention direct, environmental modification and administration of a practical service. Social workers provide interventions to individuals, families and groups in order to assist them with their needs and issues. Interventions are intended to aid clients in alleviating problems impeding their well-being.

The interventions used by social workers are those that are identified as potentially helpful on the basis of the social worker’s on-going assessment of the client. Strengths-oriented social workers engaged in direct intervention or in case management refuse to identify clients according to their deficits or pathologies. To refer to a human being as a paraplegic, a manic-depressive, an unmarried mother, an addict, an offender.

A borderline personality, a sexual psychopath, a lady, a porgasmic or a post-traumatic is to elevate the deficit, or deviance to the status of dominant identity of that person. Assessments and interventions built on the foundations of such pathology-derived definitions of persons and situations are more likely to perpetuate the pathology than to modify it.

Professionals trained to view clients as human beings using their strengths and resources to cope with adversity as best they can have a much better chance of helping those clients find the means to improve their situations. The such professionals use to describe their clients is the same language they use to converse with them, it is the plain, direct language of persons who work with other persons, not the “scientific” language of persons who classify other persons.

Environment modification means all correct and improving the situation to reduce strain and pressure. The main focus is to modify the physical and non-physical environment in the favor of the client. It alters the environment which may change the focus of the bad environment and in some way or the other helps in adjusting the client better.

Administration of a practical service is the oldest and best known casework methods of intervention. Worker helps the client to choose resource and service providing organization. Sometimes a client is sent to some other agency where he can be best served. The worker must have a thorough knowledge of the community resources and he must know how to use them selectively and economically.