M.A. (Social Work) / The focus of the research of this dissertation was to study the movement away from the use of the medical model in social work. To facilitate the study of this movement, it was necessary for the candidate to familiarize herself with the technology and terminology associated with the medical model originally formulated by Mary Richmond (1922) and later developed by authors like Aptekar (1936), Hollis (1951), Maas (1958) and others as discussed in chapter two. As social work practice moved away from a medical procedure, substitute technology and terminology developed. From an investigation into recent publications on the subject the candidate found that the more recent models for social work practice accommodate the use of substitute technology which includes professional procedures such as assessment, gathering of base line information, the drawing up of contracts, the use of measurement scales and goal orientated helping processes. Examples of such models are included in this dissertation are the models based on life task centeredness, crisis intervention and competency. In these models, assessment is regarded as the appropriate professional activity and a substitute for diagnosis as prescribed in the medical model. As a result of technological changes in social work practice, the candidate became aware of the development of substitute terminology to endorse the technology peculiar to the profession. Medical terms like pathology, problem, symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, therapist, remediation and patient are replaced by development, dysfunction, indicators, assessment, pre-estimation, intervention or helping, counsellor, and client. The empirical investigation for this dissertation indicates that there is a movement away from medical technology an terminology in the training of undergraduate social work students.

This paper will focus upon the value positions underlying two social work models: the traditional or psychodynamic and that of behavior modification. It is recognized that there are areas in which those two approaches do not seem far removed, e.g., with some neo-behaviorists and/or some ego psychologists. However, to the extent that the lines become very blurred, so does the clarity of position or practice. Like many practitioners who claim to be “eclectic,” it becomes extremely difficult to find out where they are and what they do value at a given point in time. Why do social workers become so caught up in treatment facts? Because they have not clearly defined what they value and where those values lead them. In order to demonstrate that the profession of social work has moved from position to position, this paper will first sketch briefly the early history of social casework. Second, the paper will focus upon some of the basic dangers involved in "borrowing" from the knowledge of other disciplines. Finally, two major practice models, the traditional model and the behavior modification model will be described both in terms of their nature and development and in terms of their conflictual value positions. Social workers need to be cautious not only to identify the values from which they are operating, but also to be certain that their positions are not too narrow or simplistic for the effective dealing with life.

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Litt. et Phil. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A need assessment is a systematic process of determining community needs through the comparative analysis of people, problems, and services. Although need assessments of some form have existed since biblical times, it has only been within recent years that their use in social planning has become prominent. This is attributed to the increasing belief in the necessity of pertinent data to make decision-making responsive to community needs. Ten basic issues should be considered in designing a need assessment, These are: 1) Purpose; 2) Decision-making context; 3) Agency resources; 4) Scope; 5) Future studies; 6) Staff roles; 7) Data collection; 8) Citizen participation: 9) Format; and 10) Evaluation design.In addition, three approaches can be used to perform a need assessment. These are populations-at-risk (people), problems, and services. Essentially, the same information is collected in all approaches, only highlighted in different perspective. It is necessary to develop categories within which needs and community characteristics can be studied. The categories should be consistent with the assessment approach and easily transformed into planning and decision-making areas.

M.A. / The problem identified as the focus of this study, is the absence of standardized measurement instruments in the Afrikaans Language, for use in social work practice in South Africa. This study focuses on two indices that form part of the "Clinical Measurement Package" by Hudson (1982), namely the General Contentment Scale and the Index of Family Relations. The aims of this study are to translate the indices into Afrikaans and to adapt them to South African circumstances; to determine the construct validity as well as the content validity of each index; to determine the reliability of each index to formulate new items to include in the indices if necessary ...