Scribd
Upload
7 views

Ecological Perspective

Uploaded by

Rosalie Anaviso
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
7 views

Ecological Perspective

Uploaded by

Rosalie Anaviso
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

The ecological perspective to social work practice requires a specific “ecological” vocabulary, which
includes such words as adaptedness, stress, and person:environment fit (Gitterman & Germain, 2008).
The ecological perspective assumes that individuals try to maintain a good level of fit between
themselves and their environment as they move through the life course. Adaptedness refers to a positive
and healthy fit between the person and her/his environment. This is where individuals feel that their
environment is providing the necessary and useful resources to meet their needs and they, personally,
have strengths, resources, and the capability to grow, develop, and be satisfied. When individuals feel
that their environment is not providing the necessary resources, due to being unavailable, inaccessible,
or non-existent, and they believe and feel as if they do not have the strengths, resources, or capability to
grow and develop, then they experience stress. Experiencing stress leads to a poor level of adaptive fit
and often leads to individuals seeking help from social workers. The social worker is tasked with
collaborating with the individual to improve the level of person:environment fit, which might involve
changing the individual’s perceptions and behaviors, changing the response from the environment, or
trying to improve the quality of exchange between the individual and her or his environment (Gitterman,
2009).
Practice Principles and Guidelines

When implementing the ecological perspective in practice, a social worker may use the life model
approach, which is an approach that aims to improve the level of fit between people and their
environments. The level of fit can be improved by either:

(1) “mobilizing and drawing on personal and environmental resources to eliminate or at least alleviate
stressors and the associates stress; or

(2) influencing social and physical environmental forces to be responsive to people’s needs.
The ecological perspective assumes that individuals are striving to move through the life course while
maintaining a good person:environment fit, which will positively contribute to their growth and
development.

The life model approach assumes that stress can arise during this process, particularly when individuals
encounter difficult life transitions (e.g. puberty and adolescence, leaving home, having a baby, getting
married or divorced) and traumatic life events (e.g. death of a loved one, natural disasters),
environmental pressures (e.g. lack of resources and social provisions, such as money, housing, schooling,
healthcare), and dysfunctional transactions in family, group, and community life (e.g. conflicted
relationships) (Gitterman, 2009). This stress can occur during these times when the individual believes
that she/he does not have the strengths, resources, or capabilities to overcome the transition, pressure,
or deal with the event, and there is a lack of available resources from the environment to overcome the
obstacle. In using the life model approach, social workers will need to holistically assess the client for life
stressors, as well as how the client’s environment is helping or hindering in alleviating the stress and
returning to an adaptive person:environment fit.

Interventions may then involve working with clients to change the ways in which they view themselves
and the world, intervening in the environment to improve relationships and interactions, and/or
intervening in the environment to challenge blocked resources or mobilize the environment to create
new resources.
The life model approach can be implemented through four phases, which are described below
(Gitterman, 2009; Gitterman & Germain, 2008). Each phase requires the social worker and client to work
collaboratively in partnership.

1. Preparatory
This phase consists of the social worker preparing to enter the clients’ lives, which will involve gathering
information about clients’, their environments, and their cultural influences. Expressing empathy is a
critical component in this phase, which will enable the social worker to hear and read verbal and
nonverbal communication as well as encourage clients to share their story.

2. Initial: Getting Started


This phase involves an identification and definition of the life stressor(s) present in the client’s life.
Clients should be encouraged to identify all life stressor(s) that they are experiencing and then select the
ones on which they would most like to focus. In some situations, the client may be mandated to the
service and the social worker will need to address this with the client while also addressing any feelings
of discomfort. Social workers should also discuss and identify strengths, resources, and existing or
previous coping skills of the clients. Once, the life stressor(s) are selected to be the focus of work, the
social worker and client should establish an initial agreement that identifies goals, next steps, roles and
responsibilities, and any other arrangements for the specific work together. It is important to note that
oftentimes addressing one life stressor will lead to an automatic alleviation of another life stressor.

3. Ongoing: Working toward Goals


This phase involves working with clients and/or the environment to strengthen the person:environment
fit by working through and resolving life transitional, environmental, and interpersonal stressors. A
variety of interventions can be utilized at this stage depending on the identified life stressor(s).
Interventions to address difficult transitions and traumatic events could include individual work, such as
cognitive behavioral therapy, solution focused brief therapy, or motivational interviewing. Interventions
to address environmental issues could include community social work, community development, or
advocacy. Interventions to address dysfunctional interpersonal processes could include couple and/or
family systems therapy, mediation, or advocacy.

4. Ending: Bringing the Shared Work and the Relationship to a Close


This phase involves a formal closure to the work together where social workers and clients deal with
feelings of ending the work, evaluate the work that was undertaken, recognize accomplishments, and
develop a plan for the future.

RESEARCHED BY:
ROSALIE B. ANAVISO AND MA. MEXILA ANTONIO

You might also like