SWK 511 Class 7 Copyright c 2012 BrooksCole

MULTIDIMENSIONALITY OF ASSESSMENT Reciprocal interaction between person and external world Humans are social creatures Interactions between numerous systems Priorities based on: § Client’s immediate concern or presenting problem § Strengths and resources § Legal or safety issues § EPAS 2. 1. 7 a Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

DEFINING ASSESSMENT: PROCESS AND PRODUCT • Process ▫ What does the client see as his or her primary problems or concerns? ▫ What (if any) current or impending legal mandates must the client and social worker consider? ▫ What (if any) potentially serious health or safety concerns might require the social worker’s and client’s attention? • Product ▫ analysis and synthesis of relevant data into a working definition of the problem ▫ identifies associated factors and clarifies how they interact to produce and maintain the problem ▫ complex working hypothesis based on the most current data Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of available. Thomson Learning, Inc.

OVERVIEW: AREAS FOR ATTENTION IN ASSESSING STRENGTHS AND PROBLEMS Problems as seen by potential clients -Health and safety concerns -Legal mandates -Culture, race, gender, sexual orientation and other areas of difference Problems and challenges -Severity -Sites of problem -Duration -Temporal context -Frequency -Emotional reaction -Meanings attached -Consequences -Resource deficits Strengths and resources Developmental needs and life transitions Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. -Personal and family coping capacities, skills, values, motivations -Community resources and support networks including cultural supports EPAS 2. 1. 7 a

ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSIS • Diagnosis ▫ Shorthand categorization based on specific criteria ▫ Positives: Common language about grouping of symptoms, facilitates research, identifies available treatments, names a condition ▫ Negatives: Self-fulfilling prophecies, obscures uniqueness of the individual, stigma • Assessment ▫ Helps to describe the symptoms related to a diagnosis ▫ Helps to explain the client’s history, current situation ▫ Helps to identify supports and resources to manage the symptoms EPAS 2. 1. 3 a Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

THE DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL (DSM-IV-TR) • A multiaxial system used to codify the following: ▫ ▫ ▫ Axis Axis I: Clinical Syndromes II: Personality disorders and mental retardation III: Physical disorders IV: Psychological and environmental problems V: Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score • Considered by many to be counter to Social Work values for its focus on pathology • Widely used as reimbursements are contingent upon diagnosis • EPAS 2. 1. 3 a Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

CULTURALLY COMPETENT ASSESSMENT • Possibilities for distinguishing individual members of an ethnic minority ▫ Degree of commonality between the two cultures (norms, values, beliefs, and perceptions) ▫ Availability of cultural translators, mediators, and models ▫ Amount and type of feedback provided by each culture regarding attempts to produce normative behaviors ▫ Conceptual style and problem-solving approach of the individual and the mesh with the prevalent or valued styles of the majority culture ▫ Individual’s degree of bilingualism ▫ Degree of dissimilarity in physical appearance from the majority culture Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

EMPHASIZING STRENGTHS IN ASSESSMENTS To emphasize strengths and client empowerment § Give preeminence to client’s understanding of the facts § Discover the client’s wants § Assess personal and environmental strengths on multiple levels Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

COMMONLY OVERLOOKED STRENGTHS • • Facing problems and seeking help Risking by sharing problems Persevering under difficult circumstances Being resourceful and creative Seeking to further knowledge, education, and skills Expressing caring feelings to family and friends Asserting one’s rights rather than submitting to injustice • Being responsible in work or financial obligations Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

COMMONLY OVERLOOKED STRENGTHS (CONT) Seeking to understand the needs and feelings of others Having the capacity for introspection Demonstrating the capacity for self-control Being able to function effectively in stressful situations Demonstrating the ability to consider alternative courses of action and the needs of others when solving problems Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSMENT Strength or Resource Environmental Factors (family, community) 1 2 Individual or Personal Factors 3 4 Deficit, Obstacle, or Challenge Source: Adapted from Charles D. Cowger, Assessment of Client Strengths in The Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice, 2 nd Ed. (Figure 5. 2, p. 69) by Dennis Saleeby. Reprinted by permission of Allyn & Bacon. EPAS 2. 1. 7 a Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THEORY IN ASSESSMENTS Brief, solution-focused § Seeking exceptions § Scaling the problem § Scaling Motivation § The miracle question Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THEORY IN ASSESSMENTS (CONT) Cognitive Theories: thoughts mediate emotions and actions § Assessments would focus on the nature of the client’s thoughts and schemas (cognitive patterns), causal attributions, the basis for the client’s beliefs, and antecedent thoughts in problematic situations Behavioral Theories: actions and emotions are created, maintained “and extinguished through principles of learning” § Assessments would focus on the conditions surrounding troubling behaviors, the conditions that reinforce the behavior, and the consequences and secondary gains that might result EPAS 2. 1. 7 a Walsh, 2006, p. 107 Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION Background sheets or other forms that clients complete Interview with clients Direct observation of nonverbal behavior Direct observation of interaction between marital partners, family members, and group members Collateral information from relatives, friends, physicians, teachers, employers, and other professionals Tests or assessment instruments Personal experiences of the practitioner based on direct interactions with clients Client self-monitoring Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER IN PROBLEM ASSESSMENT • See example list of questions • Getting started ▫ Assessing for safety • Identifying the problem, its expressions, and other critical concerns • The interaction of other people or systems The family and extended family or kinship network The social network Public institutions Personal service providers The faith community • Assessing developmental needs and wants • EPAS 2. 1. 7 b Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER (CONTINUED) • • • Typical wants involved in presenting problems Stresses associated with life transitions Cultural, Societal, and Social Class Factors Severity of the problem Meanings that clients ascribe to problems ▫ ▫ ▫ Pseudoscientific explanations Psychological labeling Fixed beliefs about others Unchangeable factors References to fixed religious or philosophical principles, natural laws, or social forces ▫ Assertion upon presumed laws of human nature EPAS 2. 1. 4 c Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER (CONTINUED) Sites of problematic behavior Temporal context of problematic behaviors Frequency of problematic behaviors Duration of the problem Other issues affecting client functioning Clients’ emotional reactions to problems Coping efforts and needed skills Cultural, societal, and social class factors Support systems External resources needed Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.

ASSESSING CHILDREN AND OLDER ADULTS Maltreatment Data sources and interviewing techniques § Collateral contacts § Interactive activities § Developmental assessment § Screening instruments § Functional assessments § Physical examinations § 2. 1. 7 b Copyright (c) 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.