Lenses for Conceptualizing

Problems and
Interventions:
Biopsychosocial
Dimensions

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THE DISEASE MODEL

• This model emerged from Freud’s ideas about the roots of psychological problems as well as from advances in medicine and
in our understanding of physiological processes.
• MEDICAL MODEL
• Places emphasis on biological issues that can cause problems, which often get overlooked in assessment.
• COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• Many constructs can be tested empirically and used to predict behavior.
• PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
• Credited with bringing sexual issues to the forefront.
• PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
• Places some emphasis on interactions between individuals and their environments.
• LEARNING
• Concepts are useful and easy to apply to practice
• HUMANISTIC
• Positive, empowering approach to work with clients.

2
THEORIES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Several theories focus on the development of cognition (or mental processes)

and how this development can impact behavior
• Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
• Piaget’s theory describes how people develop their capacities to think, learn, and process information
from birth through their teenage years.
• Applying Piaget’s Theory
• As Carlos’s social worker, you would probably only be able to use Piaget’s theory in a limited way to
help understand what is happening in his situation.
• Critiquing Piaget’s Theory
• Some critics therefore contend that his methods biased his work and did not offer a large enough
sample from which to generalize his results to other children.

3
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES

• This section discusses two theories of personality development that are

psychodynamic in nature and have been influential in social work and other
helping professions.
• Freud’s Theory
• This philosophy underscores the importance of unconsciousness and early experiences in shaping
personality.
• Erikson’s Theory
• Erikson’s theory proposes that a person progresses through eight stages of psychosocial development,
which extend throughout the life span. Box 3.4 describes these stages.

4
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

• Although no single theory explains culture and its effects on human behavior—in fact, there is no universally
accepted definition of culture—we need to consider cultural theories, particularly in the context of social work.
• Defining Culture
• Cultural relativism
• Ethnic identity
• Ethnicity
• Ethnocentrism
• Ethos:
• deology
• Social class
• Worldview
• Cultural Perspectives and Social Work
• To achieve this understanding, social workers must recognize how values, beliefs, philosophies, experiences,
and social structures vary from one society to another. They should be able to separate stereotypes that
define cultures and the people who live within them from individual client realities.

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HUMANISTIC AND EXISTENTIAL PERSPECTIVES

• The last type that we will look at in this chapter are humanistic and
existential theories, which deal with the effects of people’s worldviews or the
meanings they place on life and on their behavior.
• Person-Centered Therapy and Transactional Analysis
• is based on a person’s selfconcept. Rogers agrees that people are the product of their experiences and
how they perceive those experiences.
• Gestalt therapy is based on psychodynamic theory. It posits that people go through life with
“unfinished business” (for example, unresolved feelings or conflicts with others) that affects
behavior and relationships.
• Applying and Critiquing Humanistic and Existential Perspectives
• the basic approach would be to better understand how Carlos perceives his situation. You would want
to know how his subjective views of the world and of the meaning of life are shaping his experiences.
• you would strive to establish a working environment with Carlos that promoted warmth, empathy,
genuineness, and positive regard.

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BEHAVIORAL AND LEARNING THEORIES

• Concepts from these theories describe, among other things, how people learn and modify their behaviors. “Pure” behaviorists argue that personality
development occurs through learning and shaping behaviors.
• Classical Conditioning
• focuses on how people respond to stimuli in their environment. In his classic experiment, Pavlov noted that dogs naturally salivate at the
sight of food.
• Operant Conditioning
• In operant conditioning, it is the consequences of behavior that result in behavior change (either an increase or decrease in behavior).
• Social Learning Theory
• Social learning theory suggests that people can learn vicariously, or through watching others. This type of learning is called modeling.
• Applying Learning Theory
• you could use concepts from social learning theory or combine them with concepts from classical and operant conditioning to help him deal
with his current situation. For example, let us say that Carlos has a fear of care facilities.
• Critiquing Learning Theory
• they argue that conditioning theories treat people as passive agents who sit back and allow things to “happen” to them. These theories fail
to address innate cognitive processes that may be motivating people’s behaviors.

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SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES

• Sociologists develop theories to explain how social forces affect people on a large scale.
• Conflict Theory
• Marx and Conflict Theory
• The Family
• Health Care
• Aisha’s Case Revisited
• Functionalist Theory
• Manifest Functions, Latent Functions, and Dysfunctions
• Functionalist Theorists: Durkheim and Parsons
• Symbolic Interaction Theory and Social Constructionism
• George Herbert Mead
• Erving Goffman
• Charles Horton Cooley
• For example, sociological theory might explain how unemployment affects a community or why a group of people
would follow a leader of a religious sect to the point of committing suicide.

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Feminist Theory

• Feminist thought can be applied to many different levels of social assessment, including those that examine
psychological development, oppression and discrimination, and institutional structure and functioning.
• Branches of Feminist Theory
• Challenge false dichotomies
• Rethink established knowledge
• Examine different patterns of socialization
• Deconstruct patriarchal hierarchies
• Increase opportunities for empowerment
• Value process orientation
• Understand that the personal is political
• Respect diversity
• Promote awareness of interactions between the individual and social forces
• In reality, there is not a single feminist theory or founder (indeed, feminists can differ considerably on certain
ideas), and feminist thinking is influenced by many different disciplines and theorists.