The Membership Model of Social Work

Abstract

Social work, as part of u.s. Hans S. Falck pairs and larger membership struc society i in he middle of a tures to ccomplish their work to change in intellectual and social valgether. (It is unimportant to the basic ues that has not yet been identified idea of membership that some and named. This change has to do bership groups consist of two persons with questions about the existence of Individualism has become ITIwhereas others may have more than individuals, of groups made up of intoll f>rti mlh i untenable fnr the that-> Thusone maY state that mem TT a t Ten ire tifie foundation for the integration of effects of their interventions. lJNlJlVllJuAJLisM Vo. . , , ,, , , .,. mpmppbcwtp social work methods, and (5) unifies, Mi/MBfcKoHIP under one conceptual umbrella, the Social Interaction The author contends that this culturpsychoand socio-aspects of social Membership as a concept does not ally powerful term, the individual, work assessment and intervention, combine the concepts of the indi has become untenable in social work The most radical consequence of this and the group. What the con fer two reasons. First, the term indipremise is that the curricula termicept presented here does do, how vidual contains too little that is by nology in departments and schools of ever, is to synthesize concepts of definition social and psychological to social work—as well as practice dehuman personality and social interac be useful for social work. Second, the scriptions—would need rethinking, tion, thereby meeting the logical con concept of individualism as a value Not only would key terms be chaiditions for a true integration of the statement rests on essentially nonlenged and possibly abolished or person, the family, the group, the social propositions. To deal with alchanged, but thinking about people— community, and the social work tematives to individualism, a concept including social workers—would no methodologies based on each. Use of of human membership and the implilonger be subject to the intellectual this perspective in terms of the inte cations of the following working defscreen of present individualistic origration of social work methods de inition of social work—Social work entations. pends ultimately on how profession equals rendering professional aid to As soon as one uses the word als think of the irreducibles of human clients in the management of memmembership, one is also talking behavior. If casework practice is a bership—is presented. A basic premabout other people. Membership withform of work with a small group— ise of this article holds that the memout others is impossible—is in fact a the dyad—it would follow that work bership concept (1) makes an impormisuse of the word. Social workers with it and other groups, including tant statement about fundamental and their clients regularly set up families, might best be guided by