Social Work Intervention: Strategies and Best Practices

Posted on Jan 5, 2025 in Other subjects

Item 7: Social Work Intervention Process with Case Studies

Conceptualization and Methodological Framework

Attempting to define the concept of intervention in social work with cases can lead to some methodological confusion. The first thing to clarify is the conceptual difference between “general assistance” and the “intervention phase.”

By general action, we understand all the work done by a social worker from the initial contact with the user until the conclusion of the event. The social worker can refer to the term to express their daily work, which is the intervention. But what happens when the term “intervention” is used in a more concrete way, inserted into the methodological process of social work with cases? Then it no longer appears as a generalized, colloquial, or simplistic term, but rather as an intervention phase, marked by an attitude of systematic, rational, thoughtful, and professional practice. The intervention will be a phase in the basic structure of social work proceedings with cases. Specifying its definition as a phase, it is defined as a “methodological stage, characterized by the implementation of the roadmap. It is a stage of action and movement in which all the techniques and instruments of social work are used.”

Creating an Area of Interpersonal Intervention

This is a pillar of intervention. Any interpersonal relationship is itself therapeutic, precisely because of its status. The user needs contact and communication. The relationship established is not informal, colloquial, or personal; it is strictly professional. It must provide for the formation of a pleasant climate, both physically and psychologically cordial. The physical environment should be prepared adequately for communication and confidentiality (absence of noise, interruptions, well-distributed furniture, avoiding talking in the hallways, etc.). It is advisable that if these prerequisites are not met, the intervention should not be carried out. Psychologically, we must also take care of interpersonal relationships by creating a climate of cordiality and understanding. This is achieved through empathy, which means deepening the personal and the user’s feelings.

With all this, a code is prepared where the social worker, in their role, should seek the realization of two factors that will enable consistency and durability of the relationship: complicity and compromise.

Complicity Requirements

Complicity is essential to ensure the duration and depth of the relationship with the user because it allows them to get involved in solving their problem. It also implies a positive aspect during the intervention because if the person becomes an accomplice to their problem, they will be assuming that they can fix it themselves and will be taking responsibility for changing the situation by taking on an active and dynamic character.

Agreement

Any organized and systematic intervention process involves the use of an agreement, which need not be written. It is a social worker’s pact with the user, which will define the objectives and commitments assumed by both parties within the agreed-upon change project. The intervention will be the way to put those tasks into action. Initial contacts with the user will serve the social worker to know the willingness and ability of the person and their degree of complicity in the case. Based on this information, the format of the agreement will be oriented towards the following premises:

If the person meets the goals and commitments marked verbally in interviews, we recommend the use of a verbal agreement. They will feel more comfortable and less pressure, taking their own initiative and taking responsibility.
If the person does not meet the aims and marked verbal commitments, it is necessary to use a written agreement. It acts as a motivator for change, seeking to link the user with the intervention.

Both types of agreement are not immutable or fixed during the operation; on the contrary, they will be modified as the case evolves. What does remain unchanged is the content of the agreement, which should include the following:

Binding parties: social worker and user(s).
Start date and approximate duration.
Objectives and actions to meet.
A set of problems to be treated.
Goals to be met.
Benefits and costs of implementation.
Structuring in time to define and follow-up appointments.

The impact of the use of the agreement during the intervention is beneficial because it allows for the possibility of success, discipline, commitment, security, and confidence. Once the complicity of the user is won and the agreement is set up, the intervention will take place gradually and constantly, changing due to the dynamic and evolving status of persons.

Professional Attitudes in Intervention

The social worker needs certain basic attitudes in implementing their plan of action:

Creativity: This allows the social worker to tailor the intervention to the individual user, developing a plan of action and implementation. It incorporates elements that make social work an art, developing new possibilities for change.
Improvisation: The user is unpredictable. The caseworker must be prepared to restructure the intervention as many times as necessary.
Rationality: The intervention must be a rational act. No one should act on free will. Actions must be considered and consistent with the design of the intervention.
Spontaneity: This makes the intervention a smooth action, away from a rigid schedule of activity.
Flexibility: With this, the practitioner can respect and accept differences between people, avoiding professional rigidity. There will not be a single design to be applied to different people, but each will have their own proper and particular approach.
Methodological Rigor: The practitioner will be aware that their action is inserted into a methodological framework.
Recursion: This emphasizes the retrospective nature of each phase.
Technicality: The professional jargon should adapt to the cultural level of the user, making communication as clear as possible.
Patience: Always respecting the pace of the person, which is sometimes slow, because acquiring or changing attitudes and developing skills needed by the user takes time. The practitioner should be prepared to face a long process in achieving the objectives, a process in which we should not lose patience or hope.

During the intervention, the social worker will collate all these attitudes with the principles and ethical values of social work with cases: individualized consideration, acceptance, self-determination, non-judgmental approach, expression and combination of feelings, and confidentiality.

Process as Intervention

Intervention is a term that implies action, movement, and a number of threads.

Thread Information

One of the most important facets to be met by the practitioner during the intervention will be the availability of information, which ensures proper operation. The contents of this information are very wide and varied. It could be split into two main sections:

Overview: Constituted by the acquisition of all the knowledge the social worker has received throughout their teaching and professional training. For intervention, it is essential that the professional knows the laws and guidelines of social policy and the various legal formulations attached to the various programs, projects, and support currently in force.
Specific Information: This will be related to the issue of intervention, referring to:
- The ability of the user: Information concerning their attitudes, experience, and historical trends that will shape and guide performance.
- Institutional capacity: The practitioner must know the institution where they work, the objectives pursued, the requirements, rules, constitution, and resources.
- Specific resources: Depending on the demand of the case, specific social resources will be mobilized appropriately.

Thread Counseling and Guidance

The use of this information will enable us to advise the person, directing them towards a change in their situation. This is the main goal of counseling. This job is not easy and requires some experience. The intervention and counseling process can be used in two ways:

Non-directive Counseling: The professional tries to make the user become aware of their situation. It is often used during the first intervention in order to gather information. During this, the worker can summarize the information provided, explain with words what the user means by their questions, and clarify their status. The professional attitude will be more passive, trying mainly to listen and clarify the situation.
Advising Management: The practitioner takes a more active role, so it is often used late in the intervention when the relationship with the user is already entrenched. They will probe a specific topic using leading questions, ask the user for various solutions, direct the intervention to specific targets, or compare the information and even persuade the user.

Thread Support

This implies the recognition of all professional work. Above it lie all the basics of the intervention. The supportive relationship established between the worker and the user is far from obsolete charities and charitable aid, moving to its present design and experimental approach. Professional intervention consists precisely in supporting the person, providing guidance and resources to solve their need. The user should not feel alone but heard and understood so that their anxiety and concerns diminish. During the course of the assignment, the social worker will accompany the person to provide different resources and alternatives. Professional support will make the user feel more confident and sure of themselves; it will develop a range of skills and attitudes that will make them more competent to deal with the problem.

Thread Care

Intervention sometimes takes the format of delivery or material assistance. There will be times when it is necessary to resort to purely care-based approaches because the case requires it. This thread is intended to remedy a situation of extreme necessity; that is, it is reserved for economic hardship after professional valuation of the case. Its character is palliative and timely, but even so, we must include it in an intervention designed to provide some consistency of performance. Material assistance presents a situation where we must avoid the passivity that can be created in the user, accustomed to receiving such aid. For this reason, the user must choose a different type of intervention that is not purely care-based. Material assistance is not the only purpose of the intervention, but a complement.

Thread Monitoring and Tracking

The social worker appears here as a supervisor of the action taken, that is, as a person of authority, with the knowledge and expertise to guide the user towards achieving the objectives. Exercising control does not mean coercion or adopting a punitive, penalty, or dictatorial approach. The term “control” means to carry out continuous monitoring of the evolution of the intervention. Monitoring is required by the changing nature and dynamics of the person, and this requires us to record all changes and changes experienced by the user. To be effective in this process, the social worker has two essential tools:

Follow-up Interviews: The frequency of these varies according to the needs of the case, but we recommend that they be weekly at the beginning, then monthly, and quarterly as the process progresses to its final stage.
The Social History: This records the evolution of the user, all relevant aspects that occur in the person from the start of the intervention.

Direct Intervention

Direct Intervention with Cases

This requires the physical presence of the user. It includes all activities carried out by social workers in interpersonal relationships, created by the need to solve a particular problem, which has already been assessed previously. These would be all actions directed to the user during the application of the intervention project design. Direct intervention begins when a problem arises, leading to a crisis situation, where the user appears locked and unable to find a solution by themselves. These are moments of great stress and emotional imbalance. The professional must work to elucidate the reason why that person has reached their situation and try to develop a supportive relationship on which all actions will rest. Then, the professional, well-acquainted with available resources, will make available a number of mechanisms, able to foster and mobilize action for change in their problems. This allows extending the framework of the individual, offering access to new experiences that will bring new prospects for coping with the crisis. There is evidence of the mediating position of the social worker, who liaises between the available social resources and the user in crisis. Through a protective action, the practitioner appears as an advocate for user rights, informing and advising according to their problems. This whole process results in an accompanying action in which the social worker and the user will work together toward the resolution of the claim.

Direct Intervention with Families

Peculiarities of Direct Intervention with Families

The Reasons for the Request: Inability of any member and its impact on the family, social risk in children and adolescents, abuse, marital conflict, etc.
The Study of the Family System: Knowing the dynamics of the family and the feelings and grievances intertwining within the family is an essential professional requirement. Family conflict usually arises from deficient communication between members. The lack of understanding and lack of coordination cause the family to freeze in resolving the conflict.
The Organization of Agreements: This involves getting along on all commitments among participants, defining clear roles to play, and responsibilities within the design of the intervention. This requires great professional skill in mediation, which is achieved by the systemic definition and transparency of the objectives to be met.
Using a Series of Specific Techniques: Among those, we emphasize the genogram, the systemic view of the intervention, and the ecomap.
Structuring and Planning of Individual and Family Interviews: Care must be taken with the content, purpose, objectives, and members to be summoned. During the interviews, we should avoid conflicts. When the family situation is tense, the whole family should not be called at once; it is advisable to carry out separate interviews, trying to find points of connection.
Awareness of the Resolution: Normally, when a family seeks help, they delegate all responsibility into the hands of the professional, who will be considered as a “savior.” The professional will provide guidance but never assume total responsibility for change. It is also possible that each member of the family delegates responsibility to the others. The chronic problem then arises because nobody takes the initiative.
Communication with Other Professionals: Appropriate communication channels and documentary coordination media should be provided among all professionals involved in the family process. Multidisciplinary coordination meetings are vital to monitor and intervene in the issue from different points of view.
Privacy: It is essential to respect the decisions of users and be careful with the use of confidential information.
Social Extrapolation: Efforts must be made to restore family functionality as the main spring of socialization. The family is a basic element to ensure the social inclusion of its members individually.

Scheme of Direct Intervention with Families

First Meeting with the Family: This provides the institutional relationship with the members of the family. We will try to involve all members. Creating a climate of communication and understanding in the relationship of professional-family support allows the possibility of reaching agreements, responsibilities, and decision-making during the performance. Home visits will allow us to meet members we did not know and observe the family in a natural context. The information we draw will be rich and valuable. During the first contact, there are two goals that have an impact: studying in detail the circumstances of the family and analyzing the mobilization and involvement for change presented by its members.
Structuring and Organization: At this stage, we must combine all the information provided by Madison with that of other professionals to develop the working hypothesis that is oriented towards the intervention.
Professional Support in Achieving Objectives: Support materials (including cash benefits), support for the use of services (kindergartens, canteens), training aids and occupation, family support, aid in support and integration community, connectivity and training aids in the utilization of resources, aid support, and therapeutic intervention.
Attitude Tracking Mediator: Throughout the process, the practitioner must mediate the actions taken, facilitate communication, and create a sense of family unity.
Attitude Supervisor: The purpose of surveillance is to properly guide professional intervention and prevent the chronic disease of the case.
Inclusion Familiar: This consists of creating a pleasant convivial and functional core, where the organizational capacity to function as an independent and competent social system promotes the social inclusion of its members, avoiding family dependence on social institutions. This educational role is essential.

Indirect Intervention

This is performed outside the user’s interpersonal relationship or family, not requiring physical presence. Still, their contribution to the progress of the case is significant because it allows coordination, evaluation, and multidisciplinary work on the problem. Mainly, these represent administrative, managerial, and supervisory functions. Some of the professional activities of indirect intervention in family cases are issuing reports, preparation of interviews, telephone management, statistics, work reports, knowledge of intervention techniques, and filing. Indirect intervention can also involve the pursuit of improving the social system, expanding the supply of resources, and improving their quality. Input in the political arena may encourage the emergence of new programs or policy measures. Professional social responsibility goes beyond personal intervention because it involves a political commitment to evaluation and development, able to mobilize and encourage new measures to improve the relevant political bodies.