Case management is an advanced form of professional casework practice and a required technology for practitioners in complex service delivery systems. A multilevel model of case management is presented that differentiates among five levels of social service personnel.
Human relations labs have increasingly become components of social work education and training programsand in many instances are required experiences for social work studentsand trainees. In this paper theauthor raises and addresses issues concerning (a) purpose, (b) ethical considerations, (c) format, and (d) core content of these labs. In an effort to operationalize solutions, a model human relations lab is outlined.Sensitivity group experiences are appearing more often as established components of the formal learning experiences of human service practitioners. Curriculum at schools of social work and social agencies' in-service training programs increasingly include some form of human relations lab as part of the educational and training process. The purpose of this paper is to raise some issues about human relations labs, to provide clarity, and to suggest solutions. The discussion will pertain to labs that are a required part of the educational and training experience.A number of factors undoubtedly contribute to the increased use of human relations labs in education and training. Since the 1960s social workers have recognized that a major objective of the profession is to humanize our social welfare organizations and make them more responsive to the needs of our clients (Brager
Small groups constitute a large portion of the immediate context of professional social work activities. Social workers spend much of their time in therapy or counseling groups, meetings with families, work and staff groups, committees, neighborhood groups, professional associations, civic and service groups, and task forces. These small groups are the basic building blocks of the larger social structures, organizations, and communities that make up the environment and are the targets of social intervention. It is essential that social workers have a clear conceptualization of the structure of these elemental social units and an understanding of their dynamics and operations.Throughout this century professionals in the medical, human and social services, education, and management and organizational disciplines have recognized the significance of small groups and what potential use they have for their practice. Spurred on by the Western Electric Studies, psychologists and social scientists have intensified their investigations of these units. Since the 1930s a vast literature has emerged about group dynamics. A number of basic texts familiar to most social science undergraduates summarize many of these findings. The list of periodicals reporting on small group research continues to grow.
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