Models of

Human Behaviour
in Social Work
Bisma Shakir
Lecturer (History and Politics)

Based on Charles H. Zastrow. (2003).The Practice of Social Work: Applications of Generalist and Advance Content (7th Edition). Thomson
Brooks/Cole
Medical Ecological
Model Model
MEDICAL MODEL
 1920s-1960s
 Founder → Sigmund Freud
 View clients as patients
 Service providers
◦ Diagnose the causes of a patient’s problems and then provide
treatment
 Problems → Inside the patient
 Emotional & Behavioural problems
◦ mental illness
◦ Medical labels
 e.g.  e.g.
◦ schizophrania, ◦ Anxieties
◦ paranoia, ◦ Depression
◦ delusional disorder, ◦ Psychosis
◦ psychosis, ◦ Neurosis
◦ phobia,
◦ bipolar disorder,
◦ Personality Disorder
 Personality Disorder
1. Paranoid: A pattern of distrust and suspicion such that others’ motives are interpreted as
malevolent
2. Schizoid: A pattern of detachment from social relationships & a restricted range of
emotional expression.
3. Schizotypal: A pattern of acute discomfort in close relationships, cognitive or perceptual
distortions, & eccentricities of behaviour
4. Antisocial: a pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others.
5. Borderline: a pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affect;
also characterized by marked impulsivity.
6. Histrionic: A pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking.
7. Narcissistic: a pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy.
8. Avoidant: a pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to
negative evaluation.
9. Dependent: a pattern of submissive and clinging behaviour related to an excessive need
to be taken care of.
10. Obsessive-compulsive: a pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and
control
Why Medical Model arose?
 The medical model arose in reaction to the historical
notion that emotionally disturbed were possessed by
demons, were mad, and were to be blamed for their
disturbances.
◦ These people were ‘treated’ by being beaten, locked up, or
killed.
 The medical model viewed the disturbed as in need of
help, stimulated research into the nature of emotional
problems, and promoted the development of therapeutic
approaches.
 ECOLOGICAL MODEL
 In the 1960s, some social work scholars began to question the
usefulness of medical model. Environmental factors were shown
to be at least as important as internal factors in causing a
clients’ problems. Research was also demonstrating that
psychoanalysis was probably ineffective in treating client’s
problems.
 In the 1960s, social work shifted at least some of its emphasis
to a reform approach, which seeks to change systems to benefit
clients.
 Person-in-Environment
Family
System

Social
Educational
Services
System
System

People interact
Person
with many Goods and
systems. Political
Services
System
System

Religious Employment
System System
 With this conceptualization, social worker can focus on
THREE separate areas:
◦ First, it can focus on the person and seek to develop his or her
problem-solving, coping, and developmental capacities.
◦ Second, it can focus on the relationship between a person and
the systems he or she interacts with and link the person with
the needed resources, services, and opportunities.
◦ Third, it can focus on the systems and seek to reform them to
meet the needs of the individual more effectively.
Problems
 Ecological model views individuals, families, and small
groups as having transitional problems and needs as they
move from one life stage to another.
Individuals have lifecycles & Transitional
Problems
 Individuals face many transitional changes as they grow
older, like
1. learning to walk,
2. entering first grade,
3. adjusting to puberty,
4. graduating from school,
5. finding a job,
6. getting married,
7. having children, and
8. retiring etc.
Families have lifecycles & Transitional Problems
 Families also have a life cycle. Here are only few of the
events that require adjustment:
◦ Engagement, marriage, birth of children, parenting, children
going to school, loss of parents (or divorce)
Small Groups have Lifecycles & Transitional
Problems
 Small groups have transitional phases of development
as well. Members of small groups spend time getting
acquainted, gradually learn to trust one another, begin to
self-disclose more, learn to work together on tasks,
develop
 Central Concern of Ecological Model
 The model’s central concern is to articulate the transitional
problems and needs of individuals, families, and small groups.
◦ Once these problems and needs are identified, interaction approaches
are then selected and applied to help individuals, families, and small
groups to resolve the transitional problems and meet their needs.
 An ecological model can also focus on maladaptive
interpersonal problems and needs in families and groups,
including communication processes and dysfunctional
relationship patterns.
Q/A
1. Medical Social Work / Paraplegic Rehabilitation Workers
2. Social Work with Drug Addicts
3. Child Protection Worker
4. Women Protection Worker
5. Social Workers with Offenders
6. Social Workers in Special Education