Importance Systems Theory: The Value Of Social Work

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There is not always a straight-forward answer to life’s questions. It is important to be able to adapt to our environment and recognize that circumstances affect us differently from our brother, mother, friend, and neighbor. This ability to change our way of thinking is part of general systems theory.
Social work is about people helping people. It is the ability to make a difference to people in need who may feel like their values, opinions, and needs are not being met. Social workers are the sounding block to the oppressed and advocate for change in policies that are prohibiting certain people from flourishing. Two of the National Association of Social Workers values that truly resonate with me are the value of Social Justice and the Importance …show more content…

It can be used by social workers to identify which policies need to be changed, used to guide our practice and direct research. Systems theories are used to illustrate how people, otherwise known as a system, and their environment adapt to each other. In order to be a successful social worker, an understanding of the complexity of human behavior and the various methods to resolve issues or make change is required. Being aware of the different types of theories and how to execute them is essential to assessing the situation and providing …show more content…

System theories have been criticized to be opinions and ideological biases which do not address certain features in society. It is important to remember that system theories are ideological biases and opinions of the person who founded them at the time they were developed; which may not translate well to different periods of time. It is difficult to detect biases when they are assimilated into theories of human behavior. They are better at describing and explaining rather than predicting how people will react to certain experiences in their environment. Bateson stated that each “theory is a map of human behavior that suggests possible routes and goals of development…When we mistake the map for the territory, we make a grave error” (Robbins et al., 2012, p. 23)Click and drag to

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