Theoretical Analysis: The Pride Center

The Pride Center: A Theoretical Analysis There are many frameworks of social work which can use to examine the way social work is practiced and theorized. One of these frameworks is Payne’s model. Payne’s model asserts that there are three distinct theories of social work, a field which he described as, “…the profession of social work claims to help people in their personal & interpersonal lives in order to achieve social improvement & to adjust social change to benefit people interpersonally,” (Payne, 2005, p. ix). The three views Payne describes are the therapeutic (reflexive-therapeutic), social order (individualist-reformist), and transformational (socialist-collectivist). The therapeutic view simply put, is working to help the client

These theories are reflected in the ways that the mission says it will better the lives of the population it serves, specifically citing education, awareness, advocacy, and resources. Education, (raising) awareness, and advocacy are fairly clear cut examples of transformational social work being that the aim of these avenues of social work are to transform a greater society to benefit those who are the most oppressed, in this case the gender/sexual/romantic minority (GSRM) community. The Pride Center also states that it will use resources to better its clients’ needs, which I would classify as more in the realm of the social order theory of social work, because providing resources meets individual needs of clients. The Pride Center mission also notes that the agency will focus on participation and engagement within the Great Lakes Bay Region. This indicates to me that The Pride Center is interested in facilitating growth of the community, which could considered therapeutic in a macro sense. Strictly looking at the mission statement, I would evaluate the Pride Center’s balance of Payne’s three views (cite) to fall within the following

Generally, practice at The Pride Center holds close to that outlined in the mission statement. The Pride Center has generally focused on advocacy (First-year Pride housing and The Preferred Name Policy), awareness (speaker Eric Alva), and education (Safe Space training), and resources (Resource Fair). In addition to the aforementioned events, The Pride Center also facilitated a student social group, hosted a Glow Party, as well as participated in community events such as the Great Lakes Bay Region AIDs Walk/Run, Dow Workplace LGBT+ Summit, and Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity community meetings. Largely, with the exception of offering resources, and facilitating the student social group, this is macro practice, which is part of the definition of transformation practice. As previously asserted, resources are considered to be a function of the social order view of social work, and the student group is therapeutic, due to it being reflexive, meaning the students are there for growth, and The Pride Center hearing and adjusting practice to better suit the community through these concerns. In terms of practice I would measure the balance of these views in the following way: Therapeutic 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 Transformational
Transformational 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 Social