Individual, Locality and Structural


1. Apply each of the three categories to the attached case scenario.


2. Each of the three categories of explanations suggests policies that are based on the nature of each explanation. Identify what policies might be suggested by each of the three explanations in relation to the case scenario.


3. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of each of these explanations in relation to the case scenario.


A responsibility of social work is to provide for people in society who are in positions of weakness, stress or vulnerability. Social work is a service that operates in response to human need. To perpetuate change on a large scale a social workers capacity for accurate communication and empathy have to be allied to a broader appreciation of the way that environments impact on different individuals and groups (Blackburn 1992). Social workers can make an important contribution to developing and understanding the balances that exist between stressful and supportive elements at individual, local and structural levels. Social work can play an important role in developing policies to combat social problems.


After giving a brief explanation of the three terms local, 'individual, locality and structural' I will examine a number of areas within the case scenario; these are the problems of unemployment, delinquency, and the general lack of a positive environment. I will present the policies, generally linked to the field of social work, suggested by each of the terms in relation to these problems. To gain a better perspective of the important issues I will attempt to identify the strengths and weaknesses of these explanations in relation to the case scenario.


Social work at a individual level in broad terms is concerned with response to a social problems on a one to one basis, that is one worker working with an individual or family, this is...