Family intervention model

Family social work is one of the specialized forms of social work that understands
as a unit of work to the family and its family relationships and considers the context in
which is inserted. Through that, it is intended to understand the psychosocial problems that
They affect the family group generating a process of helping relationship.

For Social Work, the family is one of the main areas of intervention.
constituting, as has been said, the oldest modality of Social Work involved
thus the intervention in a natural system. Currently, families have multiple
configurations and as a family it is subjected to great pressures and demands, greater than
in almost all its history. In addition to its functions of reproduction and socialization, it is also noted
that continues to play a fundamental economic role. Besides being a space of love, of
affection, today is the only space of real belonging for human beings and where life is lived
These multiple demands on the family translate into situations of conflict or risk.
familiar, and it is here where the intervention of Social Work is visualized. The problems are
translate the reasons for social consultation, for which the 'users' or 'families' arrive at
consult with the Social Worker. These appear as problems of relationships between the
couple, relationship problems.

The methodology proposed by this Model is based on four basic stages, the
which do not largely differ from the classical scheme used in Social Work methods
what are Diagnosis, Programming, Execution, and Evaluation. However, the Model intends to,
through these four methodological stages, describe and apply this methodology
specialized in Family Social Work, from a different perspective of the methods
traditional.

Stages of the methodological process

a. Family Diagnosis.

b. Agreement.

c. Family Intervention.

d. Family Assessment and Closure.

The family demand: The process begins when a person or family approaches the Worker.
Social with a demand or request. It is necessary to keep in mind that the demand,
it is generally the first contact of the family with the Social Worker. The demand can
adopting multiple forms can be explicit and concrete, or unspecified and ambiguous, material,
immaterial, in individual or family terms. Demand is the first element of
information we have that gives us guidance about:

1) What the complaining person considers to be problematic for her, her family or for her
immediate environment.
2) The way that person confronts their difficulties: as something personal and that is within.
relationship with herself; or as something that is alien to her, that is given to her.

a. Family Diagnosis: In Family Social Work, when carrying out a diagnostic process with
a family, this cannot be accomplished from a single characterization. If it is fragmented to the
family and only some areas are analyzed, its effect will not always be understood
dynamic. The challenge is a holistic view of the family, where all are included
dimensions that compose it. The family diagnosis is thus much more than the sum of the
individual diagnoses of each family member.

Objective of the diagnosis: To understand the felt and unfelt problems of the family, their
resources and skills both in the direct and indirect dimension.

Procedures to be carried out in this stage: Activities: Telephone or personal contacts with the
or the derivatives, Review of social or clinical records of the family to be attended. Visit
Home care. Clinical / technical meeting. Institutional coordination. Recording of the
interventions. Techniques 3: Interview, observation. Genogram, ecomap, photographs.
relatives.

b. Agreement: Prior to developing the actual intervention, the model proposes the
making an explicit agreement, written or oral, between the Social Worker and the family.
Objective of the agreement: It is expected that intentions can be manifested through a ritual.
of change expressed by the family when attending a family intervention process. Such
The agreement should consider the following points: Dates and hours of service. Place where
attentions will be carried out (institution and/or family home). Approximate duration of the
family intervention process (timing and frequency of sessions). Definition of the problem
Rights attributable to the professional (citation of other significant people, interviews)
individuals with some member, etc. ). Rights attributable to the family (special requests,
etc. ) Tariff (when applicable)

c. Family Intervention. For Family Social Work, the objective of this stage is: to modify
in the family dysfunctional patterns of relationships, both in its internal and external dimension.
The main support of this intervention is the Helping Relationship established by the Worker.
Social and the family. For the Family Social Work that this model proposes, there would exist as...
it has previously mentioned two dimensions; one direct and one indirect. Both
interventions can be simultaneous or separate, and can be applied both in
the institution, in the family home and/or in the locality where it is. In relation to the
problems that warrant family intervention in family relationships from the
practice of Social Work, two authors, Peggy Papp and Ana María Campannini, have
worried about it
d. Family Assessment and Closure: Purpose of the family assessment: to understand to what extent the
The intervention carried out contributed to improving a problem situation. The evaluation must
it should occur even when no changes have taken place, or only the intervention has
it was done to prevent further deterioration. It is important to try to draw conclusions about the
why there was no change. For the indirect dimension, there is greater ease to carry this out.
process as the intervention is based on the idea of activation or creation of networks
resources to address a specific need of the family.
 Intervention models with family

According to Hill (1986), Lutz conceives the model in Social Work as something symbolic that can
consists of a set of action principles related to a defined field of phenomena or of
experience... The concept of model encompasses not only the 'how's' of social work, but also
also their 'whens', 'whys' and 'for-whys' (Viscarret, 2007) In this report
we will expand the models and the way they can be reflected in concrete cases, which
they allow understanding the applicability in Social Work.

Crisis intervention model: Its methodology was developed by psychiatry

American culture and its adaptation to Social Work is due to the practice of Workers
Social work is constantly in contact with people in crisis.
individuals, members of the family or a group, throughout our lives we experience
crisis and we participate in the crisis of others; It is important to highlight that some individuals tend to
to have the ability to solve their crises while others must seek emotional support and
professional. The intervention guided by this model is classified in the group of therapies
brief interventions, as they generally require an immediate response and advice within
due to the immediacy, it can happen in a short period of time by the professional
experiencing feelings of anxiety, helplessness, and powerlessness in the Social Worker, is
it is essential to have a solid understanding of the concepts and principles of this theory
function of Social Workers to face the changes occurring in the process
of intervention and avoid negative and unsatisfactory results.

From the conceptual content, we can say that crisis intervention consists of providing support.
in the vital situation of a person and/or family or group that is experiencing a rupture
vital and support her in mobilizing her own resources to overcome the problem and thus recover the
emotional balance. A series of basic concepts that are accepted have been consolidated.
by those who operate from this model, (Swanson and Carbon 1998):
 Model centered on the task.

It has been fully developed from Social Work and for Social Work, oriented
in the problems, since the 1970s, based on work done by William Reid and Am
Shyne suggests that short-term jobs are more productive than
those open interventions in the tempo. They are based on developing and carrying out tasks
that are related to the solution of the problem posed by the users themselves.

It is a method that has been shown to be particularly effective in intervention with problems.
caused by interpersonal conflicts, dissatisfaction with social relationships, problems
with formal organizations, decision-making problems, insufficient resources,
behavioral issues.

Basically, the main elements that support the practice of intervention

task-centered are: the delimitation of the problem, the objectives, the time limit, the
tasks to be carried out and the contract.

The educational model

Family intervention from this model focuses on teaching behaviors and

parental educational skills. It can also be responsible for the re-education of children.
in general, it worries about all educational processes, as Coll (1996) points out,
regardless of the institutional context in which they take place. Depending on the
theoretical orientation, interventions can have a preventive character,

The community model While the clinical model, as we saw earlier, is

focuses on treatment and the educational model in training, we can describe this
model, generally based on a search approach.

This model arises to meet the high demands for psychosocial care. As indicated
Sánchez-Vidal (1988), in modern urban society we can observe disorganization and
social disintegration, the dissolution of support networks and primary social groups, such as
it is the case of the family. Therefore, the main objective of this model is to promote change
towards greater psychological and social well-being. It can generate changes in the structure or
composition of the social environment, changes in individual behavior or attitudes or changes in
the quality and frequency of interpersonal interactions. In any case, these changes
they are achieved by creating an interaction process that optimizes the alignment between needs
psychosocial aspects of individuals, which arise from the amount of demands they have to
to cope, and the social and emotional support or provisions they receive (Gracia, 1997).

From this model, the objective is not to "treat" the individual or the family but to work with them.
so the potentialities and capabilities of families are considered as the main
resource to keep in mind.

RADICAL MODEL: Part of the problems that individuals have have a translation
social and are produced by structural causes; the solutions are not in the individual.
unless in the transformation of social conditions., the explanation of the
problems that affect the world are found in the unsustainable productive mode, the
capitalist distribution and in the processes of economic and financial globalization
Humanistic-Existential Model Rejects: the psychological models that represent beings.
humans in mechanical and biological terms. They attack mechanical models, the model
animal, the pathological model and the model of the child with inappropriate characteristics of the
human nature insatsfecha.

Theoretical assumptions that guide the family intervention model

First assumption: Dialectic individual - society. The first assumption is based on the idea
that the main object of intervention of Social Work is the human being, who
grows and develops in two dimensions, individually as a being that experiences processes of
individuation throughout its life cycle and social existence as a being that needs an environment and a
context within which to relate. These two dimensions are found within the
family. Thus, if we focus our attention on the family and the problems it faces
They are concerned, we will have two dimensions to consider, one dimension or context.
internal familiarity, which comes from the individual and their individual and family relationships and
an external family dimension or context, which comes from the relationship established
the individual and the family with their macro social context. When intervening with families
There would always be two possible contexts of intervention, the direct and the indirect.

Second assumption: General Theory of Systems. The second assumption aims to highlight
to the General Systems Theory as a useful theory (among others) for analysis and
practice of Social Work. This idea is based on the fact that when working with
families from Social Work, it is always necessary to consider all systems
that are related to the family being cared for, that is to say, the
subsystems, systems, and suprasystems relevant to the problem situation.
It would provide a theoretical framework that gives the Social Worker a broader perspective.
globalizing. The General Theory of Systems would be a useful theory for analysis and
practice of Family Social Work.

Third assumption: The generality and specificity necessary in Social Work. The
Social Worker training is a generalist training, as it reviews and
prepares students in most Social Sciences, such as: Psychology,
Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, etc. This training is an advantage when facing the
diversity of problems that affect families. At the same time requires
also a management of specific topics that allows the professional to know the
best intervention strategies for a specific problem.

Fourth assumption: Ethics as a fundamental pillar that guides work with families.
To work with families, it is necessary to consider two ethical principles. These are: a). The
consideration of all the professional principles that guide and orient our
profession. Especially the consideration of the principle of self-determination, which
advocate for the prominence of the family and not for the prominence of the professional.
That the professional recognizes themselves as a being with a family history. This will determine
largely their practice with families. Working with families requires a minimum of
knowledge and recognition of our own history and being attentive to how
this determines us. The ethics of working with families not only requires the application
not only from professional principles but also demands being attentive to not contaminate the
attention of a family with its own family history.

Fifth Assumption: The person and the conceptions of the social worker are the
most important elements at your disposal. This is one of the assumptions raised
by Virginia Satr, which indicates that the person of the social worker who works
with families and their way of conceiving reality, would be the most important tools
important ones that it would have to work with families. This principle promotes the
assessment of the professional and their personal and professional skills such as the
most important technique when working with a family. The professional
the same is the most valuable tool to support a family change. The person and
the conceptions of the social worker are the most important elements to their
disposition.