Deck 12: Indirect Strategies: Organizing for Change

Question 1

Give an example of what is meant by the societal or systemic roots of a problem. Give an example of a problem that looks on the surface as if it was a personal problem but when looked at closer it appears to have societal or system roots. (You can use the one in the book.) Why is it necessary to search for the societal or systemic roots of a person's problem?

Answer 1

In the example presented in the text, it was suggested that the tension between the roommates might have stemmed from a work place that was too demanding or pressured. Perhaps a change of job or a change in the work-place demands would improve the relationship between the roommates. Until then, the tension might persist. Even if we'd switched roommates, perhaps the job related tension would manifest itself by excessive drinking or absenteeism. If there was discrimination towards certain people in that workplace or if the job requirements were unrealistic, many workers will experience tensions on the job that they are likely to take home and work out through family friction, alcohol abuse, etc. It is important to search for the societal or systemic roots of a problem because by ignoring the underlying source of a problem more and more people are hurt and then they are in need of our services.

Question 2

Why do you think committed human service workers might continue to use casework strategies to change the behavior or attitudes of a group of young adults, even after research has indicated that the lack of job opportunities or recreational outlets might be causing much of their vandalism and aggression?

Answer 2

Human service workers frequently fall back on direct care strategies because they feel more comfortable using them. They do not know how to begin changing the social environment, having had few positive role models of change agents in their own lives, or perhaps they fear that pushing for change might make them appear unprofessional. Social change strategies carry with them many risks. The leaders of a movement for change might find themselves punished and powerful forces in the community often oppose the change. Social change efforts encounter much resistance to change.

Question 3

We say in the text that change, once instituted, must be constantly monitored. How might this apply to the Brown vs. Board of Education decision that overturned racial segregation in public schools or the Public Law 94.142 that guaranteed an appropriate education in the least restrictive setting to all children, regardless of their handicapping condition?

Answer 3

After the l954 Supreme Court decision, Brown vs. Board of Education overturned the 'separate but equal' doctrine that was the basis for segregation in the schools. It still took many years for schools to become integrated. Many citizen groups had to bring law suits against their towns to force the schools to comply with the law or to work out special devices, such as busing and redrawing district lines, to bring black and white children into the same schools. There are still many towns in this country in which citizen groups complain that the schools are not sufficiently integrated, and it is now almost fifty years since the decision. Many parent groups are now monitoring their school systems to make sure that the law for handicapped children is being fairly applied. Arguments still rage on whether handicapped children are being fully included or mainstreamed or whether they are simply segregated within the school building. 

Question 4

Give two out-of-the-three arguments presented in the text to support the assertion that, "citizen involvement in decision making must be a part of every change effort."

Question 5

How did Ed Wong, a recent college graduate who majored in human services end up as a staff worker for Citizens Action for the Environment (CAFTE)? In theinterview, he says "I use all the strategies I studied in college, but of course it is the organizing ones I use the most." Describe the strategies that he uses in his work.

Question 6

The problems that people face are mostly caused by inner psychological forces.

Question 7

In dealing with a child who is having behavior problems in school, one of the steps the human service worker, who is sensitive to the impact of systems, is likely to take is:

A) Alerting the child to the consequences of his or her behavior.
B) Observing or gathering data about the rules, routines and atmosphere of the child's classroom.
C) Drawing up an education plan to provide the child special services.
D) All of the above.

Question 8

The following factors would need to be evaluated in assessing the Mental Health Quotient of a classroom:

A) The warmth and openness of the teacher.
B) The physical look of the room.
C) Classroom rules that govern talking, leaving the room etc.
D) The ways in which students are involved in making choices.
E) All of the above.

Question 9

Each human service worker must examine his or her own attitudes towards social change and social change agents before embarking on a change effort.

Question 10

Ed Wong, the staff worker at CAFTE, says that he often feels more like a lawyer than a human service worker primarily because

A) he often has to choose one side to advocate for, instead of being non-judgmental.
B) he must read the fine print in all of the documents he deals with.
C) his hours of work and the subject of conferences are primarily legal in nature.
D) so much of his time is spent with the volunteer legal staff.

Question 11

The most effective kind of change is that which is initiated from the top of an organization, from the president, board of trustees or directors.

Question 12

For a change as monumental as Brown vs. Board of Education, (which ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional), to take root; it is necessary that

A) the people in charge of the old system are replaced.
B) the rules and regulations of the new system are agreed upon by everyone.
C) the consciousness of the people involved must be changed.
D) the people must be assured that their old ways had validity also.
E) all of the above.

Question 13

Before jumping into the middle of a change effort, one of the tasks the worker should use to prepare him or herself is:

A) Stating the group's demands and designing strategies to put them forward.
B) Researching the background of the system and the problems.
C) Building coalitions and agreeing to work in a cooperative fashion with like minded groups and individuals.

Question 14

The methods of organizing and changing systems fall into roughly three categories of escalating intensity; choose the correct order.

A) Pressuring, educating and persuading.
B) Persuading, educating and pressuring.
C) Educating, persuading and pressuring.

Question 15

Charismatic leaders like the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. are indispensable to the success of a change campaign.

Question 16

In assessing what we have seen and heard when visiting a home, a state institution or a new section of town, we begin by

A) suggesting reasons that might account for the conditions that we observe.
B) expressing our own instinctive reactions of attraction or repulsion to what we see.
C) describing in value-free terms exactly what we have seen.
D) summarizing the reaction of previous workers and observers.

Question 17

Psychologists and sociologists have found that changes are best accepted by those who will be affected by them when they are instituted with their involvement in the decision making process and in giving feedback.

Question 18

In order to assure the fullest involvement of the people who will be affected by the changes we are working for, it is useful to:

A) Have a strong commitment to the process.
B) Create a clear mandate that spells out roles and tasks.
C) Carve a structure that is uniquely useful to that group.
D) Assure that the members share the knowledge and learn needed skills.
E) All of the above.

Question 19

The organizer needs to keep the focus of the meetings clear by always guarding against conversations of personal issues.

Question 20

Once a system or a set of rules has been changed we can relax, knowing that we have improved the situation.

Question 21

Which of the following endorses reduced government spending, lower taxes, reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit, and adherence to an originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.

A) Democratic Party
B) Republican Party
C) Tea Party

Question 22

Change methods fall into roughly three categories of escalating intensity: educating, persuading, and

A) suggesting
B) expressing
C) pressuring
D) summarizing

Question 23

After observing an institution or a slice of community life, we try to make sense out of what we have seen and heard. This process involves three steps: Observation,
Speculation, and

A) suggestion
B) summation
C) reaction
D) action

Question 24

Systems-organizing and systems-change strategies rely on the same basic activities and skills as the direct-service strategies.

Question 25

Before forming an action plan to counsel a client, a human service worker must check out the mental health of the systems within which the client lives and works.