Solving Problems Vs. Teaching Problem-Solving Skills

SOLVING PROBLEMS VS. TEACHING PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

Human Services Basics

Show Transcript

You may be wondering what exactlyhuman servicesare—we're all human, right, so isn't everything human services? In the broadest sense, this is true. The waitress bringing your breakfast is conducting a "human service.” But, in the professional sense, which we will be using in this course, human services are something much more ambitious and specific. Simply put, human services consist of people working together in an array of related fields to guide other people toward a better quality of life. Human services can be defined as professionals or paraprofessionals helping others in need.

Rooted in the basic desire to help others, human services goes back to ancient times. One example is the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible. Modern human services, however, is more organized and professional. Decisions made by people and their governments, such as the responses to economic hardship, affect the resources made available to organizations that specialize in the continuing development of human services. In turn, professionals and paraprofessionals, such as social workers, drug and alcohol counselors, or community mental health workers, are employed by government or private agencies to deliver the best quality of life solutions possible.

Before you begin, become familiar with the information found at the following links:

OBJECTIVES

Describe what human services and the human services professional are.
Describe what it means to empower people to improve their lives.
Compare the immediate and long-range goals of the human services field.
Explain the differences between rescuing and support-motivating.
Describe self-determination.
Explain what it means to respect a person’s right to change or stay the same.

VOCABULARY

empowerment / being given the ability and/or authority to make changes; the act of enabling a person to remove him- or herself from danger, with guidance or help from an experienced leader
human services / the help designed and provided for people in need through facilities and/or programs; sometimes referred to as social and health services
self-determination / the capacity to make decisions for yourself and determine your course in life without undue influence from others
support-motivation / the support provided by human services professionals and other people who have experienced and conquered similar hardships that enables the afflicted to change their outlook on and reactions to life situations

Vocab Arcade

Question #1Matching

Answer KeyShow

Match the definition with the keyword(s) it represents.

1. / Providing for people in need through facilities and/or programs / human services
2. / Enabling a person to make changes in his or her own life / self-determination
3. / Making decisions for yourself without the influence of others / empowerment

HUMAN SERVICES AND THE HUMAN SERVICE PROFESSIONAL

There are many types of human services professionals, but the one thing they all have in common is their desire to help others in need.

Human services can be defined as the assistance designed for and provided to people in need through facilities and/or programs. The basic wants of people in need—addicts, the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill, or the sick—are met with the aid of human services agencies and organizations. Groups or individuals are paired with professionals and paraprofessionals qualified to help them overcome their immediate problems. Such help may also prevent future problems for the specific groups or individuals in need.

Human services are also sometimes referred to as social and health services. There are many organizations that specialize in human services—local, state, or federal governments operate some of them, and some are operated privately and independently as nonprofit charities or nongovernmental agencies. The people who make up these organizations are called human services professionals. Human services professionals have mastered the skills and obtained the licensing necessary to help people solve problems. They work to help people meet basic needs and desires by utilizing all available resources.

There are many types of jobs for human services professionals and paraprofessionals. A paraprofessional is someone who is trained to work under the supervision of a professional but does not have professional licensing. Examples of human services professionals include, but are not limited to, nurses, social workers, employment counselors, addiction specialists, and mental health workers. Often, human services professionals have chosen their career because they or their friends or family have encountered and overcome one or more of life's difficulties. However, this is not a prerequisite for working in the human services profession. It is not necessary, for example, to be a recovering alcoholic to work as a trained alcohol abuse counselor. But life experience often leads human services professionals to their career paths.

The Origins and Development of Human Services

Human services can be traced back to ancient civilizations. Prior to 450 BCE, most human problems were attributed to evil or demonic supernatural spirits. Prehistoric findings indicate that trephination, the process of boring a small hole in the skull, was used to release these evil spirits. It was believed that the world was consumed and directed by spirits of all kinds. Early healers and shamans could be said to be attempting to provide the kind of help that human services professionals offer clients today. During the Golden Age of Greece, philosophers began to introduce revolutionary ideas that distinguished diseases as problems of a physical nature rather than of a spiritual nature.

Making a Beginning

Throughout the past few centuries, the evolution of human services has drastically changed the way societies function. During the late 1700s, the U.S. Congress established a federal chain of hospitals for the relief of disabled and sick seamen. This became a landmark for the advancement of human services in the United States, especially the services related to health care.

In 1854, the legislature of Washington Territory passed a bill. The act was designed to give support to people who suffered financially because of physical or mental ailments. By 1855, counties in the territory of Washington were expected to pay for the indigent people living within their boundaries.

In 1862, President Lincoln appointed a chemist named Charles A. Wetherill to serve in the Department of Agriculture. Wetherill then laid the groundwork for what became the United States Bureau of Chemistry. By 1906, the first surgeon general had been appointed, and the seeds were planted for what would become the National Institutes for Health and the Food and Drug Administration, and the Public Health Service was instituted.

Question #2MultipleChoice

Answer KeyShow

People who work in the human services field are called human services professionals and paraprofessionals. How does the paraprofessional differ from the professional human services worker?

A paraprofessional has only a high school diploma.

A paraprofessional is a trainee.

A paraprofessional does not have professional licensing.

A paraprofessional is a volunteer.

Question #3MultipleChoice

Answer KeyShow

The landmark event in the 1700s that advanced human services in the United States occurred when Congress established a federal chain of hospitals for the relief of _____.

single mothers and their children

war veterans

disabled and sick seamen

mentally retarded children and adults

Question #4MultipleChoice

Answer KeyShow

Events that occurred between 1854 and 1906 include the passage of a bill to provide support for people with physical or mental ailments; the appointment of a chemist to serve in the U.S. Department of Agriculture; the creation of the United States Bureau of Chemistry; and the appointment of the nation’s first surgeon general. These events laid the groundwork for the development of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the _____.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Affordable Care Act

Universal Health Care Program

National Health Agency

Question #5FillInBlank

Answer KeyShow

Ancient civilizations attributed most human problems to evil or demonic supernatural spirits, and attempted to release these spirits through a process known asa0.

TODAY’S SOCIAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

Today, federal, state, or local government operates many social services organizations, but there are also thousands of privately run institutions. For example, Goodwill Industries is a privately operated organization that helps many types of people with specific needs for things such as clothing, vehicles, and food. St. Vincent de Paul is a nonprofit organization that helps communities in need of furniture, toys for children during the holiday season, and housing. The Coalition for the Homeless helps homeless people by offering shelters and other services. Another institution with a long and successful record of helping the poor, the homeless, and addicts and alcoholics is the Salvation Army.

Human Services Careers

The human services platform has yielded a variety of jobs for qualified professionals. There are several immediate goals of all human services professionals. First and foremost, they do their best to help ensure the safety of the person with whom they are working. They also provide the best possible avenues for their clients to enable them to successfully overcome their specific difficulties. A social worker at a hospital may help a homeless person find resources to pay his medical bill. But he or she may also direct the patient to agencies and organizations that provide clothing, shelter, and food, and even drug and alcohol rehabilitation or job training. In this situation, several things are accomplished by one human services professional. With the aid of the social worker, the homeless person has sought financial assistance for the cost of treatment and been given a number of essential resources to begin to improve the quality of his life and access the best opportunities for a return to normal life. The goal of all human services professionals involved in a case like this one is to help the homeless person regain his or her ability to live independently.

While the goals of human services professionals are to establish safety, stability, and the essentials for living for their clients, other immediate goals exist. A client's most pressing need may be only a symptom of the root problem. There are almost always other factors that led to the surface problem. In the case of homelessness, the root problem might be drug addiction or mental illness, job loss during an economic downturn, or the absence of skills needed to obtain employment. Human services professionals generally focus on the resources available within their organization, but as with the hospital social worker, they can also partner with other organizations to provide more comprehensive assistance.

The long-range goals of human services professionals are to help contribute to the betterment of the organization and the industry as a whole. Remember, most human services professionals have chosen their career path because of a sincere desire to help others. They work hard in conjunction with other qualified professionals in their industry to create better ways to serve target populations. Improving delivery systems and accessibility, accountability, and coordination among other human services professionals, agencies, and organizations all are long-term goals of human services professionals.

Question #6Matching

Answer KeyShow

Match the description with the type of goal it represents.

1. / Use resources to help client acquire job skills and seek employment. / long-term goal
2. / Work with human services organization to improve delivery of services to clients. / immediate goal
3. / Ensure the safety and stability of clients. / intermediate/secondary goal

Question #7MultipleChoice

Answer KeyShow

In addition to the federal, state, and local government social service organizations, the country has thousands of privately run institutions. Two of the most well-known organizations are _____.

Alcoholics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous

Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries

Visiting Nurses Association and Veterans Administration

MIA and POW Services

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RESCUING AND SUPPORT-MOTIVATING

Human services professionals do not rescue their clients. Instead, they work to empower their clients to make the changes needed to lead a successful life.

Rescuing has been defined as the act of freeing from danger, bondage, or evil. When it comes to human services and the human services professional, there is no room for saviors or martyrs who attempt to rescue the afflicted. It is important to understand the definitive role of human services professionals and human services organizations. It may appear that the primary function of human services is to rescue people from their own poor decisions and misguided actions, but the real function of most human services is to empower people to make the changes necessary to overcome the barriers to successful living.

Empowermentcould be defined simply as having been given the ability and/or authority to make changes. The job of human services organizations, in most cases, is to enable people in need to change their quality of life. So while rescuing is saving someone from danger, empowerment could be said to be the act of enabling a person to remove himself or herself from danger with guidance or help from an experienced leader.

When someone has been enabled to make real changes, he or she often discovers further motivation for self-improvement. Through the support of human services professionals and other people who have experienced and conquered similar hardships, the afflicted generally find that their outlook on and reactions to life situations change. This is calledsupport-motivation. Support-motivating is perhaps one of the most important factors involved in helping the clients of human services professionals. People begin to experience hope again in what had seemed like hopeless situations, especially when they can relate to people trained in and experienced with the difficulties they themselves are dealing with.

Knowledge and Self-Awareness

Education is another important factor in promoting change within a target population. Knowledge is shared by professionals or experienced members of human services organizations to help clients gain an in-depth understanding of the problems at hand. To find the best solution, the problem needs to be clearly identified.

Knowledge is power in the case of many problems, but knowledge alone is not enough when dealing with many human services issues. Through support-motivation and self-awareness, knowledge becomes useful. The most effective solutions to problems specific to clients of human services organizations include not just one of the key factors mentioned, but all three: self-awareness, support-motivation, and the knowledge necessary to adapt to a successful life.

The combination of self-awareness, support-motivation, and education is the recipe for success for the human services industry. From the combination of these vital elements,self-determinationemerges.

Respecting a Person's Right to Change or Stay the Same: Self-Determination

Self-determination is the capacity for making decisions without undue dependence on or influence from others. Endowing clients with self-determination—the ability to maintain independence of thought and action despite adverse circumstances—is a primary goal of the helping professions. When a person becomes willing to change, remarkable things are apt to take place. There must be a willingness present within the person to change—a willingness that is indispensable.

In addition to respecting their clients' legal rights, human services professionals adhere to a code of ethics, which includes respecting the human rights of all clients.

Human services professionals are taught to practice and adhere to a code of ethics. This code of ethics includes respecting the rights of clients on all levels. It is important to understand that these rights are not only the legal rights of clients, but also the basic rights of humanity. If a person has decided not to make changes in his or her life, then it is the obligation of human services organizations and human services professionals to respect that decision. It is not the job of the human services industry to force change on clients. Instead, the job of the human services professional is simply to be available for people in need of their services.