Apa Social Work

The University of the West Indies
Open Campus

NAME OF TEACHER: Mr. De Cotou

NAME OF STUDENT: Gabriella James

SUBJECT: Principles and Practices of Social Work lll

INTRODUCTION

Harry Aponte, ACSW, is currently a Professor at Hahneman University in Philadelphia, and is the Director of the Family Therapy Training Program of Philadelphia.
Mr. Aponte is a family therapist with a special interest in the treatment of the poor, and many of the problems associated with poverty, including the single parent family, sexual and physical abuse in families, school failure, and crime. His eco-structural approach combines family therapy with a community perspective.
Focusing on the social disadvantaged has led him to explore and write about
Because they were working with boys and families that came from seriously disadvantaged circumstances, they found themselves working with families that were, more often than not, poorly organized, in that they didn't have the kind of structure that normally helps families to cope with the challenges that life brings. A typical story for a therapist working with the families I'm describing is you find that when you begin to talk with them, they interrupt each other, they speak over each other, and very often it's unclear who's really in charge of the family. And if there is somebody in charge, they may be so totally in charge that other people don't have a voice in the family. You don't have an organization there that can identify a problem and come together in a way that can solve it.

It's really no different from what one would be thinking of in another kind of system, such as a business, where when you see a problem in how that business is operating, you're going to be thinking of the structure and organization of the people who are working within that business. If they're not effectively communicating with one another, they don't have a clear hierarchy, and they don't have clear responsibilities, you're going to find that things fall through the cracks and the system
Patterns of interaction are defined as the sequential behaviors among family members that become habitual and are repetitive over time (Minuchin et al. 1967, 1981). Minuchin labeled this phenomenon as the structure of the family system. * Interventions are designed that carefully target and provide practical ways to change those patterns of interaction (Szapocznik, 2000).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all I will like to thank God for the knowledge and understanding on being able to complete this assignment. This successful completion of this study would not have been possible without the assistance and cooperation of a number of people. Consequently I will like to thank the members of my family have been a constant source of encouragement and assistance. I thank my parents for relieving me from household duties while I was engaged in this study. My little brother was a great source of helping in disturbing questionnaires and collecting data. Finally, special thanks go to my teacher who guided me every step of the way through this exercise.

TABLE OF CONTENTS