Strengths-Based Theory: The Effect Of Jacob's Family

Utilizing this theory, paying particular attention to the “change in individual lives and family units over time by tracing individual developmental trajectories or paths” (Striver, 2015, p. 168), a social worker may argue that the effect of Jacob’s family history over time has led him to the current problem he is facing today. The life course of his family through the recession of the late early 2000’s could have led to the poverty state in which he was raised, contributing to the lack of support for appropriate development and guidance through his formative years. Given the knowledge I have of his family and his age, it is possible that some of his family could have experienced war-time in the Middle East and returned with some of the first cases of what we now know as PTSD. This has led to some self-medicating by family members, certainly influencing Jacob’s decision to begin using illegal drugs to self-medicate as well. Making use of the root metaphor of Life Course theory as
Strengths-based Theory
Strengths-based theory utilizes the abilities and assets of the individual in order to help that person overcome their issues and assert their place more fully in society. Strengths-based theory relies on the individual and the social worker to recognize the client’s resilience as “the skills, abilities, knowledge, and insight that accumulate over time as people struggle to surmount adversity and meet challenges” (Saleebey (1996) cited in Shriver, 2015, p. 63). This theory comes from notion that social workers must respect the client’s view of themselves and their abilities in order to get their buy-in into the helping process (De Jong & Miller (1995) cited in Schriver, 2015). This theory also relies heavily on the relationships between the individual and the social worker as a trusting and collaborative one. Without this relationship, the client may not be able to honestly assess his or her own strengths and communicate them effectively to the social