Crisis Intervention Theory

Why must social workers apply theory to their practice?

A key component of Social Work is the use of specialist knowledge and skills that draw upon theories from multiple disciplines. The IFSW definition of social work highlights that social work is practiced “utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems” (International Federation of Social Workers, 2014).

The National Occupational Standards for social work specifies that social workers must have a thorough understanding of theory this must underpin their practice (Care Council for Wales, 2016).

The British Association of Social Work Code of Ethics also highlights how social work uses theory to “analyse complex situations and to facilitate individual, organisational, social and

Explanation: A framework in which to link observations and explain them.

Prediction: An indicator of what may happen in the future.

Intervention: An idea of what may bring about change.

Through analysing how theory has guided practice social workers may avoid discrimination by identifying underlying assumptions that may have been made.

Crisis intervention Theory

Crisis Intervention is a theory concerned with those whose equilibrium has been disturbed (Adams, 2010). A crisis can be defined as “a subjective reaction to a stressful life experience” (Bard and Ellison 1974, cited in Stepney and Ford 2012). A crisis is a specific and personal issue meaning what may be merely a challenging time to one person, may leave another unable to manage or cope.

Crisis intervention identifies these circumstances as resulting from a specific event or series of events and seeks to provide a short term intervention, usually no longer than 6 weeks, with a specific goal to address temporary changes to behaviour or thinking that have resulted from a traumatic event . People may be helped to utilise existing strengths to deal with the situation or develop new means of coping and

An understanding of both the facts of events and the significance to the individual.

Whilst being mindful of the individuals state of mind and ability to process information, ensuring that relevant information is understood.

Helping to bring individual to a point where they begin to make choices about how they are going to adapt to their new or current situation.

Reassurance that the process will take time but that the individual must begin to take small achievable steps.

Thompson (2005) describes how the energy that is generated at times of crisis can be channeled positively to facilitate change and overcome barriers. The role of the social worker is to support this development before the momentum is lost.

Strengths and limitations of Crisis Intervention Theory

Strengths:

The short timescales involved in crisis intervention may be seen as an economical way of providing effective support without expending unnecessary effort or