PART ONE
DEFINING HUMAN SERVICES
CHAPTER ONE
AN INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN SERVICES
CHAPTER GOALS
1. To explore the themes and purposes of human services.
3. To explain the relationship between client and helper.
5. To become familiar with the roles and activities of the human service
professional.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
At the end of the chapter, students will be able to:
1.1 Identify the themes and purposes of human services.
1.3 Illustrate how individuals experience these problems.
1.4 Compare the differences in the functions of social care, social control, and
rehabilitation in terms of goals of care and treatment.
2.2 Apply these disciplines to Barb LaRosa’s work.
2.3 Identify four tasks that human service workers perform during the helping
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3.2 Illustrate the educator role when working with a client.
4.2 Name three characteristics of human service teams.
5.1 List the characteristics of the generalist human service professional working in
today’s delivery system.
5.2 Summarize the different activities of a human service professional.
READINGS
Introduction to Human Services – Chapter 1
Introduction to Human Services: Cases and Applications – Chapter 1
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter One defines the concept “human services” and introduces its themes and
purposes. These include the challenges of meeting human needs that arise from the
problems of everyday living and the difficulties encountered in our modern world.
Human services address those human needs by helping clients increase their self-
sufficiency within the framework of social care, social control, or rehabilitation.
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environment. In this unique relationship the helper performs many roles to assist clients
in meeting their own needs.
Four management principles guide human services. The helper works with other
professionals using networks, teams, partnerships, and case management to provide
guidelines for professional behavior. Competence and training support the designation of
human services as a profession.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Themes and purposes of human services
A. Problems in living
1. Who experiences problems in living?
2. Why are there so many problems in living?
B. The increase in problems in our modern world
2. The economic
downturn that began in 2008 exacerbated the problems individuals and
communities faced.
C. Self-sufficiency
1. A major goal in human service delivery
2. Empowerment and independence contribute
D. Social care, social control, and rehabilitation
1. Social care refers to assistance to clients to meet their social needs
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2. Social control is provided to those who could provide for themselves
but have failed to do so
3. Rehabilitation is the process of returning an individual to a prior level
of functioning
II. The interdisciplinary nature of human services
A. Various disciplines contribute to the definition of human services
1. Each discipline brings a unique perspective to understanding
individuals, families, and groups
3. A multicultural perspective pervades interactions
B. Examples
2. Psychology is the study of mind and behavior
3. Anthropology studies the cultural, physical, and social development of
human behavior
III. The relationship between client and helper
A. The process of helping is client-oriented
2. The responsibility of the human service professional includes
developing a relationship with the client
4. Helping requires an understanding of a client’s culture.
B. The helper must learn about the client and his or her environment
2. Empowering the client
3. Encouraging client participation
C. Human service professionals function as educators
D. Professionals help clients use a problem solving process
IV. Management principles
A. Networking to develop a human service umbrella
2. Human service professionals help clients link between services
B. Forming teams and partnerships to provide services
1. Teaming is an important way human service professionals
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3. The primary beneficiary of good team work is the client
5. Partnering, like teaming, requires cooperation, time, and trust
C. Case management
2. The context of delivering services is changing because of the shift to
3. There is an increasing need to provide services and coordination with
other professionals
5. What do case managers do?
a. Gather information, make assessments, and monitor services
b. Advocate for services and determine resource allocation
D. Evidence-based practice
1. Growing trend in human services
3. New skills related to reading and understanding research
V. Roles and activities of the human service professional
A. The generalist
1. Professionals provide services in a variety of settings
3. Influences development
5. Today job sites and client populations have expanded.
B. Activities of Human Service Professionals
2. Training includes academic and experiential education
4. Continuing education is essential
5. Certification leads to Human Services Board Certified Practitioner
credential
C. Ethical standards
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1. An important example of professional responsibility
2. Commitment assumed by the human service professional
D. The human service worker is involved in continuing education
INTRODUCING THE CHAPTER
1. Ask a student in class to read aloud the first paragraph about Almeada and Anne.
Divide the students into small groups and ask each group to generate reasons why
2. Ask each student to write a definition of human services. Then pair students and
ask them to share their definitions. List definitions on the board. Note: Consider
definitions according to the basic concepts and begin to tie these concepts to those
introduced in this chapter.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
A Human Service Tour of the Campus
One way to use the concepts we are learning in this class is to apply them to the
environment in which you live. During this class period we will explore the campus for
evidence of human service practice. This activity may also be an out-of-class assignment.
1. Divide the class into 4 groups.
3. Pass out a campus map divided in quadrants and assign each group
a quadrant.
4. Each group will explore the area on the quadrant of the map
(campus map handed to you) and answer the following questions:
a) Describe the types of people that you see.
b) Describe the care of the physical environment.
c) Do you see people working? What are they doing?
d) Do you see any human services being provided? What are
these? Who are the clients? Who are the workers?
In the News
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television, and in other media for a specified length of time. Questions students may
address in this assignment include the following:
1. Describe the situation you have identified.
2. What is the problem?
3. Who are the participants? Describe each and identify his/her perspective
4. How is the situation resolved?
5. How well or how poorly do you think the situation was portrayed
by the media? Why?
READING AND STUDY GUIDE: READ, REVIEW, APPLY
The following questions are useful to guide the students’ reading of the chapter.
1. What are the perspectives that provide definitions for human services?
2. Human services were developed for what type of people? Why?
3. What are the specific needs of baby Anne? her mother Almeada?
4. Does human services focus on the past, present, or the future? Explain.
world?
7. How do these problems compound Almeada and baby Anne’s situation?
8. For Almeada, economic self-sufficiency is a difficult goal. Why?
9. How did the economic downturn that began in 2008 affect human services?
10. What are the three distinct functions of human services? How are they different?
11. Why must helpers understand the relationship between the client and the
client’s environment?
14. What does Almeada learn about the environment? How does this information
help her?
16. How does networking help human service delivery?
17. What is the “umbrella” concept?
18. Identify the principles that promote teamwork.
20. Name the factors that make case management a human service delivery
strategy today.
21. How does case management impact the coordination of services and client access
to services?
22. What does the trend toward evidence-based practice mean to human services?
24. How have the employment settings of human service graduates changed?
25. How are professional activities of the human service helper defined?
26. Why are ethical codes important to professional development?
27. What is the primary focus of ethics in human services?
28. Why is continuing education important to human service professionals?
29. What are the advantages of certification?
The following questions will help students in their review of the chapter.
1. Explain how the human service delivery system provides Almeada with social
care, social control, and rehabilitation.
3. Describe the principles of management that relate to the delivery of human
services. How does each enhance the effectiveness of service delivery?
The following exercises allow students to apply what they have learned from the
chapter.
1. Take away one of the functions (social care, social control, or rehabilitation) that
2. One way the helper provides support is to educate the client. How does Barbara
LaRosa educate Almeada?
3. Compare and contrast the generalist in terms of a relationship with an individual
TEST ITEMS
Multiple Choice
1. “Problems in living” refers to
2. In the last half of this century, human services have developed in response to
which of the following problems?
3. Moving clients to self-sufficiency means all of the following EXCEPT:
4. Assisting clients in meeting their social needs with a focus on those who cannot
care for themselves is referred to as
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5. Which one of these client populations receives help that functions as social
control?
6. Rehabilitation is relevant when
7. The interdisciplinary nature of human services
8. Which one of the following skills best helps the human service professional
understand the client’s environment?
9. The human service professional, as an educator, is able to
10. The human service professional needs to develop networks primarily to
11. the primary beneficiary of teaming in human services is
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c. other agencies.
d. helpign networks.
12. A new way that human service agencies relate to each other is by
13. Which of the following describe the case manager’s activities?
16. Today the new meaning for the human service generalist is
17. The relationship the human service professional has with other professionals is
described in all but ONE of the following statements:
18. Ethical standards are important to the human service profession to
a. provide status to the profession.
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b. define correct standard of performance and practice.
c.* guide the treatment of clients and coworkers.
d. insure an interdisciplinary approach to service delivery.
19. Continuing education includes
Discussion
Review the case of Almeada and baby Anne and answer the following questions:
2. How did the human service delivery system address each of these problems?
3. Describe the use of the social care function in the case of Almeada and baby
Anne.
5. How did professional networking, teaming, partnerships, and case management
affect the service delivery to Almeada and baby Anne?
7. Was Almeada self-sufficient? Provide 3 reasons for your answer.
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8. Describe how 2 types of nonprofessionals could have been involved with
Almeada and baby Anne.
10. Was Barbara LaRosa a generalist worker? Provide 3 reasons to support your
answer.