Behavioural casework — A Social Work Method for Family Settings

Contemporary behaviour modification (or therapy) seems to offer what is both a useful theoretical and practical approach to the treatment of a very wide range of childhood and adolescent disorders (Gelfand and Hartmann, 1975; Herbert, 1975). We intend in this paper to describe this relatively new method of assessment and treatment of problem behaviour as it applies in family settings, and examine its relevance to social work practice. In doing this we shall consider briefly the nature of the social work task. After a discussion of the theoretical basis of behaviour therapy we shall attempt to demonstrate how the methods themselves can be applied in the social work setting giving examples from our casework in the Child Treatment Research Unit (C.T.R.U.) at the School of Social Work, Leicester University.