3.3: Commonalities of Approaches

There are four common themes among problem solving approaches. All approaches focus on creating change. Interventionists work towards changing behavior or the social arrangements of clients. The goal is to improve social functioning of individuals, groups, communities, and organizations.

Table 5. Problem Solving Interventions. Attribution: Copyright Vera Kennedy, West Hills College Lemoore, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license

Problem Solving Approach	Intervention Focus
Social Systems	Create stability of the social arrangement or social structure
Human Ecology	Identify social location of individuals (place or position in society) to tackle and remove obstacles
Lifecycle	Build resources and networks to mend, retrain, or enable development and growth
Clinical	Remove symptoms or condition and help support change
Social Norms	Proactive prevention through modeling behavior
Community Based	Train and empower local residents and organizations to solve their problems

Each approach begins with a judicious problem assessment. Identifying and investigating the presenting problem is critical to understanding and framing the needs of clients. The assessment stage allows interventionists to formulate a theory and construct an operational definition of what is to be changed (Bruhn and Reach 2007). This stage initiates the intervention planning process.

Many social problems have common causes and solutions so a multidimensional approach to problem solving alleviates many symptoms but can also cause new ones to surface. According to Lindblom and Cohen (1979), solving one social problem often creates new problems or solves others. Because social problems are multidimensional touched by multiple factors and social arrangements, all approaches incorporate multi-factor and multilevel problem solving interventions examining micro (individual) and meso or macro (collective) needs of clients. This means all approaches involve more than one level of intervention.

Lastly, all approaches include client follow-up and an evaluation of program and services. These activities serve as a feedback mechanism for determining successes, failures, and areas for improvement (Bruhn and Rebach 2007). Evaluation data is used for developing programs and providing accountability among practitioners and clients.

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