Multidimensional Perspective

Multidimensional Perspective
The multidimensional perspective is a theory that considers three basic dimensions of assessing human behavior and the social environment: biological, psychological, and social. Together they are referred to as the biopsychosocial theory or multidimensional perspective. This theory includes multiple systems that are organized in a hierarchy of levels from the smallest (cellular) to the largest (social). These systems are in a constant state of interaction with each other and influence human behavior.
Assignment Directions
In this assignment, you will have the option of reviewing one of two case studies: “Case A: Mrs. Morgan” or “Case B: El Centro I chose case B”(AN AGENCY in East Los Angeles has the primary function of teaching Latinos how to read and write in English. El Centro targets people between the ages of 18 and 65. This agency is supported by national, state, and local funding and is governed by a five-person board appointed by the mayor of Los Angeles. The board determines all the policies for the organization. One of its members serves as the agency’s director. None of the board members is from the Latino community. The agency has four language teachers and six bilingual Mexican American assistants, who are under the super- vision of the language teachers. The assistants are hired by the director and do outreach work in the community to encourage Mexican Americans and other Latinos who speak little or no English to enroll in language classes.
Teachers at El Centro attribute agency problems to the board, but they concur with administrators that the agency is not reaching as many members of the com- munity as it should. One of the teachers told outside social work consultants that, to be effective, the agency needs at least five more teachers. Agency teachers also express concerns about the lack of up-to-date instruc- tional materials, and they have sharply criticized the board’s belief that language teaching methods should be the same as they were 25 years ago. In addition, some teachers believe that the underutilization of the agency’s instructional services is caused in part by the values of East Los Angeles Mexican Americans, who the teachers think do not recognize the importance of learning English. (Many people are able to find jobs without having achieved competency in English.)
Administrators of the board believe that, in general, the agency is doing a good job. The program appears to be cost effective and is meeting the board’s goal of saving taxpayers’ money. Board members attribute the community’s lack of interest in the program to fac- tions within the agency. They believe that some of the Teacher and Student at El Centro
teachers are trying to stir up their assistants. The admin- istrators want to handle this by firing the teachers who they believe are responsible for the problems. How- ever, they don’t want to fire any of the Mexican Amer- ican assistants, because doing so could further weaken the program’s ability to reach members of the Mexican American community. The director of the program told an outside consultant that “Mexicans are not really bad, but they are somewhat lazy and must be taught to change their ways.”He doubts that they would ever be able to run things by themselves. He assumes that if he changes the employees in his program, the agency will start doing a better job of “selling” the program in the Mexican American community.
The teaching assistants from the Mexican American community believe that both the board and the teach- ers are at fault for the program’s inability to enroll suffi- cient numbers of students. They do not believe that the board is willing to spend the kind of money needed to pay for classes with adequate student–teacher ratios. They agree with the teachers that the program needs newer teaching materials. Several assistants who plan to leave the agency also pointed out that many of the teachers“really don’t like us or accept us as Mexicans.” One assistant told a consultant that“they want to make us like them.”Another assistant said,“We often feel that we are being used by everyone. Why don’t they give us the money, and we will do it all; it’s our money too” (adapted from Ziegler, 1994).
Which statement offers the best understanding of El Centro’s situation? Explain your choice.
EP 7a and 7b
A. This agency’s board is suffering the consequences of what some organizational theorists have termed bureaupathic behavior; this behavior begins with people in authority needing to control those in subordinate positions. Moreover, the director has a bureaucratic personality and harbors biases against Mexican Americans that are affecting his relation- ships with staff.
B. The teachers in the agency are displacing their anger and frustration onto their assistants because of feelings of powerlessness. They also resent their dependence on their assistants in recruiting stu- dents for the program.
C. El Centro has teachers and administrators who have learned stereotypes about Mexicans that influence their behavior toward students and employees, and these stereotypes are causing much of the conflict.
D. The social institutions in this agency are not func- tioning well. In these institutions, people learn structured ways of relating to one another. Each group’s norms are in conflict with the others’, thereby triggering anger, frustration, and evidence of breakdown in institutional or socially structured patterns of relating.
E. El Centro has not adopted a system of service delivery that recognizes the strengths of its target populations and the professionals who serve that population.
. After reviewing one of these case studies, use the Unit 2 Assignment Template to incorporate the biopsychosocial perspective in relation to the 4P’s of case formulation: Predisposing, Precipitating, Perpetuating and Protective.
Please respond to the following:
List a risk factor and a protective factor (strength) in each of the biopsychosocial perspectives in relation to the 4P’s of case formulation.
A sample case study and completed template can be found on pages 63-66 of the textbook.
Select two risk factors within each of the three biopsychosocial perspectives. Provide a brief discussion (2-3 paragraphs) of how a human services professional can assist the client to change all six risk factors to protective factors (strengths).