Seeing People Holistically in Social Work
People do not stand alone. The psychosocial approach, formulated by Florence Hollis (1964), teaches that a person’s psychological condition is always connected to their social environment, from family, friends, and culture to economic conditions. Therefore, when someone has a problem, social workers should not only ask ‘what is wrong with this person’, but also ‘what is happening around them’. In the field, I have seen for myself that individual problems rarely stand alone. There may be unsupportive family relationships, or limited access to resources. This is the legacy of the psychosocial approach: teaching us not to separate people from their life environment.
Behaviour can change if the environment supports it. Unlike the psychosocial approach, the behaviourist approach, rooted in the thinking of B.F. Skinner (1953) and enriched by Albert Bandura (1977), emphasises that behaviour is formed through the environment and learning experiences, and therefore can be changed. In support work, the intention to change alone is often not enough. A person needs an environment and opportunities to form new habits. Therefore, encouraging change is not enough by asking people to change on their own. We also need to ask whether the surrounding environment has given them room to do so.
People are not merely a collection of problems. The humanistic approach, with Carl Rogers (1961) as its main figure, provides an emphasis that I find most empowering: people have dignity, freedom, and the potential to continue developing. In social work, this perspective is important because the process of ‘helping’ can easily turn into a process of ‘controlling’ if the person being supported is not involved in determining what they actually need. This value is what the NASW Code of Ethics (2021) calls self-determination, the right of individuals to determine the direction of their own lives. Helping, therefore, does not mean taking over someone’s life, but rather creating space for them to recognise themselves again and grow.
Three lenses, one person. These three approaches actually complement each other. The psychosocial approach teaches me to see context. The behaviourist approach teaches me to understand the process of change. The humanistic approach reminds me to continue respecting human dignity and potential. Therefore, we need to be careful before quickly labelling someone as ‘lazy’, ‘difficult to manage’, or ‘uncaring’. There may be stories we do not know, environments that are not supportive, or potential that has not yet found room to develop.
From psychology towards broader care. As a psychology graduate now studying social welfare, I feel this journey has broadened my way of understanding people. Psychology introduced me to individual mental processes and behaviour. But when entering the social sector, I learned that people are also shaped by family, community, policy, and unequal access that is not always the same for everyone. I also learned that the desire to help needs to be accompanied by the ability to listen. Programmes or solutions that we think are good may not be what the community actually needs.
Seeing people holistically. Ultimately, supporting people is not as simple as fixing something considered ‘problematic’. There is a person who needs to be understood, behaviour that may need to change, an environment that may need to be improved, and potential that has not yet had room to grow. Perhaps the most important question is not only ‘what problem is someone facing’, but also ‘who is the person behind the problem, and how can we support them to grow?’ Because when we are able to see people holistically, that is where the process of helping truly begins.