Explain what you believe the field of Human Services means to you and how it connects to the field of

mental health

. 

  250 words minimum for original post –  

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Introduction to

Human Services –

Chapter 1&2

Fall 2020
Instructor: Dr. Marisha Wright-Stewart

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What is Human Service?

● Everyone at some point in their lives needs help. This help could
range from help with their bills to help with adequate shelter or
even help with everyday living skills. No matter what the reason
is for the help, it is inevitable that people need it. In these times
of need, people may wonder who they can turn to for help. This
question often goes unanswered because people are so unsure.
Human Services is here to help. People just need to know where to
look and even how to look for his help.

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What is Human Service?

● The primary goal of human services is to assist people in
achieving sef-sufficiency and reaching their optimal level
of functioning.

● Human Service professionals are committed to helping
people develop the necessary skills to become
self-sufficient and fully functioning (to the best of their
ability), personally and within society.

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Purpose of Human Services (cont’)

● The purpose was updated in 2009:
○ help meet “human needs through as an

interdisciplinary knowledge base, focusing on
prevention as well as remediation of problems,
and maintaining a commitment to improving the
overall quality of life of service populations”
(NOHS, 2009).

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EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Often careers engaging in grassroots
work require a degree in Human
Services (or related field) at an
associate’s level (Associate of Arts [AA]
or Associate of Science [AS], bachelor’s
level (Bachelor’ of Arts [BA] or
Bachelor of Science [BS], or master’s
level (Master of Arts [MA] or Master of
Science [MS].

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EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Educational requirements just
mean that the Human Services
field is generalist, which means
it’s broad, encompassing many
different careers and
professionals with a range of
educational backgrounds.

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Human Service Professional Roles

There are 13 roles and functions of HS Professionals (SREB,
1969):

● Outreach worker – go into community to work with clients
● Broker – help clients find and use services
● Advocate – defends clients causes and rights
● Evaluator – assess client programs and shows that agencies

are accountable for services provided
● Teacher/Educator – tutors, mentors, and models new

behaviors for clients
● Behavior changer – uses intervention strategies and

counseling skills to facilitate client change

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Human Service Professional Roles

● Mobilizer – who organizes client and community support to
provide needed services

● Consultant – seeks and offers knowledge and support to other
professionals and meets with clients and community groups to
discuss and solve problems

● Community Planner – who designs, implements, and organizes
new programs to service clients needs

● Caregiver – who offers direct support, encouragement, and
hope to clients

● Data Manager – develops systems to gather facts and
statistics as a means of evaluating programs

● Administrator – supervises community service programs
● Assistant to specialist – works closely with the high trained

professional as an aide and helper in servicing
●

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Skills and Competencies

●
○ There are competencies and skills that are necessary for the

completion of human service work:
■ Participant empowerment
■ Communication
■ Assessment
■ Community and service networking
■ Facilitation of services
■ Community and living skills and supports
■ Education, training, and self-development
■ Advocacy
■ Vocational, educational, and career support
■ Crisis intervention
■ Organization participation
■ Documentation

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HS Understanding the Need

1. Broad-education and willingness to adapt to
changing roles and circumstances.

2. A general knowledge, values,and
skills/competencies to perform several job
functions in various environments

3. Understand a client’s development is
influenced by various levels from a macro to
micro levels, i.e., Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological
Model

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HUMAN SERVICES PROFESSIONALS

SOCIAL
WORKER

NURSE

COUNSELOR
CASE
MANAGERMINISTER/

PRIESTPSYCHOLOGIST

CASE
WORKER CHILD

ADVOCATESOCIAL
SERVICES
WORKER

DRUG ABUSE
COUNSELOR

DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
ADVOCATE

LIFE
SKILLS
COACH

NURSE

CPS
WORKER

SHELTER
VOLUNTEERS

THERAPIST
GROUP
HOME
WORKER

ADULT
DAY
WORKER

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Where Do Human Services

Professionals Work
● Mental Health Centers
● Hospitals
● Health Clinics
● Nursing Homes
● College Counseling
● Ministers Affairs
● Salvation Army
● Schools
● Vocational Rehabilitation Services
● And others…..

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HUMAN SERVICE CERTIFICATIONS

1. Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE)
created a Human Services Board Certified
Practitioner certification (HS-BCP). In order
to be eligible to take the certification exam:
a. earn certificate or degree from an accredited

college
b. acquire supervised hours in human service field

(hours are based on degree-Certificate-7,500,
AA – 4,500, BA – 3,000, MA – 1,500 hours)

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• Multicausality is the view that personal or social problems are
caused by many interacting factors, often too complex to
allow a precise assessment of causality.

• Human Service professionals can never establish causality with any
solid degree of certainty.

• There is a rarely one simple cause of a problem.
• Human Service problems are the result of many intertwined

personal pressures and social forces.
• Some cause of social problems are deeply rooted and other are

secondary causes or symptoms of a deeper problem.
• Although many people appear to have the same problem they may

have it for a different set of reasons.
• Even when people encounter similar experiences, they do not

necessarily react in similar ways.

The Concept of Multicausality

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• Jerome Kagan (1989) claims that there are very
many linkages between a person’s early
childhood characteristics and his/her personality
as an adult.

• Let’s think about the following:
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Child Abuse
• Alcoholism
• Anxiety Disorder
• Low Self Esteem
• Sexual Abuse

•

The Concept of Multicausality – Part 2

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Bronfenbrenner Beliefs:

● interactions with others and the
environment are key to
development

● we all experience more than one
type of environment 

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•chronosystem – events occurring in
the context of passing time.
•macrosystem – the larger cultural
context, including issues of cultural
values and expectations
•exosystem – the environment in
which an individual is not directly
involved, which is external to his or
her experience, but nonetheless
affects him or her.

Ecological Model

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• Mesosystem – the interaction of two
microsystem environments, such as the
connection between a child’s home and
school, Home system <---> School
system

• Microsystem – the immediate
environment in which a person is
operating, such as the family,
classroom, peer group, neighborhood,
etc.

Ecological Model

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Person-in-environment (PIE)

This approach is often
used as a basic orientation
in practice because it
encourages practitioners
to evaluate individuals
within the context of their
environment. Start at the
micro level.

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

SELF-ACTUALIZATION

people self-actualize
naturally, but are
motivated to get their
most basic physiological
needs met first before
they are motivated to
meet their higher-level
needs.

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Strengths Perspective by Sullivan (1992)

Help Clients Find One’s
Strengths:

a way to encourage clients
to recognize and develop
their own personal
strengths and abilities.

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“The History and Evolution of Social

Welfare Policy”

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“The History and Evolution of Social

Welfare Policy”

● Early History: Elizabethan Poor Laws (1594) was the beginning of the first funded
relief to aid poor people.

● British Poor laws were divided to classify the poor. These laws made a distinction
between who were unable to work due to their age or physical health and those who
were able-bodied but unemployed.

● Colonial America: poor relief consisted primarily of mutual kindness, family
support, and distant help from England.

● Poor Care in the Industrial and Progressive Eras: During this time poor care
remained minimal, consisting primarily of free land grants, pensions for widows,
and aid to disabled veterans.

● Great Depression 1929 was a life changing event that created an awareness for the
first time that the federal government recognized the necessity of a national
social welfare program.

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“The History and Evolution of Social
Welfare Policy”

● There were some philosophical and religious belief
systems that presumed to explain why poverty and other
social ills existed:
○ John Calvin
○ Charles Darwin
○ Herbert Spencer
○ Rev. S Humphreys Gurteen
○ Jane Addams

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“The History and Evolution of Social
Welfare Policy”

● The New Deal and Great Society Programs
● Social Welfare in Contemporary in United States
● Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)
● Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
● Other Programs

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SELF-SUFFICIENCY

● Self sufficiency is defined as the ability to provide for oneself without
the support from others.

● It is critical to:
○ provide clients the opportunity and support to be self-sufficient;
○ empower clients to make decisions and assume responsibility for their

actions;
○ Encourage clients to be independent and gain control of their own

lives as soon as they are able;
○ Assist clients in believing in themselves or the efficacy to make the

changes needed to become self-sufficient.

● Economic self-sufficiency strengthens an individual’s self-esteem.

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The Interdisciplinary Nature of Human
Services
● The three primary academic disciplines that provide an

integration of knowledge are:
○

Sociology

○

Psychology

○

Anthropology

● Each discipline brings a unique perspective to the
understanding of the nature of the individual, families, and
groups of people.

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Sociology

⚫ Examines the ways in which human societies influence the
people who live in these societies.

⚫ Sociology assesses the individual and the broader culture
and tries to account for and understand the differences
within human culture.

⚫ It helps human service professionals understand
elements of life that affect living, such as family
structure, family roles, gender, race, and poverty.

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Psychology

⚫ Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior.
⚫ It embraces all aspects of the human experience from

childhood on.
⚫ It examines how people think, feel, behave and explores why

they think, feel and behave.
⚫ Psychology analyzes behavior and mental processes from the

physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and psychodynamic
perspectives.

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Anthropology

⚫ Anthropology studies:

⚫ the cultural, physical and social development of humans and
the variation in their customs and beliefs.

⚫ Studies groups who live in remote areas of the globe or
individuals in the mainstream culture in diverse settings.

⚫ Studies environment settings, for example, culture of work,
employee relations, and human resources.

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Purpose of the Interdisciplinary Nature

By integrating the three disciplines (sociology,
psychology, and anthropology) with human
services, professionals can attain knowledge of
clients, an understanding of society and its
relationship to individuals and families, and the
culture in which people live. This allows them to
relate to their clients more effectively (Woodside
& McClam, 2009).