The strengths perspective is a theory that focuses on approaches that are based on strengths and abilities instead of paying too much attention to their problems, deficits, and pathologies. It therefore focuses primarily on distinguishing, mobilizing, and relating to the insight, knowledge, means, and assets in each person, family, group, or community and the chances they hold to change the issues they undergo in their lives (Nissen, 2001. With such an explanation, one could wonder why the perspective fails to focus on trauma, abuse, struggles and illness which are factors that hurt people yet could be a source of opportunity and challenge. Under the strength perspective, scars and pain are not ignored. However, people going through hardships are pliable and resourceful, which is why their strategies to prevail over the hard times should be explored as they can create a learning experience.
Nissen argues that the strength perspective is made of a set of principles (Nissen, 2001). They include: 1) It is known that people have many strengths and the ability to keep learning, growing and changing. 2) In an intervention, focus is placed on the strengths and desires of the people we work with. 3) Communities and social environments are perceived to have an abundance of resources. 4) Service providers often to work in partnership with the people they work with. 5) Intercessions depend on a person’s willpower 6) Empowerment is typically followed by dedication. 7) Problems are perceived to be caused by interactions between people, organizations, or structures as opposed to being based on self-determination.
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Considering the features of the strength perspective, I believe it will be suitable for helping to understand the individual. According to the case study, the participant who is of an Afro-American descent is a single mother of two sons. Born a fraternal twin, her childhood was fine apart from the part where she loses her father at the tender age of 12. She grows under the care of a single parent who ensures to provide a good life to her ten children. Sometime during her adolescence stage, she loses her mother whom she had a great relationship to an illness. She then falls pregnant at 17 and loses this child. After graduation, she bears the second son and later on, she gets fraternal twins but sometime later, she loses one of them. She is also an addicted gambler.
The participant is portrayed as suffering greatly from the murder of her son. I assume that he was one of the fraternal twins since we do not see intense emotion after the deaths of the rest of her family members. However, we see a strong person in the woman who is a single mother who has lost two sons and both parents. The first aspect is that she is an African-American woman. The Afro-American community has a history of discrimination, and the effect has passed down generations. There is, therefore, the aspect of resiliency that is passed from generation to generation. Saleebey illustrates the experience of the African-American community has caused them to develop strength as a character (Saleebey, 2006). This element could explain why she and her mother have stayed strong as single mothers and provide their children without much need for assistance. We also see strength in her after the death of her mother, with whom she had a good relationship. Her need for a close association perhaps to fill the gap left by her mother could be the reason for her early pregnancy. However, the death of her second boy marks the fourth loss in a very short span and at a tender age, and this is when her strength begins to fail, perhaps at the thought of losing one more child within another short span. The single mother is known as an addict gambler. We understand that the participant does not have a job and gambling could be the source of her money for her family’s upkeep. However, the game is known to provide an escape for people undergoing emotional hardships. Immersing herself in the activity could provide an escape from her turmoil.
The principles of the strength perspective offer a good explanation for the manner in which the participant carries herself. The first principle discusses how people have been identified to have many strengths and abilities that keep them forging forward and changing. According to the story, the participant has overcome her emotions as we do not see any mention of any increased negativity after the death of her first three family members. After the death of her father, her mother chipped in and filled her father’s gap. The participant watched her mother overcome hurdles and provide for her and her siblings. According to Norman, she gained strength which she gathered from her environment and increased her capabilities as she learned from her single mother. When her mother passed on, she found her strength in her sons and worked equally as hard to ensure they were well provided for. Her strength, therefore, gives her the will to move on, which could explain her gambling habit. To help her move on, one would encourage her by taking her through her past experiences for her to notice her ability. She would also need to be surrounded by a group of people who have undergone similar events to inspire her willpower.
References
Nissen, L. (21 September, 2001). Strength-Based Approaches to Work with Youth and Families: An Overview of the Literature and Web-Based Resources. Cibhs . pp. 1-23. http://www.cibhs.org/sites/main/files/file attachments/strengths_based_approaches_l._nissen1.
Saleebey, D. (2006). Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice, 4/e. pp.193-216. http://catalogue.pearsoned.ca/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0205408176.pdf
