The reflection and challenge of youth social work beyond problem-solving and risk-oriented approach

Inspired by my intern experiences, this study tried to examine how social workers’ value influenced their practice. Literature reviews were done to understand what the commonly used “problem-solving approach” is, and how the risk-oriented approach influenced youth welfare policies and youth work in Taiwan. Therefore, the purposes of this research were to understand how youth social workers viewed “problem-solving and risk-oriented approach” and what other viewpoints and methods they have used in helping youth. In addition, this study also tries to examine what kind of challenges faced by these social workers in the process of helping. This study used a qualitative design, through the purposeful sampling method and in-depth interviews. Eight youth social workers who have at least three years experiences in the same organization, and regarded themselves as holding the “beyond problem-solving and risk-oriented approach” values were interviewed. This study had three important findings. First, the problem-solving and risk-oriented approach which most social workers used came from their own values, school education, and social expectation. The approach brought limitations in three aspects, including the difficulties in building professional relationships, workers’ self-values, and youths’ feelings. Second, they brought up six viewpoints and methods that went beyond the problem-solving and risk-oriented approach, including “focusing on youths’ subjectivity,” “taking positive visions,” “working with youths’ system,” “accepting failure with patience,” “making good use of relationships as their social capital,” and “leading to know risk more and being able to be self-protective.” Finally, the challenges tended to come from the external environment, such as the restriction of their agencies, lack of adequate school education, expectations from other professionals. And some came from the internal environment, such as the unequal power and value conflicts of workers and youth, different life styles, and the expectations of families. This study concluded with three issues for further discussion and also brought up suggestions from the aspects of education, social service organizations, and community networks.