THE VALUE OF PRACTISING STRENGTHS-BASED PRACTICE WITH MULTI-STRESSED FAMILY CLIENTS IN SINGAPORE: POTENTIALS AND LIMITATIONS

Abstract

Social work academics have long emphasised the importance of strengths-based practice (SBP) to practice outcomes. However, other academics highlight that SBP’s potential in achieving successful practice outcomes is limited because social workers struggle to practise SBP according to its theoretical underpinnings. They attribute it to social workers’ limited competency and the challenges they face in practising SBP. It is uncertain whether SBP is as important to social work practice with multi-stressed families (MFs) in Singapore as academics claim it to be, and whether Singaporean social workers also struggle to practise SBP according to its theoretical underpinnings – this is explored in this study. Through eight semi-structured interviews with Singaporean community-based social workers, it is found that Singaporean social workers have faith in SBP’s potential to support MFs towards their desired long-term outcomes. However, this potential is stifled partially due to social workers’ limited competency, both in practising SBP according to its theoretical underpinnings and in managing the challenges they experience in the process. More than that, this potential is stifled because social workers’ resilience in practising SBP is continuously worn out. This is because social workers simultaneously experience multiple challenges that are maintained by social processes that are largely out of their control, making it challenging to remain resilient in sustaining SBP with MF. In view of these findings, this paper suggests ways to build up social workers’ resilience in practicing SBP with their MF clients, either by expanding social workers’ capacity to withstand the challenging pressures by encouraging self-compassion, or by modifying the social service structure social workers are embedded in such that it better supports their SBP.