9780195389678 0067
Citation style: Scientific
Oxford Bibliography Online: Social Work
Michael A. Dover, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
School of Social Work
Cleveland State University
Human Needs
Introduction
General Overviews
Historical Background
Early History of Needs Concepts in Social Work
Early Psychological Theories of Human Need
Postwar Social Work Discussion of Human Need
Theory and Approaches
Recent Social Work Discussion of Human needs theory
Marxian, Neo-Marxian and Feminist Approaches to Human Need
Human Needs and Political Economic Theory
Doyal and Gough's Theory of Human Need
Recent Psychological Theories of Human Need
Philosophical Discussions of Human Need
Nursing Theories of Human Need
Religion, Spirituality and Human Needs
Social Work Practiceand Human Needs
Social Policy and Human Needs
Research
Direct Practice Research and Human Need
Gerontological Research and Human Needs
Cross-National Comparative Research on Human Needs
Needs Assessment Research
Human Rights and Human Needs
Social Justice and Human Needs and Social Justice
Cultural Diversity and Human Needs and Cultural Diversity
Oppression, Dehumanization and Exploitation and Human Needs and Oppression, Dehumanization and Exploitation
INTRODUCTION
As a profession, social work has long been concerned with understanding and meeting human needs. The Preamble of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers states: “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.” Nevertheless, there is a scarcity of literature coming from within the profession of social work that addresses human needs explicitly. However, a growing body of human needs-related literature from other disciplines contributes to the liberal arts foundation of social work. In addition, other professions such as nursing have drawn extensively on human needs theory. Accordingly, this bibliography will explore the history and evolution of the body of human needs theory and research on which social work has drawn historically. It will also provide an overview of the recent literature which can enrich social work’s attention to the concept of human needs and its relationship to such other key social work concepts such as human rights, social justice, diversity and oppression.
Recent Social Work Discussion of Human needs theoryGENERAL OVERVIEWS
Social work has long had an ambivalent outlook on how central human needs concepts should be for our profession’s mission and goals. For instance, the Encyclopedia of Social Work didn’t contain an entry on human needs until the 20th edition (Dover and Joseph, 2008). Also, not until the current version did the Code of Ethics utilize the concept of human needs (National Association of Social Workers, 1999). The inclusion of ethics content on human needs was proposed by a committee chaired by Frederic Reamer, who contended elsewhere that human needs concepts reinforced social work’s longstanding practice commitment to meeting basic needs (Reamer, 1998). Human needs were often viewed as normative and subjective, rather than being universal and objective (Ife, 2002). Rights-based discourse was often counterpoised to a needs-based approach (Ife, 2001), despite Gil’s clarification of the compatibility of human rights and human needs concepts (Gil, 1992). Gil’s later work also clarified the centrality of human needs concepts for understanding, pursuing and achieving social justice (Gil, 2004).
Dover, Michael A., & Joseph, Barbara Hunter Randall (2008). Human Needs: Overview. In Terry Mizrahi & Larry Davis (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Social Work (20th ed., pp. 398-406). New York: Oxford University Press and National Association of Social Workers.
Social work has long been ambivalent about human needs-based theory and practice. However, recent theoretical and empirical developments justify a fuller incorporation of needs concepts in social work's values, skills and knowledge.[Annotations should be specific to work, rather than general statements. Please revise annotation.]
Gil, David (1992). Foreword. In Joseph Wronka (Ed.), Human Rights and Social Policy in the 21st Century. NY: University Press of America.
Explains that Uuniversal human needs are products of biology, but also affect and are affected by cultural and social evolution, ensuring change over time in their nature. Human rights have evolved in response to needs. Unlike needs, human rights are socially constructed and vary among human groups.
Gil, David G. (2004). Perspectives on Social Justice. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 10(Fall), 32-39.
Argues that Cconceptions of social justice must contain a theorization of human need.
Ife, Jim (2001). Human Rights and Human Needs. In Jim Ife (Ed.), Human Rights and Social Work : Towards Rights-Based Practice (pp. 76-88). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ife aArguesd that that social work needs to progress beyond needs-based approaches and instead adopt rights-based outlooks, although the author saw sees value in a discourse on the relationship of needs to rights.
Ife, Jim (2002). Community Development: Community-Based Alternatives in an Age of Globalisation (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.
Describes Nneeds as re not objective and but universal. Ife explains that Theyneeds are a product of normative and technical needs statements, such as population-defined needs, consumer-defined needs, caretaker-defined needs and inferred-needs (needs as deduced by researchers or other observers).
National Association of Social Workers (1999). Code of Ethics. Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers.
Works to furthers Tthe primary mission of social work as a profession, which is to "enhance human well-being" and also to "help meet the basic human needs of all people."
Reamer, Frederic G. (1998). The Evolution of Social Work Ethics. Social Work, 43(6), 488.
Identifiesd common human needs as a well-established concept which reinforces social work's historic commitments to meeting basic needs and enhancing well-being.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
[Commentary paragraph needed here.]
Early History of Needs Concepts in Social Work
As Bremner (1956) pointed out, the concept of human need tends to be periodically re-discovered, as the ambivalent history of social work’s usage suggests. The early history of the use of the concept of human need in social work was traced by the dissertation of Barbara Hunter Randall Joseph (1986). Needs concepts were explicit in the work of early British social welfare figures such as Booth (1902). In the United States, Devine focused mainly on service needs, but also introduced what has been a longstanding debate about the extent to which needs can be met within the present socioeconomic system (Devine, 1909). Richmond’s approach to casework clearly distinguished between economic needs and expressed needs of clients (Richmond, 1922). Reynolds 1935 supported this growing focus on client self-determination, but worried that it could result in caseworker or societal neglect of basic human needs (Reynolds, 1935). The first human behavior in the social environment textbook was appropriately titled Common Human Needs (Towle, 1965[1945]). Today’s literature on human needs continues to reflect these early distinctions between service needs and human needs and between objective and subjective need, as well as this early concern that empowerment strategies not be accompanied by lack of societal resources for basic need satisfaction.
Booth, Charles (1902). Life and Labour of the People in London. London: Macmillan.
This work of early British social work strongly influenced Nneeds concepts, especially the basic requirements for human nutrition, strongly influenced early British social work.
Bremner, Robert Hamlett (1956). From the Depths: The Discovery of Poverty in the United States. New York: New York University Press.
Pointed Pointsout that human need as a concept was pioneered by social work, but that each age discovers or thinks it has discovered need anew.
Devine, Edward Thomas (1909). Misery and Its Causes. New York, NY: The Macmillan company.
Devine sStressesd the concept of service needs not human needs, but also stressed that some needs could be met within the present economic system, without revolutionary changes.
Joseph, Barbara Hunter Randall (1986). The Discovery of Need, 1880-1914: A Case Study of the Development of an Idea in Social Welfare Thought. New York: Columbia University School of Social Work.
Joseph’s dissertation cConcludesd that no unified concept of need was defined in early social work. References to need ranged from needy, to neediness, to needful, to in need.
Reynolds, Bertha Capen (1934). Between Client and Community: A Study of Responsibility in Social Case Work. New York: Oriole.
Reynolds was concerned that relationship-centered approaches centered on client wants rather than needs raised the possibility of a loss of focus on responsibility for the outcome of work with clients.
Richmond, Mary Ellen (1922). What Is Social Case Work? An Introductory Description. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Richmond saw people as interdependent rather than dependent beings. She placed greater emphasis on growth in personality than in her earlier emphasis on the details of social diagnosis in relation to economic need.
Towle, Charlotte (1965[1945]). Common Human Needs (Rev. ed.). Silver Spring, MD: National Association of Social Workers.
Towle iIdentifiesd human needs such asan impulse to survive and a need to feel secure. She went on to detail the nature of human needs in relationship to various developmental stages.
Early Psychological Theories of Human Need
By the mid-1940’s, the field of psychology had produced two conceptualizations of human motivations and needs (Murray, 1938; Maslow, 1943). Maslow warned that field theory was no replacement for needs theory (Maslow, 1943; Lewin, 1947). Hearn 1958 used field theory to develop general systems theory, later the foundation of the ecosystems perspective (Hearn, 1958). Maslow’s theory was based upon an intuitive hierarchy of need rooted neither in philosophical method nor empirical research (Maslow, 1970). His later work added self-transcendence to his hierarchy of needs (Koltko-Rivera, 2006; Maslow, 1971). During this era, Fromm’s Sane Society provided an additional and influential outlook on human needs (Fromm, 1955).
Fromm, Erich (1955). The Sane Society. New York: Rinehart.
Argues that Hhuman needs involve an idealistic striving for needs which transcends physiological needs, including relatedness, transcendence, rootedness, identity, and a frame of orientation and devotion.
Hearn, Gordon (1958). Theory Building in Social Work. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Hearn's theory building expertise was used during the late 1950's to provide an alternative to human needs theory as the conceptual foundation for modern social work.
Koltko-Rivera, Mark E. (2006). Rediscovering the Later Version of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Self-Transcendence and Opportunities for Theory, Research, and Unification. Review of General Psychology, 10(4), 302-317.
Discussesd the widely ignored identification by Maslow of self-transcendence as a step above self-actualization in his hierarchy of need (Maslow, 1971).
Lewin, Kurt (1947). Frontiers in Group Dynamics: Concept, Method and Reality in Social Science: Social Equilibria and Social Change. Human Relations, 1(1), 13-31.
Hearn (1958) relied on Lewin’s field theory to develop general systems theory, one theoretical foundation for social work's ecosystems perspective.[Please revised annotation so it speaks more directly about this work.]
Maslow, Abraham H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Review, 50(4), 370-396.
Maslow pPresented Maslow’shis hierarchical theory of human need (including physiological needs, safety needs, belonging/love, and self-actualization). He Maslowrecognized that while human needs are universal, there are culturally different preferences. Maslow warned that field theory should not be a substitute for needs theory.
Maslow, Abraham H. (1970). Motivation and Personality (2d ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
The second edition of his 1954 book outlining his overall theories.[Please this annotation and the next.]
Maslow, Abraham H. (1971). The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. New York: Viking Press.
According to Koltko-Rivera (2006), Maslow here amended his hierarchy of needs to include self-transcendence.
Murray, Henry Alexander (1938). Explorations in Personality: A Clinical and Experimental Study of Fifty Men of College Age. New York: Oxford university press.
Murray dDistinguishesd latent and manifest needs and conceptualizesd several needs, including achievement, affiliation, and power. HiMurray’s needs-press model and other work influenced Maslow.
Postwar Social Work Discussion of Human Need
In postwar Britain, human needs concepts remained an important foundation for both social work and social welfare (Graham, 1951). In the U.S., human need content for social work education was seen as central by the early 1950s (Boehm, 1956, 1958; Stroup, 1953). Bisno recognized early on what has been a persistent human needs theory dilemma, namely how much stress to place on common human needs and human similarities rather than on human individual and cultural differences (Bisno, 1952). Functionalist theories of social welfare envisioned a social welfare system based upon an integrative view of human needs (Wilensky and Lebeaux, 1958). Despite recognizing that this integrative view was important for social work, Kahn concluded that given the relatively undeveloped state of human needs theory, there was little choice but to define human needs within specific societal contexts (Kahn, 1957). However, he admitted that there was potential for human needs theory development relevant to social work (Kahn, 1959).
Bisno, Herbert (1952). The Philosophy of Social Work. Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press.
Social science has alternatively stressed either human similarities or human differences. Social work should recognize both shared common needs and unique individual needs and desires.
Boehm, Werner (1956). The Plan for the Social Work Curriculum Study. New York: Council on Social Work Education.
Argues that Hhuman needs content should be an important aspect of social work education.
Boehm, Werner (1958). The Nature of Social Work. Social Work, 3(2), 10-18.
Boehm pPointsed out that social work was recognized as a profession because it both meets human needs and also carries out a social control function.
Graham, Michael (1951). Human Needs. London: Cresset Press.
Proposed that levels of human need satisfaction, if adequately theorized, could provide an alternative to the means test for judging the utility of social policies and social services.
Kahn, Alfred J. (1957). Sociology and Social Work: Challenge and Invitation. Social problems, 4(2), 220-228.
Kahn sSaysid that social work research on human needs was basic to social policy. But heKahn felt that conceptual problems with the concept of need remained. He saw human needs as defined and satisfied within specific social-economic-political-cultural situations.