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Generalist Practice: A Task-Centered Approach, Second Edition resources

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12 Introduction community, but the solution is in the hands of another system, an or- ganization (banks), and the organization is unwilling to change. Thus another organization (banking regulators) becomes involved to enforce the law and solve the problem. The primary system for work is the community group. As these examples illustrate, only one firm rule exists for choosing the primary system, namely, its willingness to accept help. In some cases, the primary system will be the one in which the problem is lo- cated. In other cases it will be the system that must change in order for the problem to be alleviated. In still other cases, it will be the problem- solving system. Decisions are easiest when all three are the same. The primary system will usually reflect one of the three following conditions: 1. The system has an internal problem that is capable of being resolved internally and either requests or agrees to accept help to resolve it; 2. The system has an external problem, either requests or agrees to ac- cept help to resolve it, and alleviation of the problem is expected to be possible through the combined resources of the system and so- cial worker; and 3. Change in the system is necessary to solve the problem of another system, and the system agrees to help. One system is not covered by these guidelines for selecting a primary system. That system is the small group when the group is not a natural one. In these circumstances, the small group is constructed by the so- cial worker for the purpose of solving the problems of another sys- tem—usually the individual. Group treatment is offered because it seems the most likely and efficient avenue to achieving the desired changes. When the group is a natural one, like a group of tenants, the guidelines can be applied. The issue of deciding to use group treatment will be covered in part 4. In fact, the issue of selecting systems will be covered in each of the sections that follow. Two final comments about choosing appropriate systems are in order. First, although one primary system will usually exist, often we will need to work with other systems to some extent. Second, we will, at times, err in selecting primary systems. The mistake will manifest it-

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