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L’évaluation du fonctionnement social à la croisée des chemins : perspectives théorique, clinique et pédagogique

Ylenia Torres, Stéphane Grenier, Éric Pilote and Martin Robert

L’évaluation du fonctionnement social et l’herméneutique

Éric Pilote
This article offers a reflection on the Social Functioning Assessment (SFA) based on the thinking of the philosopher Paul Ricoeur about hermeneutics. Connections are made leading to the realization that social workers, when they carry out a SFA, become, in a way, interpreters. This professional act is analyzed in depth and some major ethical issues are raised.

Enseigner l’évaluation du fonctionnement social. Entrevue avec Maxime Blanchette et Maria Di Martino

Stéphane Grenier

Table ronde sur l’évaluation du fonctionnement social selon les méthodologies en travail social

Ylénia Torres, Éric Pilote, Steve Audet, Christian Guillemette and Martin Robert

Du social au fonctionnement : quel sens pour l’évaluation des travailleuses sociales et des travailleurs sociaux ?

Martine Guénette and Isabelle Chouinard
Social work has traditionally been polarized between individual and social oriented interventions (Breton, 2002). While the work of Marie Richmond and Jane Addams contributed to the development of the profession in Quebec, they also fuelled this tension, which persists to this day, but has given rise to a rich diversity of practices. In the context preceding its professionalization, social work was aimed at the social adaptation of individuals. Then, to break with its vocational foundations, a discourse on the expertise and specificity of social worker (SW) practice around family social work (Mayer and Groulx, 1987) was adopted. In 2002, the Quebec College of Certified Social Workers (OPTSQ) made psychosocial assessment the distinctive professional act of SW, which was replaced by social functioning assessment (SFA) in 2009 (OTSTCFQ, 2022). What do these semantic changes mean? Some believe that, far from being trivial, these changes to the language register place social work firmly within a functionalist perspective (Harper and Dorvil, 2013; Parazelli, 2015). The authors of Vers une vision partagée pour l’enseignement de l’évaluation du fonctionnement social (OTSTCFQ, 2022) instead highlight the hermeneutic perspective of the notion of social functioning. Despite these differences in vision, the semantics surrounding SFA give cause to reflect on the role of SW and their object of intervention. Are we witnessing the return of the classic tension between integrative social work and social work that transforms the structures at the root of social problems? This article proposes a critical analysis of the SFA, based on the underlying concepts of evaluation and social functioning. It will then be possible to situate SFA within semantic and epistemological issues that have an impact on populations and on the profession’s mandate.

L’évaluation du fonctionnement social, une pratique phénoménologique

Martin Robert and Serigne Touba Mbacké Gueye
The aim of our article is to show that the assessment of social functioning is an exercise in understanding the way a person, group or community is in the world. The professional act of social work is first and foremost an epistemological process of understanding, requiring a capacity for presence with the other-in-context, or an openness to allow dialogue to situate the subject in the world as a horizon of possibilities. Evaluating social functioning thus implies a subjective dimension that does not dispense with the assumed and affirmed relationship with others as allies and as other selves, hence intersubjectivity. In this sense, the evaluation of social functioning enables us to forge an alliance with others in a dialogical and understanding logic, without leaving room for the objectification and thematization to which the individual, the group or the community can often be subjected. It is, in this sense, a phenomenological practice that makes sense while giving life, movement and progress to the professional act in social work.

Accompagner des hommes qui se questionnent sur leur consommation de pornographie en ligne : une question de sexualité, de pathologie ou de fonctionnement social ?

Jean-Martin Deslauriers and Natacha Godbout
Writings on men’s online pornography viewing habits struggle to approach the subject outside of moral, political and pathological prejudices. However, recent research documents this phenomenon using research methodologies based more on data collected from the main stakeholders: men’s points of view. The aim of this research is to contribute to knowledge by giving voice to men concerned about their habits of viewing pornographic material, particularly in terms of the repercussions they perceive, the way they view themselves and their life journey in general. Eleven men were interviewed on the subject using an exploratory approach, without any initial hypothesis, in order to gather their views on their online pornography usage habits. Unexpected results emerged: the interviews focused not so much on sexuality but rather on the feelings of shame and guilt that prevent men from talking about their concerns on this subject, even when they feel they need help. Also, even if the entry point to the subject is the sexual lives of the men interviewed, the issues they shared mainly concerned their view of themselves, their romantic relationships, their lifestyle and their links with those around them and society’s view of pornography. Consequently, the analysis of social functioning is proposed as a way of understanding the subject with a distance from preconceived ideas, such as the “obscene” or “pathological” nature of the consumption of online pornography. This article offers this global look and the exploration of more numerous and meaningful avenues of intervention.

Vers une reconnaissance des voix des personnes proches aidantes : l’apport de l’évaluation du fonctionnement social

Hélène Brassard, France Desjardins and Béatrice Clin
Previous research shows that caregivers (hereinafter “PPA”) have specific and varied needs due to their unique circumstances. However, these needs are often addressed through assessment tools designed for care recipients, without directly engaging caregivers as distinct subjects. This approach tends to instrumentalize caregivers and overlook their quality of life. To better address caregivers’ needs, adapting social functioning assessments could help amplify their voices and identify appropriate forms of support. This article, based on a qualitative descriptive study with an inductive approach, examines caregivers’ needs independently of those of the care recipient, as well as the barriers preventing them from seeking help. It highlights the critical role of social workers and the potential of social functioning assessments to track the evolution of caregivers’ needs and provide tailored support that considers their individual circumstances and social interactions.

L’intégration de l’évaluation du fonctionnement social aux champs de pratique. Postures et processus en travail social, sous la direction de Grace Chammas, Josée Grenier et Roxanne Fay, Presses de l’Université du Québec, collection Problèmes sociaux et interventions sociales, 2024, 472 pages

Stéphane Grenier

Démarche autobiographique en petit groupe avec des jeunes en situation de raccrochage scolaire : une pédagogie des opprimé.e.s en travail social de groupe

François-Xavier Charlebois, Antoine Dubé-Poitras and Mélissa Roussel
This article contains the reflexive story of an experiment with a small group led using an autobiographical approach carried out in 2019 with a group of young adults who were dropping out of school. This group was led with a popular education approach by community workers from a non-profit organization, le Bureau de consultation jeunesse. The repercussions and limits of this approach are analyzed from the angle of the strong ideas of Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed and the methodology of social work with group. This reflective assessment allows, on the one hand, to conceive of the autobiographical approach as a method specific to group social work and, on the other hand, to discuss the challenges of putting into action the concepts of pedagogy of the oppressed.

« Qu’est-ce que t’as vécu dans la vie pour avoir le goût d’être TS? » Soutenir la (re)construction du sens de l’engagement en travail social par l’autobiographie en petit groupe en contexte de formation initiale

Marie Beauchesne
This article is based on an unpublished social work thesis and reports on some of its results. The phenomenologically inspired research aimed to provide an understanding of the lived experience of social work students regarding the construction of the meaning of their commitment to social work. From an existential perspective, the choice of social work is considered as a way for the student to give meaning to their existence. Four (4) undergraduate students participated in a group autobiographical workshop on the theme of the meaning of commitment to social work. Semi-structured interviews and a focus group were conducted after the workshop. Excerpts from the phenomenological self-narratives relating the students’ experience in the workshop are presented. The effects of the approach on the (re)construction of the meaning of commitment are also discussed, as well as the relevance of focusing on the meaning of commitment to social work in initial training.