Is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory applicable in today’s social work? And why?
富兰克林罗斯福
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a motivational theory in psychology that argues that while people aim to meet basic needs, they seek to meet successively higher needs in the form of a hierarchy. It is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are located at the top of the pyramid. 梁挠度>水库网Maslow's theory suggests that the need for self-actualization, that is, the need that human beings have to realize their full potential, can only be fulfilled once other needs have been met. Self-actualization describes an inborn tendency for human beings to grow and to maximize innate talents and potentialities.According to Maslow, the first level includes basic physiological needs for food, shelter, clothing, and so on. Once these needs have been met, the actualization process creates a momentum for the next level of needs to be realized, namely, for security and safety and to feel free from danger. Again, once these have been met, there is an innate motivation to move on to the next stage, and so forth.
Although Maslow’s concept is meaningful to our social work, there are still some criticisms. Some have noted vagueness in what is a “deficiency”; what is a deficiency for one is not necessarily a deficiency for another. Secondly, there seem to be various exceptions that frequently occur. For example, some people often risk their own safety to rescue others from danger. In their extensive review of research based on Maslow's theory, Wahba and Brudwell found little evidence for the ranking of needs Maslow described or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at all. Chilean economist and philosopher Manfred Max-Neef has also argued fundamental human needs are non-hierarchical and invariant in nature—part of the condition of being human; poverty, he argues, may result from any one of these needs being frustrated, denied or unfulfilled
The order in which the hierarchy is arranged has been criticized as being ethnocentric by Geert Hofstede. Hofstede's criticism of Maslow's pyramid as ethnocentric may stem from the fact that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs neglects to illustrate and expand upon the difference between the social and intellectual needs of those raised in individualistic societies and those raised in collectivist societies. Maslow created his hierarchy of needs
地质剖面图from an individualistic perspective, being that he was from the United States, a highly individualistic nation. The needs and drives of those in individualistic societies tend to be more self-centered than those in collectivist societies, focusing on improvement of the self, with self actualization being the apex of self improvement. Since the hierarchy was written from the perspective of an individualist, the order of needs in the hierarchy with self actualization at the top is not representative of the needs of those in collectivist cultures. In collectivist societies, the needs of acceptance and community will outweigh the needs for freedom and individuality. Maslow’s hierarchy has also been criticized as being individualistic because of the position and value of sex on the pyramid. Maslow’s pyramid puts sex on the bottom rung of physiological needs, along with breathing and food. It views sex from an individualistic and not collectivist perspective. This view of sex neglects the emotional, familial and evolutionary implications of sex within the community.
As Hayes said, Maslow’s model may provide a rough working generalization about most
people in most situations, but it is not really adequate as an explanation of human motivation.刘老石
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It seems that a lot of social work principles are based on this pyramid; I would argue that most of the other helping professions only work at the top three rungs of the pyramid. Social workers often find themselves starting at the bottom two.
While Maslow’s theory is useful, it is of course an oversimplification of real life, especially when you consider that a lot of human beings would rearrange this pyramid in one way or another. For example, a lot of people may feel that this pyramid should be arranged with self-esteem as the bottom rung. They may feel that once a person has achieved a modicum of self esteem, that everything else will fall into place, including the ability to take care of basic needs. I agree with that in principle.
But a large percentage of social work stops at the bottom two rungs, with the remainder being taken care of by a referral to a professional who handles those parts of the pyramid.
The question is what we can do as social workers to encourage a client to move up the pyramid. For example, a lot of people at the shelter do indeed stop at the first two rungs; they get stuck in a cycle in which they do leave the shelter either by being kicked out or getting assisted with housing, but somehow end up back at the bottom of the pyramid again. For whatever reason, is it trauma, poor life skills in general, or a bad example while growing up, they never can seem to get out of this cycle. And ethically, we can’t force them to.
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