Rangatahi do not exist in isolation from their whānau, neighbourhoods, friend networks, nor from the systems that create or limit their opportunities (see Context; Critical theory). Understanding the way that these bigger sets of relationships and systems influence how rangatahi see the world, their place in it, and the things they are able to do, is an important task for kaimahi. We can think about it like this:
Our support will be more effective when we understand and help rangatahi to work out how to address the things around them that make it harder for them to thrive and achieve their hopes and dreams. For example, many rangatahi struggle to find safe, secure accommodation. Unstable and unhealthy living situations make it hard for rangatahi to do well at school. Not doing well at school is therefore not always due to something that is wrong with the individual rangatahi.
Asking questions and listening to the way rangatahi talk about their world, their choices, the things that make it hard for them to be the person they want to be, provides information we can use to support rangatahi to find positive solutions to the challenges they face. These solutions may mean working with other people, systems, and organisations as well as the individual rangatahi, even when this is not part of our organisation’s mandate.
"In social work practice ideas are applied of how the wider social context shapes subjectivity and personal relationships" (Burke & Cooper 2007, 194).
Structural thinking supports this kind of sense-making so that an accurate understanding of the bigger picture around rangatahi is gained. It also reminds us about the limitations of seeing rangatahi as exclusively responsible for making positive change in their lives.
Structural theories help us understand the impact that factors outside the individual rangatahi and their past experiences have upon their circumstances and the distress and stresses they confront. These ideas remind us to think about how the social environment impacts on rangatahi. When we think in these ways we make links between the personal challenges rangatahi face and their social circumstances (see Māori centred approaches).
This is the essence of excellent social and youth work practice.
Also, using structural thinking, kaimahi can support rangatahi and their communities to begin to challenge the root causes that create social environments where rangatahi struggle. Case studies and role plays are ways of helping kaimahi to identify ways to address structural factors in their mahi (Ross et al., 2017).
While structural thinking is complicated and it can be hard to find ways to work on structural issues, it does help us think about the whole lives of the rangatahi we support rather than small pieces. A big advantage of structural thinking (similar to critical theory) is it helps us avoid blaming (see Critical theory; Recognition and Shame). It is important to understand that the challenges rangatahi face are often a result of larger ecological systems such as challenges within whānau, peer, neighbourhood and school settings. Structural racism, discrimination, exclusion, poverty, and marginalisation have big impacts on the lives of rangatahi (see Context, Māori centred approaches; Critical theory). Therefore, to effectively address the issues rangatahi bring to us we need to pay attention to the way these larger systems impact on them.
With rangatahi, careful, respectful listening and creating a safe environment that encourages them to look beyond themselves to understand the way that these larger processes impact on them is important (see Hearing rangatahi; Building trust).
When austerity policies and resource deficiencies shape social services, the real needs of marginalised and struggling communities are not effectively addressed by the political process. Structural understandings help practitioners develop strategies to challenge the structural roots of human misery. It can be hard to find ways of having an impact on these big issues. Advocacy is a way of tackling this. Within our organisations and in our communities, we can use our positions to question and challenge policies that are unfair and to argue for, or support rangatahi to receive the resources and supports they are entitled to. We can keep raising issues around discrimination, unfairness, lack of resources. We can also do this with kaimahi from our own organisation and from the other organisations we work with. We have found the following practices to be useful in working on both individual and wider issues:
How do I use these ideas in my mahi?
Our organisation provides a range of services to rangatahi and their whānau.
We often work with individual rangatahi dealing with behavioural and emotional regulation and health and wellbeing. During team consults we recognised that many of our individual rangatahi were facing similar challenges. As a team we found that by working collaboratively and structural understanding we could question and advocate more strongly for our rangatahi to have greater access to services and supports. We work more collaboratively with schools, Principals, teachers, other services and whānau and are more aware of the internal dynamics rangatahi face on a daily basis.
In order to work more collaboratively, management was approached to approve attendance at inter-agency meetings. At these meetings different kaimahi were able to identify their contract specifications, guidelines and referral processes. This enabled us to know more about a wider network of services available. From this, new relationships have been established and we now have trusted ‘go to’ kaimahi in different services.
Here are some places to look for more information
- Howe, D. (1998). Relationship-based thinking and practice in social work. Journal of Social Work Practice, 12, 1, 45-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650539808415131
- Burck, C. and Cooper, A. (2007) ‘Dialogues and developments in social work practice: Applying systemic and psychoanalytic ideas in real world contexts. Journal of Social Work Practice, 21, 2, 193–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650530701371895
- Munford, R. & Sanders, J. (2020). Transformative practice: Social work practice with vulnerable young people. European Journal of Social Work, https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2020.1819205
- Munford, R., & Sanders, J. (2019). Transformative social work practice in community-based organisations. In R. Munford, & K. O'Donoghue (Eds.), New theories for social work practice: Ethical practice for working with individuals, families and communities (pp. 139-156). Jessica Kingsley, London.
- Ross, D. (2007). A dis/integrative dialogic model for social work education. Social Work Education, 26, 481-495. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615470601118621
- Ross, D., Lathouras, T., Riddell, J., Buchanan, A. & Puccio V. (2017). Exploring the value of immersive technologies and authentic scenarios to engage students in anti-oppressive praxis. Advances in Social Work & Welfare Education, 19, 2, 76-92.
- Sanders, J., Munford, R., & Liebenberg, L. (2012). Young people, their families and social supports: undderstanding resilience with complexity theory. In M. Ungar (Ed) The social ecology of resilience: A handbook of theory and practice (pp. 233-243). Springer, Canada. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0586-3
- Sanders, J., & Munford, R. (2010). Working with families: Strengths-based approaches. Dunmore, New Zealand.
We thank the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for funding the research that created this resource (MAUX2006).
This resource was developed by Professor Jackie Sanders. It was refined with input from Donna MacNicol, Te Aroha Noa Community Services, Justina Webster, Dr Linda Liebenberg, Professor Robyn Munford, Dr Jayne Mercier, Davinia Abbott and the team at Dingwall Trust Launch Programme
Citation: Sanders, J. with MacNicol, D., Webster, J., Munford, R. Liebenberg, L., Mercier, J., Abbott, D. and the Dingwall Trust Launch Team (2023). Structural thinking. Relational Resources for Change, https://youthsay.co.nz/rbp-theories/structural-thinking/
CC BY-NC-ND Licensed using Creative Commons Licensing. Relational Resources for Change Project. You are welcome to use this resource individually, in your teams and in supervision/coaching/critical reflection, you should acknowledge the source using the above citation. You may not change this document, use it to develop your own external training, or for commercial purposes (e.g by charging a fee).
