Rangatahi and the behaviours that bring them into services occur within wider societal, community and whānau systems. As part of understanding rangatahi and offering them meaningful support, we need to learn about and pay attention to what is around them and how these factors can act as supports or barriers. Sometimes behaviours we see in rangatahi reflect their worries about their whānau or risks at home, at school or in their neighbourhoods. Their responses can be triggered by things happening elsewhere that we may not know about (see Context; Critical theory; Māori centred approaches).
Systems thinking is used in ecological-transactional approaches (Munford & Sanders, 2016) which examine the interactions between individuals and systems. Ecological- transactional approaches help us explore the interactions between rangatahi and the systems around them to understand the factors that create opportunities, and those that are barriers to effective and meaningful support. The important levels to consider are: the young person’s individual and psychological factors and how these influence their relationship with others; microsystem elements, such as interactions with adults and peers; factors at the exosystem level including service systems and networks; and factors at the macrosystem level such as social and economic resources and policies that shape rangatahi experiences. At this level belief systems are also important. A multi-layered exploration of the systems around rangatahi help us respond in flexible ways as we provide support for rangatahi. The diagram above illustrates these different levels.
Our responses are part of systems
The relationship will create responses in rangatahi and kaimahi. Reflecting on how these responses can be shaped by past experiences and by wider events can help us to provide the best support.
Systems thinking also reminds us that our responses to everyday situations and current relationships can be shaped by other things going on in our lives, including from our past. In systems theory the words “mirroring” or “isomorphism” (Boyd, 2007; Ruch 2018b, 44) are used to talk about how these past experiences impact on current responses and relationships.
It is similar to the idea of transference from psychology (see Some ideas from psychology that help us understand RBP). Mirroring happens when we react to a situation because it feels similar to a past experience. We respond in the same way we did in the past, even if that is not the best response to make. Mirroring can happen for kaimahi too. For example, we may feel that our mahi is going nowhere with a rangatahi and we may feel defeated by this. If we think about this, we may realise that there are similarities between this situation and an earlier case that we felt had not been our best mahi. Usually we are not aware that we have taken the response from the past and repeated it in the present. It can mean that we over-react or react inappropriately. This can happen to all of us. We may also realise that we might be picking up on feelings of hopelessness from the rangatahi we are working with. Reflecting on these responses gives us the chance to separate out our current mahi from the past case (see Critical reflection). Important is noticing and learning from times when our own experiences and feelings have been triggered. We can then think about how to create positive experiences for the rangatahi so they see that change can happen.
In addition to our own reactions, it is also important to notice when rangatahi seem to overreact or don’t react in a way we expect and explore if this is because the situation has triggered a feeling or memory from their past. We can support rangatahi to think back on their responses and understand where they come from. This can help them learn new ways of coping when they feel threatened or unsafe. It is important to support them to reflect on their past experiences and the solutions they used. When did these responses work and what did that situation look like? When did these responses exacerbate the situation, and what did that situation look like? How else could the rangatahi have responded? Kaimahi can work with rangatahi to strengthen their coping capacities and identify positive strategies that result in better outcomes.
We can learn to recognise and use mirroring in our mahi. We can do this about our own responses as well as those of rangatahi and their whānau. This includes being aware of things happening in our community that may impact on rangatahi. By doing this, we can better support rangatahi to learn how systems shape their experiences and how ideas such as mirroring work in their own lives. The key is to use critical reflection to look beneath the surface of responses, to understand the deeper feelings and meanings that shape reactions (see Critical reflection). We can think of this like making the invisible visible (Ruch, 2018a &b). Critical reflection is key to keeping RBP safe. It gives us regular times to think about the issues our mahi raises for us.
How do I use these ideas in my mahi?
Our team of youth workers held regular meetings to critically reflect on how we used relational practice in our mahi. Once a month we took the time to explore an idea/theory that could help us with our mahi and how we could apply it in different parts of our mahi and with different groups of rangatahi. One approach that was helpful was thinking about how systems and policies impact on the lives of rangatahi. For example, the work and income system; the polices that impact on rangatahi engagement with these services and how we could support them to ensure that they received their full entitlements and were provided with the right resources and support. The ideas in ecological- transactional approaches helped us reflect on our practice and what we could do at different levels, such as with the individual rangatahi and at an organisational or community level. In thinking about this we took the example of a rangatahi and explored all the factors impacting on their situation and experiences. Key areas included: their beliefs, their identity, family and whānau life, important relationships, how policies and systems impacted on their daily lives, education, access to social and material resources and support including their networks, and engagement with services and support and how these respond to the rangatahi. The overall goal of this approach is to find holistic solutions that relate to all aspects of rangatahi experiences and circumstances. In our meeting we used the example of Aretia (one of the rangatahi we support) to illustrate how we used these ideas.
Aretia came to our agency for social and emotional support. He also participated in the employment skills programme that taught life skills and supported rangatahi to find employment. The kaimahi reflected on each of the key areas:
- Beliefs: it was valuable to learn about Aretia’s cultural beliefs, something that Aretia appreciated as this was a positive aspect of his life.
- Identity: as with beliefs it was important to Aretia that the kaimahi took the time to understand about Aretia’s Pacific identity.
- Family: Aretia had a difficult relationship with his dad and this became a focus in the support relationship as Aretia wanted to find ways he could reconnect with his dad.
- Important relationships: Aretia had a strong relationship with his basketball coach who had stood by him during difficult times and this was an important person to draw into the support process. Policies and systems: Aretia had difficulty finding the right mental health services and felt uncomfortable in attending the local service. The kaimahi could support him with this by attending appointments with him and trying to find a kaimahi in this service who understood and recognised Aretia’s cultural beliefs.
- Education: this had been difficult for Aretia: school was not a good place for him so it was important that he received the appropriate learning support so he could participate in the employment skills programme.
- Access to social and material resources and support including their networks: being involved in the agency presented Aretia with an opportunity to have access to social and material resources and meaningful support. It enabled him to be supported to access important community networks, such as a local Pacific cultural programme.
- Engagement with services and support and how these had responded to Aretia: Aretia had some difficult experiences with services and support where he had felt let down; this meant that it was important that our agency was able to provide respectful and relevant support to Aretia.
Working through Aretia’s example helped us understand how systems could enhance our practice and was a good example for other kaimahi to think about in terms of their support relationships and how they could strengthen their connections with kaimahi. It was important that Aretia gave us permission to reflect on his situation; he was an active participant in the support relationship where we explained to him the processes we were using (such as ecological approaches) and that he gave feedback on these processes and whether they helped him find solutions and achieve his goals.
Here are some places to look for more information
- Anderson, T. (1987). Reflecting teams: Dialogue and meta-dialogue in clinical work. Family Process,26, 415-428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.1987.00415.x
- Boyd, E. (2007). Commentary – containing the container. Journal of Social Work Practice, 21, 203-06. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650530701371929
- Munford, R. & Sanders, J. (2016). Foster parents: An enduring presence for vulnerable youth. Adoption & Fostering, 40, 264–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308575916656713
- Ruch, G. (2018a). The contemporary context of relationship-based practice. In G. Ruch, D. Turney & A. Ward (Eds). Relationship-based social work: Getting to the heart of practice (2nd Ed). (pp 37-54). Jessica Kingsley, London.
- Ruch, G. (2018b). Theoretical frameworks informing relationship-based practice. In G. Ruch, D. Turney & A. Ward (Eds). Relationship-based social work: Getting to the heart of practice (2nd Ed). (pp 19-35). Jessica Kingsley, London.
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). Systes thinking. Relational Resources for Change, https://youthsay.co.nz/rbp-theories/systems-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).
