Glossary A

1837 Rebellions, The - A group of Rebellions in both Upper and Lower Canada in 1837. The Lower Canadian Rebellion stemmed from of French Nationalism, while the Reform Movement in Upper Canada was the cause of unrest.

A-B-C model - The theory that people's problems do not stem from activating events but, rather, from their beliefs about such events. Thus, the best route to changing negative emotions is the changing of one's beliefs about situations.

Aboriginal Peoples – Individuals who have Native origins. It is a term commonly used to refer to Indians, Inuit and Metis in Canada. Aboriginal peoples have their own names for themselves in their respective languages: Anishnaabe, Inuit, Innu, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Metis.

Absolute poverty - a definition of poverty that looks at the minimum income required for physical survival.

Acceptance-Viewing another's thoughts, feelings, and attitudes as worthy.

Accessibility – One of five principles of Medicare in Canada. This means there must be a wide range of services, accessible services, and a reduction or elimination of user fees. Each province is required to provide health care with reasonable access both financial and geographic. This applies to ward care in a hospital, free choice of a physician, reasonable compensation to physicians and adequate payments to hospitals.

Accountability - A relationship based on the obligation to demonstrate and take responsibility for performance in light of agreed expectations.

Accountability Framework - Defines the nature and scope of responsibilities, identification of key results, performance expectations, and the monitoring and reporting strategies. These are often developed in collaboration with partners.

Activism - getting involved in political affairs, by such actions as running for political office, taking part in demonstrations, getting support for issues. Often used to refer to the activities of grass-roots protest movements, as in animal rights activists, etc.

Actor-observer effect -The tendency for people to attribute their own behaviour to external causes but that of others to internal factors.

Acute Stress Reaction - A transient disorder of significant severity which develops in an individual without any other apparent mental disorder in response to exceptional physical and/or mental stress and which usually subsides within hours or days. The stressor may be an overwhelming traumatic experience involving serious threat to the security or physical integrity of the individual or of a loved person(s).

Adlerian Therapy - A growth model, it stresses taking responsibility, creating one's own destiny, and finding meaning and goals to give life direction. People are in control of their fate, not victims of it. Individuals create a distinctive lifestyle at an early age, rather than being merely shaped by childhood experiences. Key concepts are used in most other current therapies.

Administration - the management of institutional or governmental affairs; a term for the government itself and its policy-makers.

Adoption - The permanent removal of a child from the natural parents and legal transfer of custody to the adopting parents.

Adoption Act - (1921), permitted legal adoption in Canada for the first time.

Advocacy – Acting on a clients behalf to obtain needed resources and services.

Advocacy organizations -work in defence of the client, such as citizen advocacy which advocates on behalf of an individual, research group or lobby group.

Advocate - One who supports clients in obtaining services.

Affective disorder - A type of psychological disorder that is characterized by recurrent episodes of mania, depression, or both.

Affirmative Action - A public program that attempts to end discrimination against hiring, admitting and promoting women and minorities in public institutions or private companies that contract with the government.

Affirmative Action - Policies of governments and other institutions that are designed to actively promote and advance the status and the social and occupational participation of groups of people designated by sex, ethnicity or other shared characteristic. The intent of such policies is to counteract perceived disadvantagement of such groups. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (section 15(2)) allows for the possibility of such policy without it being subject to challenge on grounds of discrimination against non-designated groups.

Ageism - Similar to the dynamics of racism and sexism. It is a set of attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about the aging process and of people who have been arbitrarily defined as no longer able to be productive because of advancing age, which influence and direct one's interactions with elderly people. Agism is the discrimination and prejudice against elderly people based on mythologies about the aging process.

Agency – a government or non-government organization that employs social workers, and manages the work process and resources.

Aggression - Any form of behaviour that is intended to harm or injure some person, oneself, or an object.

AH-HAH Method - an approach to popular education that intends to help people see how local problems are influenced by larger societal level structures. It refers to the experience people have when they understand clearly for the first time something they knew in a partial or confused way.

Algonquin -This small group of Native Canadians spoke Algonquian languages and lived along the Ottawa River. The Iroquois killed many during the French and Indian War. The remaining Algonquin live in Quebec and Ontario.

Almshouses- Residences established under the Elizabethan Poor Law in which those in greatest need lived and were cared for.

Altruism - unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

Altruistic helping - A form of helping in which the ultimate goal of the helper is to increase another's welfare without expecting anything in return.

Alzheimer's disease - A chronic and progressive brain disorder characterized by loss of cognitive functions, such as short-term memory.

Ambiguity of social work - has to do with the dilemmas faced by social workers in the social work relationship. While social workers are helpers, they are also expected to enforce rules and regulations in the helping relationship with the client

American Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - In the history of people with disabilities, the passing of the American Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was pivotal, because is was legislation which disallowed discrimination against people with disabilities.

Anarchy - In the purest etymological sense, anarchy is a society without rulers, after the Greek word an-archos, meaning "without ruler." It does not mean "without rule," since all societies must have rules in order to function and cooperate well. In an anarchist society, individuals are self-rulers, or at least contribute or agree directly to the rules of their groups.

Anecdotal records - Information or events recorded but unsupported by hard evidence.

Anger-control theory - focuses on the idea that men must be held accountable for their violent behaviour and learn to deal with and control their tempers, showing their feelings in more appropriate ways.

Applied research - Research designed to increase the understanding of and solutions to real-world problems by using current social psychological knowledge.

Approaches to Social Work Practice – The generalist approach and structural approach are common approaches to social work practice in Canada. A body of knowledge or theoretical base informs each approach to practice. Think of knowledge as a collection of beliefs and ideas. These take the form of concepts and propositions about reality. A theory then combines these concepts and propositions into a coherent picture of reality. Finally, a model or approach takes the theory and moulds it into a visual or metaphoric representation of the theory or theories.

Archetypes - Jung named these culturally and generational transmitted and inherited personality building blocks of the unconscious archetypes. Because they emanate from the deepest regions of the collective unconscious and are so ancient, they are also called primordial images.

Assessment – The process of developing an understanding of the presenting problem and a plan of action. It will include different elements and emphasis depending on the perspective or approach of the social worker.

Assessment process - the social worker analyzes with the client, the need for help based on the client's information, ideas, thoughts, and feelings about the problem. Used as the basis for action.

Assimilation - Where an ethnic group loses distinctiveness and becomes absorbed into a majority culture.

Atlantic Provinces of Canada - The Atlantic Provinces of Canada include the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.

Attachment - A strong emotional relationship between an infant and a caregiver.

Attending - The ability of the helper to be free from distraction and fully focused on the client. To "be there" for and with someone.

Attribution - The process by which people use information to make inferences about the causes of behaviour or events.

Authenticity - The act of being oneself or being real and not a phony.

Automatic thoughts - Personal ideas that result from a particular stimulus and that lead to emotional responses.

Awareness - The process of attending to and observing one's own sensing, thinking, feelings, and actions; paying attention to the flowing nature of one's present-centred experience.