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rather than on dealing with the structural determinants of problems (Dobson
and Dobson 2009; Payne 2014). It is most useful when used in combination
with practice models that value the strengths of the client, so that the client is
not blamed for “faulty thinking.” Cognitive-behavioral theory has been applied
to many problems, including anxiety, phobias, and deviant behaviors. It can
promote a task or problem-centered interventionist model (Epstein 1980).
To draw a link to social problems, this theory would suggest that people
learn poor social skills from poor role models—parents and peers—in child-
hood (Milkman and Wanberg 2012; Shannon and Young 2004) and that
these poor skills, repeated widely across a population, are one of the roots
of wider social problems. Problem behaviors may exist because they have
been taught and reinforced from childhood and passed down from genera-
tion to generation. Intervention would suggest unlearning poor behavior and
learning new, more prosocial and useful skills. Cognitive-behavioral theory
has been developed into some well-used helping programs, such as prosocial
modeling and the straight thinking program, both of which are widely used
in prison rehabilitation and in some social services in Australasia, the United
Kingdom, and North America (Trotter 2009). Mindfulness and cognitive-
behavioral therapy, focused on the individual, seek to empower clients to
decide goals and tasks for change, which may include attitudes or behaviors
that they want to either reduce or increase, in order to enhance their well-being
(Dobson and Dobson 2009; Follette, Palm, and Pearson 2006).
Radical Theory
Radical theory draws attention to the fact that many of the problems that
people face arise from the way society is structured. The theory objects to the
individualizing of these problems as personal deficits, when in fact the prob-
lems have been created by the interaction of social, economic, and political
factors, such as poverty, racism, and sexism, on individuals. Radical theory
critiques power relations, state-based oppression, and the exclusion of par-
ticular groups, including women, working-class people, people of color, and
people with different sexual orientations. At its heart, radical theory reveals
a commitment to social and political change, at individual, community, and
societal levels; action is required at all levels but starts with the individual.
Radical theory encourages the deconstruction of knowledge and ideologies
of exclusion and advocates a collective approach to solving social problems.
It encourages individuals to work with others in similar circumstances to high-
light the personal impact of a problem across large numbers of people. An
analysis of power relations is a precursor to interventions, which should result
in redistribution of resources to, and empowerment of, excluded individuals.