Social Work Perspectives: Conceptualising Youth Mental Health Through Trauma-Informed Systems Thinking

The following literature review explores theoretical understandings of social workers and the distinctiveness of social work conceptualisations of young people within mental health fields. Clarifying the distinctiveness of social work perspectives is critical for encouraging a collective professional identity underpinned by a consistent philosophy where the social work role is guided by evidence-based theories. The overall findings support social workers’ understanding of systems theories, with some empirical studies confirming the uniqueness of these understandings to social work knowledge. The theoretical literature lacks discussion regarding the distinctive nature of theories to social work, indicating either that theories are not distinctive or simply that there is a lack of literature surrounding the distinctive nature of these theories. However, literature does highlight the strength of borrowing theories from other disciplines and the benefits of adopting practices into social work knowledge. IMPLICATIONSInitial evidence suggests that systems theories may provide a foundation for defining the distinctiveness of the profession; however, further investigation is needed.Further research into how social workers epistemologically engage with systems theories may contribute to clearer articulation of their perspectives on youth mental health.Investigation into systems theories through a trauma-informed lens is required as the current literature lacks this perspective.