ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates examples from two residential homes for children and young people where the approaches of social workers were influenced by social learning theory and where the social workers used empirical practice techniques to evaluate the impact of their interventions on the residents. Behavioural approaches enable residential social workers to be more aware of the social interactions within their homes, and to harness and influence these naturally occurring events in a planned way to generate positive outcomes for children in their care. As a student on the qualifying Diploma in Social Work, Safina Mir was placed in a local authority residential children's home whose main purpose was to prepare young people for fostering or adoption, or to rehabilitate them back to their own homes and families. A strong emphasis was placed on providing an environment in which children could develop and meet their social, emotional, physical and educational needs.
