马斯洛需求层次理论在社会工作中的应用(英文版)Maslow’shierarchyofneedstheory.doc

Is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory applicable in today’s social work? And why? Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a motivational theory in psychology that argues that while people aim to meet basic needs, they seek to meet successively higher needs in the form of a hierarchy. It is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are located at the top of the pyramid. Maslows theory suggests that the need for self-actualization, that is, the need that human beings have to realize their full potential, can only be fulfilled once other needs have been met. Self-actualization describes an inborn tendency for human beings to grow and to maximize innate talents and potentialities. According to Maslow, the first level includes basic physiological needs for food, shelter, clothing, and so on. Once these needs have been met, the actualization process creates a momentum for the next level of needs to be realized, namely, for security and safety and to feel free from danger. Again, once these have been met, there is an innate motivation to move on to the next stage, and so forth. Although Maslow’s concept is meaningful to our social work, there are still some criticisms. Some have noted vagueness in what is a “deficiency”; what is a deficiency for one is not necessarily a deficiency for another. Secondly, there seem to be various exceptions that frequently occur. For example, some people often risk their own safety to rescue others from danger. In their extensive review of research based on Maslows theory, Wahba and Brudwell found little evidence for the ranking of needs Maslow described or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at all. Chilean economist and philosopher Manfred Max-Neef has also argued fundamental human needs are non-hierarchical and invariant in nature—part of the condition of being human; poverty, he argues, may result from any one of these needs being frustr