Eileen Gambrill, PhD, is the Hutto Patterson Charitable Foundation Professor in Child and Family Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Her [Gambrill's] message that social workers try to solve problems which have causes outside the influence of social work resonates throughout the book. This is a challenging but encouraging read for the nearly disillusioned. It could seem primarily a thinker's book but instead deftly helps the pragmatist to think differently too.

• Prologue: Social Workers at Work ; Part I. Getting Oriented ; 1. Social Work: An Introduction ; 2. Clients and Services ; 3. Values, Ethics, and Obligations ; Part II. Thinking about Knowledge and How to Get it ; 4. Different Views of Knowledge ; 5. Critical Thinking: Integral to Evidence-Based Practice ; Part III. Thinking about Problems and Causes ; 6. Competing Views of Personal and Social Problems and Their Causes ; 7. Taking Advantage of Research Findings about Behavior and How it is Influenced by the Environment ; Part IV. A Decision-Focused Practice Model ; 8. Problem Solving and Decision Making: Integral to Helping Clients ; 9. Evidence-Based Practice: A Decision-Making Process and Philosophy ; 10. Posing Questions and Searching for Answers ; 11. Critically Appraising Research: Thinking for Yourself ; Part V. Getting Started ; 12. A Contextual Assessment Framework ; 13. Beginning: A Practice Guide ; 14. Engaging Clients ; Part VI. Relationship Skills ; 15. Interpersonal Helping Skills ; 16. Creating and Handling Challenging Social Situations ; Part VII. Gathering and Organizing Information ; 17. Where to Look: Deciding How to Gather Needed Information ; 18. Observation: Learning to See ; 19. Reviewing Resources and Obstacles ; 20. Putting it All Together ; Part VIII. Selecting Plans and Assessing Progress ; 21. Selecting and Implementing Service Plans ; 22. Evaluating Outcomes as Integral to Problem Solving ; 23. Planning for Endings ; Part IX. Intervention Options ; 24. Empowering Clients: Providing Information and Skill Building ; 25. Helping Clients Learn Positive Behavior Change Skills ; 26. Working with Groups and Families ; 27. Organizations and Communities ; Part X. The Long Run ; 28. Maintaining Skills and Staying Happy in Your Work ; References ; Index