Foundations of Social Work Knowledge Series - Böcker

The role of research and evaluation in the field of social work has changed significantly since the 1970s. Practicing social workers are increasingly expected to be able to evaluate a client's progress and to research established methods for dealing with particular issues. moreover, groundbreaking research is no longer the exclusive preserve of academics or professional researchers. Practicing social workers are increasingly depended upon to develop, evaluate, and disseminate new methods and information. This text shows how research issues come about, and are resolved, in the course of daily practice. Reamer uses a single extended example of the fictional Mt. Washington Family Service Agency. The chapters draw on the many issues dealt with by the agency with extensive use of real-life examples, such as drug and alcohol abuse, depression, community organizing and reports to the board of directors.He demonstrates how case-workers, counsellors and administrators evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, conduct needs assessments, draw on empirically-based literature and findings to inform their practice, and finally create and disseminate information for use by other professionals. Clearly written and including humorous anecdotes and cartoon drawing to engage students, this book also provides a picture of the relevance of research and evaluation to any social work practice.

This comprehensive textbook helps social workers understand and meet the needs of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. It outlines approaches to a range of everyday problems associated with issues of oppression, family acceptance, shame, identity development, HIV disease, and addiction. The first of the book's three sections provides an overview of what it means to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and locates the text within the ecological model of social work on individual, interpersonal, and institutional levels of intervention. This section includes definitions of sexual orientation, forms of heterosexism and homophobia, and issues of community among gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. The second section covers life transitions, including childhood, adolescence, and late life, as well as sexual relationships, parenting, and life in the workplace. The last part covers the special issues and challenges of mental health, substance abuse, violence (both "gay bashing" and domestic violence), and HIV disease. The final chapter pulls together the practice concepts introduced in the book and provides a blueprint for knowledge development and dissemination in the field.

How can injustice and oppression be overcome and prevented, regardless of who the victims are? What are the meanings, sources, and dynamics of these dehumanizing conditions? David Gil brings to these questions a lifetime of experience in social action and in social work practice and education. Writing for human services professionals, students, and activists, he sounds the call to embrace the core values of radical social work: equality, liberty, cooperation, and affirmation of community in pursuit of individual and social development. Gil identifies violence, unemployment, racism, and poverty as the chief injustices in society, and outlines the steps that must be taken in order to confront and abolish these through education and activism.

This book emphasizes family-centered, social network, and school-based interventions in the preparation of social workers for direct and indirect practice with clients from vulnerable populations, especially the poor, people of color, and recent immigrant groups. With an eye to recent changes in social work practice and service delivery, including the impact of welfare reform and managed care on vulnerable families and children, Social Work Practice with Families and Children helps social work students and practitioners understand the increasingly complex needs of their clients. Three valuable appendixes include information about tools and instruments to support practice, child welfare resource centers, and electronic resources pertaining to the field.

Human services management occurs in nonprofit, governmental, and for-profit sectors and involves a wide variety of organizational structures. These diverse conditions shape the effort to produce and project services that directly affect the quality of life of individuals, families, and communities through social welfare, health and mental health, criminal justice, and educational services. David Austin begins with an examination of the historical development and distinctive characteristics of human service organizations, the variety of organizational and program structures at play, and the connection of individual service organizations with service delivery networks. He then examines of the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholder constituencies, including service users, service personnel (especially service professionals), funders, executives, and policy boards. The final two chapters discuss two organizational processes: accountability for effectiveness and dealing with organizational changes.

The United States has always been a land of immigrants and a destination for refugees. With the increase in immigration in the late 1980s-when the number of refugees entering the United States nearly doubled as well-the number of clients needing social work services rose dramatically. Social Work Practice with Immigrants and Refugees takes an ecological systems perspective on working with these two distinct groups, paying special attention to the relationship between individuals and their social environment. Focusing on the major immigrant groups who have come to the United States since the 1965 Immigration Act, the book contains chapters on immigrants and refugees from Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Africa. Pallassana R. Balgopal and contributors explore ideas, concepts, and skills that will help human service workers, social workers, helping professionals, and policymakers deepen their understanding of cultural attitudes toward newly arrived immigrants and refugees, thus strengthening their ability to better serve an ethnically diverse clientele.

The United States has always been a land of immigrants and a destination for refugees. With the increase in immigration in the late 1980s-when the number of refugees entering the United States nearly doubled as well-the number of clients needing social work services rose dramatically. Social Work Practice with Immigrants and Refugees takes an ecological systems perspective on working with these two distinct groups, paying special attention to the relationship between individuals and their social environment. Focusing on the major immigrant groups who have come to the United States since the 1965 Immigration Act, the book contains chapters on immigrants and refugees from Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Africa. Pallassana R. Balgopal and contributors explore ideas, concepts, and skills that will help human service workers, social workers, helping professionals, and policymakers deepen their understanding of cultural attitudes toward newly arrived immigrants and refugees, thus strengthening their ability to better serve an ethnically diverse clientele.

An understanding of the most important laws and ethical issues that have shaped the profession is essential for the effective practice of social work. Thus this comprehensive approach to health and mental health care for social workers centers on ethical and legal issues. The book includes critical information regarding the systems and organizations in which social workers practice; the nature of the relationship between social workers and clients/consumers/communities; planning, contracting, and strategizing functions; intervention techniques using advocacy, brief work, case management, and group work; and evaluation. Armed with this knowledge, social workers have the ability to intervene as advocates as well as to evaluate their work and their clients' progress.

For more than twenty years Sheila H. Akabas and Paul A. Kurzman have written extensively about workers and work organizations, and given leadership to the occupational social welfare movement worldwide. Recognized as leaders in their field, Akabas and Kurzman offer an invaluable and comprehensive look at the innovative ways in which management, labor organizations, government, and social workers can better respond to the needs of workers, their families, and communities. The authors consider the social, psychological, and economic conditions in the world of work; the domino impact of unemployment upon individuals, families, organizations, and communities; and the inadequacy of insurance, benefit and support systems, intended to respond to personal and systematic crises. They also provide case histories that illustrate how collaboration among management, labor, social work, and government opens new options for workers, their families, and those seeking entry into the workplace. The authors' discussion provides contemporary illustrations of evidence-based best practices that respond to the needs of the modern workplace.They analyze the barriers to entry into the workforce; the tension between work and family obligations; the sometime unsupportive nature of many jobs and settings; and work implications for persons with chronic or acute illnesses. In the concluding chapter, the authors assess current trends as they offer an optimistic review of the possibilities and positive future potential represented by career counseling, pre-retirement preparation, disability management, executive coaching, manpower programming, and managed care. Throughout the book, Akabas and Kurzman include case studies to illustrate innovative practice and provide study questions for each chapter.

By making explicit linkages both to social work practice and to the history of management thought, covering the rapidly expanding field of nonprofit studies, and incorporating management approaches from Henri Fayol's principles to Total Quality Management, this pioneering work grounds the practice of social administration in the profession of social work and agency-based practice better than any text presently available. The book also addresses ways in which the strategic vision of social administrators can be used to build humane and lasting welfare institutions, further social justice, and confront oppression. To accomplish this task, the authors blend several perspectives: social administration as management, as a form of social work practice emphasizing professional and community leadership, as decision making influenced by values and ethics and as institution building.Divided into an introduction, an afterword, and twenty-five topical chapters, Social Administration discusses issues of executive and program leadership as well as such environmental concerns as community, social agency, and a range of special topics, including accountability, ethics, contracting, and working with boards.

Human behavior is a subject so vast that it would seem to defy one's ability to comfortably and confidently grasp its varieties, nuances, shapes, and dynamics. But in this wide-ranging and comprehensive survey of the contexts of human behavior, Dennis Saleebey examines the different social science approaches to understanding the way humans react to and are affected by their environment. Using a biopsychosocial perspective, this book demonstrates that there are many paths of knowledge, many methods of inquiry, and many perspectives that can guide one's understanding of human behavior. Resilience (how we cope with trauma) and meaning-making (how we see and make sense of the world around us) provide the conceptual framework of the book. Saleebey examines a number of specific theories relevant to the biopsychosocial approach: part/whole analysis, psychodynamic theory, ecological theory, cognitive theory, and radical/critical theory. Human development is presented as a continuing interaction between individual, family, community, social institutions, and culture.Pedagogical devices to aid the student include chapter overviews, case studies, and meaning-making dialogues at the end of each chapter that pose questions for further thought.

Should a therapist counsel a former lover or accept a client's gift? If so, has a boundary been crossed? Some boundary issues, like beginning a sexual relationship with a client, are obvious pitfalls to avoid, but what about more subtle issues, like hugging a client or disclosing personal information to a client? What are the boundaries of maintaining a friendship with a former client or the relative of a client? When do conflicts of interest overburden the client-practitioner relationship? Frederic Reamer, a leading authority on professional ethics, offers a definitive and up-to-date analysis of boundary issues, a rapidly emerging topic in the field of human services. One of the only works in the field to provide a conceptual framework for the dual relationship between practitioner and client, this book provides an in-depth look at the complex forms these relationships take. It also gives practical risk-management models to aid human service professionals in the prevention of problematic situations and the managing of dual relationships.Reamer examines the ethics involving intimate and sexual relationships with clients and former clients, practitioners' self-disclosure, giving and receiving favors and gifts, bartering for services, and unavoidable and unanticipated circumstances such as social encounters and geographical proximity. Case vignettes that help illustrate important points are also included in each chapter.

Should a therapist counsel a former lover or accept a client's gift? If so, has a boundary been crossed? Some boundary issues, like beginning a sexual relationship with a client, are obvious pitfalls to avoid, but what about more subtle issues, like hugging a client or disclosing personal information to a client? What are the boundaries of maintaining a friendship with a former client or the relative of a client? When do conflicts of interest overburden the client-practitioner relationship? Frederic Reamer, a leading authority on professional ethics, offers a definitive and up-to-date analysis of boundary issues, a rapidly emerging topic in the field of human services. One of the only works in the field to provide a conceptual framework for the dual relationship between practitioner and client, this book provides an in-depth look at the complex forms these relationships take. It also gives practical risk-management models to aid human service professionals in the prevention of problematic situations and the managing of dual relationships.Reamer examines the ethics involving intimate and sexual relationships with clients and former clients, practitioners' self-disclosure, giving and receiving favors and gifts, bartering for services, and unavoidable and unanticipated circumstances such as social encounters and geographical proximity. Case vignettes that help illustrate important points are also included in each chapter.

Whether protecting their own rights or those of their clients, or navigating the juvenile justice, immigration, or welfare systems, social workers confront legal issues every day. This book explores legal concepts, legal reasoning, and legal processes-illustrated with case vignettes from social work practice-in order to provide social work practitioners and students with practical and accessible legal knowledge. It introduces readers to scholarship about the law and to conceptual knowledge that can be applied to any interaction with the legal system. Social workers are thereby enabled to "think like a lawyer" and increase their effectiveness. The volume features a discussion of recent reform movements, including Alternative Dispute Resolution, and an appendix of sources for legal information and research on the law.

Whether protecting their own rights or those of their clients, or navigating the juvenile justice, immigration, or welfare systems, social workers confront legal issues every day. This book explores legal concepts, legal reasoning, and legal processes-illustrated with case vignettes from social work practice-in order to provide social work practitioners and students with practical and accessible legal knowledge. It introduces readers to scholarship about the law and to conceptual knowledge that can be applied to any interaction with the legal system. Social workers are thereby enabled to "think like a lawyer" and increase their effectiveness. The volume features a discussion of recent reform movements, including Alternative Dispute Resolution, and an appendix of sources for legal information and research on the law.

A comprehensive guide to psychodynamic clinical practice within a contemporary social work treatment context, this book incorporates a number of different theoretical models in tandem with more than thirty-five diverse case illustrations. Case studies are derived from an assortment of venues, including inpatient and outpatient mental health, family service, residential treatment, corrections, and private practice.Using traditional psychoanalytic theory as a point of departure, Psychodynamic Social Work reflects the richness of current thinking in psychoanalysis and dynamic psychotherapy and addresses such important topics as o the unique relationship between social work and psychoanalysis; o psychosocial development and dysfunction; o strategies for beginning therapy and establishing a relationship between therapist and client; o understanding and using the client's transference and the therapist's countertransference to clinical advantage; o the clinical process from dynamic assessment through termination, including client resistance to treatment as a central challenge; o methods for treating children and adolescents; o brief and time-limited therapy and dynamically oriented case management; o the "focal conflict model," an instrument for analyzing a client's based on changes in speech that is used for clinical instruction as well as in single-case research and clinical supervision.

Social workers provide more mental health services than any other profession, yet recent biomedical trends in psychiatry appear to minimize the importance of their traditional concerns, which focus on the social environment that accompanies mental disorders and their treatment. In twenty-four chapters written by distinguished scholars this book not only calls attention to this emerging problem and challenges conventional mental health beliefs and practices, but also raises provocative questions: Has social work become too closely associated with psychiatry and too quick to adopt a medical approach? Has the focus on the therapeutic relationship negated social work's commitment to social reform? Is the social worker marginalized by the emphasis in mental health on biochemistry and psychopharmacology? This book calls on social workers and other health care professionals to be more skeptical about diagnosis, community treatment, evidence-based practice, psychotherapy, medications, and managed care.

Social workers provide more mental health services than any other profession, yet recent biomedical trends in psychiatry appear to minimize the importance of their traditional concerns, which focus on the social environment that accompanies mental disorders and their treatment. In twenty-four chapters written by distinguished scholars this book not only calls attention to this emerging problem and challenges conventional mental health beliefs and practices, but also raises provocative questions: Has social work become too closely associated with psychiatry and too quick to adopt a medical approach? Has the focus on the therapeutic relationship negated social work's commitment to social reform? Is the social worker marginalized by the emphasis in mental health on biochemistry and psychopharmacology? This book calls on social workers and other health care professionals to be more skeptical about diagnosis, community treatment, evidence-based practice, psychotherapy, medications, and managed care.

Community economic development (CED) is an increasingly essential factor in the revitalization of low- to moderate-income communities. This cutting-edge text explores the intersection of CED and social work practice, which both focus on the well-being of indigent communities and the empowerment of individuals and the communities in which they live. This unique textbook emphasizes a holistic approach to community building that combines business and real-estate development with a focus on stimulating family self-reliance and community empowerment. The result is an innovative approach to rehabilitating communities in decline while preserving resident demographics. The authors delve deep into the social, political, human, and financial capital involved in effecting change and how race and regional issues can complicate approaches and outcomes. Throughout, they integrate case examples to illustrate their strategies and conclude with a consideration of the critical role social workers can play in developing CED's next phase.

Community economic development (CED) is an increasingly essential factor in the revitalization of low- to moderate-income communities. This cutting-edge text explores the intersection of CED and social work practice, which both focus on the well-being of indigent communities and the empowerment of individuals and the communities in which they live. This unique textbook emphasizes a holistic approach to community building that combines business and real-estate development with a focus on stimulating family self-reliance and community empowerment. The result is an innovative approach to rehabilitating communities in decline while preserving resident demographics. The authors delve deep into the social, political, human, and financial capital involved in effecting change and how race and regional issues can complicate approaches and outcomes. Throughout, they integrate case examples to illustrate their strategies and conclude with a consideration of the critical role social workers can play in developing CED's next phase.

Nonprofit organizations in the United States have exploded over the past two decades, and while many books touch on aspects of these organizations, few directly address the principles and practices incoming workers need to know to become leaders in the field. This volume begins with a history of nonprofits, as well as a discussion of the theories and ethical issues surrounding them, and then provides guidance on how to create, lead, and manage an effective organization. Subsequent chapters cover key issues in human resources; organizational growth and renewal; strategic planning; community relations; fundraising; program evaluation; accountability, particularly financial; and the future of nonprofits. Competition and scarcity of funding has forced nonprofits to produce even more capable managers. This textbook is the best resource for schools of social work, public administration, business, law, public health, and adult education, and it is a vital tool for instructors in resource centers serving nonprofits.

Nonprofit organizations in the United States have exploded over the past two decades, and while many books touch on aspects of these organizations, few directly address the principles and practices incoming workers need to know to become leaders in the field. This volume begins with a history of nonprofits, as well as a discussion of the theories and ethical issues surrounding them, and then provides guidance on how to create, lead, and manage an effective organization. Subsequent chapters cover key issues in human resources; organizational growth and renewal; strategic planning; community relations; fundraising; program evaluation; accountability, particularly financial; and the future of nonprofits. Competition and scarcity of funding has forced nonprofits to produce even more capable managers. This textbook is the best resource for schools of social work, public administration, business, law, public health, and adult education, and it is a vital tool for instructors in resource centers serving nonprofits.

In Domestic Violence: Intersectionality and Culturally Competent Practice, experts working with twelve unique groups of domestic abuse survivors provide the latest research on their populations and use a case study approach to demonstrate culturally sensitive intervention strategies. Chapters focus on African Americans, Native Americans, Latinas, Asian and Pacific Island communities, persons with disabilities, immigrants and refugees, women in later life, LGBT survivors, and military families. They address domestic violence in rural environments and among teens, as well as the role of religion in shaping attitudes and behavior. Lettie L. Lockhart and Fran S. Danis are editors of the Council of Social Work Education's popular teaching modules on domestic violence and founding co-chairs of the CSWE symposium on violence against women and children. In their introduction, they provide a thorough overview of intersectionality, culturally competent practice, and domestic violence and basic practice strategies, such as universal screening, risk assessment, and safety planning.They follow with collaborative chapters on specific populations demonstrating the value of generalist social work practice, including developing respectful relationships that define issues from the survivor's perspective; collecting and assessing data; setting goals and contracting; identifying culturally specific interventions; implementing culturally appropriate courses of action; participating in community-level strategies; and advocating for improved policies and funding at local, state, and federal levels. Featuring resources applicable to both practitioners and clients, Domestic Violence forms an effective tool for analysis and action.

In Domestic Violence: Intersectionality and Culturally Competent Practice, experts working with twelve unique groups of domestic abuse survivors provide the latest research on their populations and use a case study approach to demonstrate culturally sensitive intervention strategies. Chapters focus on African Americans, Native Americans, Latinas, Asian and Pacific Island communities, persons with disabilities, immigrants and refugees, women in later life, LGBT survivors, and military families. They address domestic violence in rural environments and among teens, as well as the role of religion in shaping attitudes and behavior. Lettie L. Lockhart and Fran S. Danis are editors of the Council of Social Work Education's popular teaching modules on domestic violence and founding co-chairs of the CSWE symposium on violence against women and children. In their introduction, they provide a thorough overview of intersectionality, culturally competent practice, and domestic violence and basic practice strategies, such as universal screening, risk assessment, and safety planning.They follow with collaborative chapters on specific populations demonstrating the value of generalist social work practice, including developing respectful relationships that define issues from the survivor's perspective; collecting and assessing data; setting goals and contracting; identifying culturally specific interventions; implementing culturally appropriate courses of action; participating in community-level strategies; and advocating for improved policies and funding at local, state, and federal levels. Featuring resources applicable to both practitioners and clients, Domestic Violence forms an effective tool for analysis and action.

Internalized homophobia, alienation, poor support structures, and high levels of depression all contribute to substance abuse among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, with social activity at bars and clubs reinforcing addictive behavior. The threat of bias in treatment programs also prevents many from seeking help. An essential resource for human service professionals searching for the latest research on these unique issues, this volume features both state of the art practice methods for treating substance use disorders and up-to-date analyses of sexual orientation and gender identity issues, heterosexism, and the ethical challenges of working with the LGBT community. Sandra Anderson discusses practice with individuals, couples, families, and small groups, as well as practice at the program level. Drawing on case studies with her own clients and from social service agencies that treat LGBT clients, Anderson emphasizes evidence-based treatment models, including motivational enhancement therapy, contingency management, the matrix model, and community reinforcement.Packed with recommendations for effective practice, this singular volume confronts the obstacles faced not only by clients with addictions but also by the LGBT population as a whole.

Internalized homophobia, alienation, poor support structures, and high levels of depression all contribute to substance abuse among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, with social activity at bars and clubs reinforcing addictive behavior. The threat of bias in treatment programs also prevents many from seeking help. An essential resource for human service professionals searching for the latest research on these unique issues, this volume features both state of the art practice methods for treating substance use disorders and up-to-date analyses of sexual orientation and gender identity issues, heterosexism, and the ethical challenges of working with the LGBT community. Sandra Anderson discusses practice with individuals, couples, families, and small groups, as well as practice at the program level. Drawing on case studies with her own clients and from social service agencies that treat LGBT clients, Anderson emphasizes evidence-based treatment models, including motivational enhancement therapy, contingency management, the matrix model, and community reinforcement.Packed with recommendations for effective practice, this singular volume confronts the obstacles faced not only by clients with addictions but also by the LGBT population as a whole.

Reorganized for more effective classroom use, the second edition of Critical Issues in Child Welfare begins with an updated, thorough overview of the challenges currently facing at-risk children and families. A description of the child welfare system highlights issues that are discussed in more detail throughout the book. The text explores protective services, family preservation, foster care and residential care, adoption, services for adolescents, and training and retention of staff. New material highlights the recent discoveries of the impact of early trauma and stress on children's development, and the modifications currently taking place in the child welfare system in response to this new information. The book also examines the critical challenges of poverty and substance abuse, the importance of the community in shaping child welfare services, racial disproportionality in the system, the changing response of the system to LGBT issues, and services to ameliorate the difficulties of youth leaving the system.

More urgent than ever, David G. Gil's guiding text gives social workers the knowledge and confidence they need to change unjust realities. Clarifying the meaning, sources, and dynamics of injustice, exploitation, and oppression and certifying the place of the social worker in combating these conditions, Gil promotes social-change strategies rooted in the nonviolent philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. He shares suggestions for transition policies intended to alleviate poverty, unemployment, and discrimination and examines modes of radical social work practice compatible with the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and President Roosevelt's proposed "Economic Bill of Rights." For this updated edition, Gil considers the factors driving two crucial developments since his volume's initial publication: the Middle East's Arab Spring and the U.S. Occupy Wall Street movement.