Critical analyses of policies that significantly affect African-American families and communities! African-American Social Workers and Social Policy is the first book of its kind to combine the voices of African-American social work professionals on social policy in one volume. You'll learn about the impact of health, child welfare, and aging, the implications of welfare reform, and the harsh statistics about race and imprisonment from respected practitioners in the field. Each chapter ends with recommendations for policy advocacy, giving you the tools you need to help reform the system. The issues addressed in African-American Social Workers and Social Policy include: how proposed Social Security reforms can help or hinder efforts to bridge the wealth gap the role of grandparents as caregivers the implications of child welfare policies, including the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act of 1994 the effects of race, class, and gender discrimination on African-American women's health the significance of the Human Genome Project how social workers can stand up to the biases of the criminal justice system African-American Social Workers and Social Policy also presents an eye-opening review of the history of mental health policies for African Americans and an action agenda focused on knowledge and empowerment as a solution to pervasive institutional racism. This book is a welcome forum for policy educators, advocates, and those committed to social justice. You will value African-American Social Workers and Social Policy for its clear identification of issues, thorough analysis of the social policy arena and its impact, and comprehensive description of new goals, directions, and possibilities. This book will help you better understand vital social policies that affect African Americans today.

African American males have never fared as poorly as they do currently on a number of social indicators. They are less likely to complete high school than their white male and female or African American female peers, they are more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms, and they have fewer sanctioned coping strategies. Arguably, no other group in American society has been more maligned, regularly faced with tremendous odds that uniquely threaten their existence. When they do receive education, mental health, and physical health services, it is often in correctional settings. They are marginalized in public policies on secondary and higher education attainment, marriage and parental expectations, public welfare, health, housing, and community development. Yet they remain overlooked in health and social science research and are stereotyped in the popular media. Taking a step back from the traditionally myopic view of African American males as criminals and hustlers, this groundbreaking book provides a more nuanced and realistic portrait of their experiences in the world. Chapter authors, both established and emerging scholars of social problems relevant to African Americans, offer a comprehensive overview of the social and economic data on black males to date and the significant issues that affect them from adolescence to adulthood. Via in-depth qualitiative interviews as well as comprehensive surveys and data sets, their physical, mental, and spiritual health and emerging family roles are considered within both individual and communal contexts. Chapters cover health issues such as HIV and depression; fatherhood and family roles; suicide; violence; academic achievement; and incarceration. With original research and a special eye toward enhancing social work and social welfare intervention practice with this often overlooked subpopulation of American society, this volume will be of great interest to researchers interested in African American issues, students, practitioners, and policy makers.

The experiences of African Americans in urban communities are distinct from those of other ethnic groups, and to be truly understood require an in-depth appreciation of the interface between micro- and macro-level factors. This sweeping text, an outgrowth of a groundbreaking urban social work curriculum, focuses exclusively on the African-American experience through field education, community engagement, and practice. It presents a framework for urban social work practice that encompasses a deep understanding of the challenges faced by this community. From a perspective based on empowerment, strengths, and resilience; cultural competence; and multi-culturalism; the book delivers proven strategies for social work practice with the urban African-American population. It facilities the development of creative thinking skills and the ability to ìmeet people where they are,î skills that are often necessary for true transformation to take root. The book describes an overarching framework for understanding and practicing urban social work, including definitions and theories that have critical implications for working with people in such communities. It encompasses the contributions of African American pioneers regarding a response to such challenges as poverty, oppression, and racism. Focusing on the theory, practice, and policy aspects of urban social work, the book examines specific subsets of the urban African-American population including children, adults, families and older adults. It addresses the challenges of urban social work in relation to public health, health, and mental health; substance abuse; criminal justice; and violence prevention. Additionally, the book discusses how to navigate the urban built environment and the intersection between African Americans and other diverse groups. Chapters include outcome measures of effectiveness, case studies, review questions, suggested activities, and supplemental readings. Key Features: Fills a void in the literature on urban social work practice with African Americans Presents the outgrowth of a renowned urban curriculum, field education, research, community engagement, and practice Fulfills the requirements of the CSWE in the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards regarding diversity Synthesizes micro, mezzo, and macro content in each chapter Provides contributions from African-American pioneers in urban social work practice

At the height of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, Black social workers, frustrated by the slow pace of social action and social change in America, organized a national movement of Black social activists willing to confront racism in America and the day-to-day injustices experienced by members of the Black community. Progressive, militant and unapologetic for their persistent dedication and commitment to addressing the pressing social needs of Black America, this book tells the story of the movement and the people involved.

The Black Power movement has often been portrayed in history and popular culture as the quintessential "bad boy" of modern black movement-making in America. Yet this impression misses the full extent of Black Power's contributions to U.S. society, especially in regard to black professionals in social work. Relying on extensive archival research and oral history interviews, Joyce M. Bell follows two groups of black social workers in the 1960s and 1970s as they mobilized Black Power ideas, strategies, and tactics to change their national professional associations. Comparing black dissenters within the National Federation of Settlements (NFS), who fought for concessions from within their organization, and those within the National Conference on Social Welfare (NCSW), who ultimately adopted a separatist strategy, she shows how the Black Power influence was central to the creation and rise of black professional associations. She also provides a nuanced approach to studying race-based movements and offers a framework for understanding the role of social movements in shaping the non-state organizations of civil society.

Black Women, Cultural Images and Social Policy offers a critical analysis of the policy-making process. Jordan-Zachery demonstrates how social meanings surrounding the discourses on crime, welfare and family policies produce and reproduce discursive practices that maintain gender and racial hierarchies. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), she analyzes the values and ideologies ensconced in the various images of black womanhood and their impact on policy formation. This book provides exceptional insight into the racing-gendering process of policy making to show how relations of power and forms of inequality are discursively constructed and impact the lives of African American women.

Critical analyses of policies that significantly affect African-American families and communities! African-American Social Workers and Social Policy is the first book of its kind to combine the voices of African-American social work professionals on social policy in one volume. You'll learn about the impact of health, child welfare, and aging, the implications of welfare reform, and the harsh statistics about race and imprisonment from respected practitioners in the field. Each chapter ends with recommendations for policy advocacy, giving you the tools you need to help reform the system. The issues addressed in African-American Social Workers and Social Policy include: how proposed Social Security reforms can help or hinder efforts to bridge the wealth gap the role of grandparents as caregivers the implications of child welfare policies, including the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act of 1994 the effects of race, class, and gender discrimination on African-American women's health the significance of the Human Genome Project how social workers can stand up to the biases of the criminal justice system African-American Social Workers and Social Policy also presents an eye-opening review of the history of mental health policies for African Americans and an action agenda focused on knowledge and empowerment as a solution to pervasive institutional racism. This book is a welcome forum for policy educators, advocates, and those committed to social justice. You will value African-American Social Workers and Social Policy for its clear identification of issues, thorough analysis of the social policy arena and its impact, and comprehensive description of new goals, directions, and possibilities. This book will help you better understand vital social policies that affect African Americans today.