Featuring contributions from practitioners, researchers, and academics, this volume synthesizes and analyzes current trends in rural social work practice and considers the most effective ways to serve rural communities. Contributors consider the history and development of rural social work from its beginnings to the present day, addressing the value of the Internet and other new information technologies in helping clients. They also examine the effects of nonprofit organizations and welfare reform on poor rural areas. Coverage of specific client populations and fields of practice includes services for rural mental healthcare; the chronically mentally ill; healthcare for minorities; and the challenges faced by the elderly in rural areas. The contributors also consider issues affecting gays and lesbians living in rural communities and the role of religiosity and social support in the well-being of HIV/AIDS clients. The book concludes with a consideration of the unique issues associated with educating social workers for rural practice.

A thoughtful text integrating strengths, assets, and capacity-building themes with contemporary issues in rural social work practice Now in its second edition, Rural Social Work is a collection of contributed readings from social work scholars, students, and practitioners presenting a framework for resource building based on the strengths, assets, and capacities of people, a tool essential for working with rural communities. This guide considers methods for social workers to participate in the work of sustaining rural communities. Each chapter features a reading integrating the themes of capacity-building and rural social work; discussion questions that facilitate critical thinking around the chapter; and suggested activities and assignments. Rural Social Work, Second Edition explores: Important practice issues in rural communities, including the challenges of working with stigmatized populations such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, the homeless, and people living with HIV/AIDS Practice models that hold special promise for rural social workers, including evidence-based practice and community partnership models Newer research tools such as asset mapping, social network analysis, concept mapping, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Exploring how social workers can integrate the tremendous resources that exist in rural communities into their practice, Rural Social Work, Second Edition provides a solid introduction to the complex, challenging, and rewarding work of building and sustaining rural communities.

In much of the West the concerns of rural people are marginalised and rural issues neglected. This stimulating book draws upon a rich variety of material to show why rural social work is such a challenging field of practice. It incorporates research from different disciplines and places to provide an accessible and comprehensive introduction to rural practice. The first part of the book focuses upon the experience of rurality. The second part of the book turns to the development of rural practice, reviewing different ways of working from casework through to community development. This book is relevant to planners, managers and practitioners not only in social work but also in other welfare services such as health and youth work, who are likely to face similar challenges.

"The second edition of this book provides a comprehensive overview of the knowledge, skills, values, ethics, and issues central to the practice of social work in small towns and rural communities with updated information and a new chapter on social, economic, and environmental justice. The topics covered include the importance of rural social work, defining rural, and the rewards and challenges of rural practice. It addresses rural culture, behavior, and, language, diversity, and how social policy affects rural communities. Later chapters discuss rural social services, the history of rural social work, a model for rural social work practice, and ethical practice. The final chapters focus on the practice of rural social work, social, economic, and environmental justice, and challenges for the future. Rural social work, rural, social work, ethics, history, rural culture, generalist practice, environmental justice"--

Within the conversation surrounding rural social work, there is a consistent focus on theoretical arguments, definitions, and political concerns, and a limited discussion of direct practice. This book speaks directly to practice concerns as they apply to rural environments at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. The authors use a generalist model of practice and apply systems and person-in-environment theories to help readers develop a more sophisticated understanding of general problems and concerns found in rural communities. To truly respond to the well-being of rural residents, rural social workers need to learn to identify and implement opportunities for growth, development, health, and welfare. This book encourages critical thinking, careful reflection, and self-directed learning so as to foster real, positive, sustainable social change in rural environments.

America's rural areas have always held a disproportionate share of the nation's poorest populations. Rural Poverty in the United States examines why. What is it about the geography, demography, and history of rural communities that keeps them poor? In a comprehensive analysis that extends from the Civil War to the present, Rural Poverty in the United States looks at access to human and social capital; food security; healthcare and the environment; homelessness; gender roles and relations; racial inequalities; and immigration trends to isolate the underlying causes of persistent rural poverty. Contributors to this volume incorporate approaches from multiple disciplines, including sociology, economics, demography, race and gender studies, public health, education, criminal justice, social welfare, and other social science fields. They take a hard look at current and past programs to alleviate rural poverty and use their failures to suggest alternatives that could improve the well-being of rural Americans for years to come. These essays work hard to define rural poverty's specific metrics and markers, a critical step for building better policy and practice. Considering gender, race, and immigration, the book appreciates the overlooked structural and institutional dimensions of ongoing rural poverty and its larger social consequences.