So You Want to Be a Social Worker is an invaluable, concise resource for both students and practitioners who are concerned about the thoughtful integration of their Christian faith and competent, ethical social work practice. This text is a clear distillation of practice wisdom and responsible guidelines regarding perennial questions which arise when Christians in social work take both their Christian faith and their professional social work practice seriously.Especially useful in the classroom or social work trainings, the 2nd edition of So You Want to Be a Social Worker includes most of the chapters from the original edition, though with updated language, case examples and references - plus two new chapters, Hope and Resilience, and Settings for Practice.

Social Work and Social Welfare: An Invitation is a nationally recognized, best-selling text and unique website for US Introductory Social Work and Social Welfare courses. It provides students with the knowledge, skills, and values that are essential for working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, communities, and public policy in a variety of practice settings. This new third edition is an up-to-date profile of the world in which today’s social workers practice, with current demographic, statistical, legislative, policy, and research information; sensitive discussions of contemporary ethical issues; and new first-person narratives from social workers in a variety of fields. The call to become engaged in some of society’s most challenging issues is clearer than in previous editions.

“Dawn gave us the tools we needed to take the exam, and let me tell you - she was on point! Not only did she cover the content areas we needed to focus in on, but she also showed us how to read and interpret the questions on the exam.” —Ammu D. Kowolik, LMSW, McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research Students and social workers preparing for the social work masters licensure exam will find an invaluable study resource in the Social Work ASWB® Masters Exam Guide. Written by a prominent social work leader and trainer for social work licensing exams in the United States, this guide is based on years of time-tested exam prep workshops conducted by the author. It mirrors the ASWB Masters “Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities” upon which the exam is based and incorporates information from the DSM-5®. The guide is comprehensive yet focuses on the material most likely to be included on the exam, so readers can prioritize information as they study. A self-assessment section helps identify strengths and weaknesses before tackling the material. The author shares her extensive knowledge of the exam by providing useful test-taking strategies and tips for overcoming test anxiety. The 170-question practice test at the end of the guide (with explanations of the correct answers) mirrors the actual exam in both length and structure. Content includes human development, diversity, abuse and neglect, assessment and intervention planning, direct and indirect (micro and macro) practice, and professional values and ethics. This book will be a valuable asset for social workers throughout the United States and Canada. Key Features: Developed by a highly respected educator of social work licensure candidates Covers all the content areas on the masters examination, including new content added in 2015 Begins with a self-assessment section to help identify areas of strength and weakness Offers a wealth of test-taking tips and strategies to foster exam confidence Includes a practice test (with explanations of the correct answers) that mirrors the exam ASWB® is a registered service mark of the Association of Social Work Boards, which neither sponsors nor endorses this product.

Involuntary clients are required to see a professional, such as juveniles on probation, or are pressured to seek help, such as alcoholics threatened with the desertion of a spouse. For close to two decades, Strategies for Work with Involuntary Clients has led in its honest analysis of the involuntary transaction, suggesting the kind of effective legal and ethical intervention that can lead to more cooperative encounters, successful contracts, and less burnout on both sides of the treatment relationship. For this second edition, Ronald H. Rooney has invited experts to address recent theories and provide new information on the best practices for specific populations and settings. He also adds practical examples and questions to each chapter to better facilitate the involvement of students and readers, plus a section on motivational interviewing.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • An “extraordinary” (The New York Times Book Review) tender and vivid memoir about the radical grace we discover when we consider ourselves bound together in community, and a moving account of one woman’s attempt to answer the essential question Who are we to one another? “Your heart will be altered by this book.”—Gregory Boyle, S.J., New York Times bestselling author of Tattoos on the Heart Liz Hauck and her dad had a plan to start a weekly cooking program in a residential home for teenage boys in state care, which was run by the human services agency he co-directed. When her father died before they had a chance to get the project started, Liz decided she would try it without him. She didn’t know what to expect from volunteering with court-involved youth, but as a high school teacher she knew that teenagers are drawn to food-related activities, and as a daughter, she believed that if she and the kids made even a single dinner together she could check one box off her father’s long, unfinished to-do list. This is the story of what happened around the table, and how one dinner became one hundred dinners. “The kids picked the menus, I bought the groceries,” Liz writes, “and we cooked and ate dinner together for two hours a week for nearly three years. Sometimes improvisation in kitchens is disastrous. But sometimes, a combination of elements produces something spectacularly unexpected. I think that’s why, when we don’t know what else to do, we feed our neighbors.” Capturing the clumsy choreography of cooking with other people, this is a sharply observed story about the ways we behave when we are hungry and the conversations that happen at the intersections of flavor and memory, vulnerability and strength, grief and connection. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SHE READS

In this provocative examination of the fall of the profession of social work from its original mission to aid and serve the underprivileged, Harry Specht and Mark Courtney show how America's excessive trust in individualistic solutions to social problems have led to the abandonment of the poor in this country. A large proportion of all certified social workers today have left the social services to enter private practice, thereby turning to the middle class -- those who can afford psychotherapy -- and away from the poor. As Specht and Courtney persuasively demonstrate, if social work continues to drift in this direction there is good reason to expect that the profession will be entirely engulfed by psychotherapy within the next twenty years, leaving a huge gap in the provision of social services traditionally filled by social workers. The authors examine the waste of public funds this trend occasions, as social workers educated with public money abandon community service in increasing numbers.

An empowerment-based generalist social work practice text which integrates core themes of the profession. This text is part of the Connecting Core Competencies Series. Generalist Social Work Practice, 7th edition, fully integrates core social work themes of collaboration, the strengths perspective, values and ethics, social justice and human rights, evidence-based practice, cultural competence, and policy practice. This text offers a progressive practice approach grounded in social work research, reflective of social work values, sensitive to client diversity, and applicable to work with any level of client system including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Beginning with engaging clients as partners and continuing with assessing, intervening, and evaluating from a strengths perspective, this approach offers social workers a method that fully realizes core social work values, respects client competence, and activates client resources within the context of their lives. All parts of the practice process are described in detail, connected to social work theory, illustrated with case examples, and supported with evidence from social work research. Each chapter focuses on teaching the knowledge, values, and skills reflective of the core competencies and correlated practice behaviors as described in the 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). A better teaching & learning experience This program will provide a better teaching and learning experience--for you and your students. Here's how: Improve Critical Thinking - Teaches students specific strategies to identify and use client strengths in their practice. Engage Students - Offers numerous case examples to apply the empowerment method to all levels of social work, with diverse clients and situations, and across fields of practice. Explore Current Issues - Includes new practice research findings and updates to demographics to ensure currency. Apply CSWE Core Competencies - The text integrates the 2008 CSWE EPAS, with critical thinking questions and practice tests to assess student understanding and development of competency. Support Instructors - An Instructor's Manual and Test Bank, Computerized Test Bank (MyTest), BlackBoard Test Item File, and PowerPoint presentations are included in the outstanding supplements package.