The Foundations of Social Work Practice covers the core content required for foundation practice courses in master's-degree programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Practical and comprehensive and written at a more challenging level than most texts, this book covers all the essentials: knowledge needed for practice, skills for practice with systems of all sizes, the ecosystems perspective, and the use of research. With detailed emphasis on today's best practices, this book integrates concept and theory with skills-building exercises. It is an excellent text for preparing students for real-world experience. Book jacket.

In this iteration (date unspecified for the previous), seven professors of social work from New York to Alaska expand their emphasis on social justice, empowerment, and the moral core of the profession in covering contemporary issues--including an ecosystems approach, aging, disabilities, human righ.

Focusing on the pragmatic aspects of social work with gay and lesbian persons, this book offers a knowledge base of practice that will better prepare students and practitioners for working more competently and effectively with lesbians and gay men. Written by scholars and practitioners in the social work profession, Foundations of Social Work Practice with Lesbian and Gay Persons teaches you how to develop practice approaches that are sensitive to issues of sexual orientation as well as how to work with this population in the contexts of practice with individuals, couples, families, groups, communities, and organizations. The book’s sensible strategies and case studies provide you with critical information that will help you deal with homophobia and heterocentrism and enact a professional commitment to pursuing economic and social equality for diverse and at-risk client populations.A foundation-level text on social work practice with gays and lesbians, this book is designed to provide social work students, academics, and practitioners with an understanding of the values and ethics fundamental to practice with this group of clients. Foundations of Social Work Practice with Lesbian and Gay Persons summarizes the variety of issues, dynamics, and techniques required to work effectively with gay and lesbian clients who are at different points in their development and life cycles. To further help you in your practice, it also discusses: providing skilled professional assistance to gay victims of hate crimes how homophobia can prevent lesbians and gay men from receiving adequate services the obstacles social workers sometimes face when trying to integrate the core set of professional values and ethical principles into their practice practitioner self-disclosure regarding sexual identity developmental milestones for lesbian and gay persons alcohol and substance abuse among lesbians family therapy concepts of fusion and enmeshment same gender socialization assessing issues of sexual expressionCounselors, social workers, and students and academics in gay and lesbian studies will find that Foundations of Social Work Practice with Lesbian and Gay Persons greatly expands the social work knowledge base to disrupt the impact of institutional, individualized, and internal homophobia on social workers, their clients, and the institutions in which social workers practice. Its flexible and creative treatment approaches to therapy with sexual minorities are sure to help you sensitize your therapeutic techniques and improve the quality of care you deliver.

This brilliantly systematic and comprehensive textbook provides an integrated approach to social work theory, methods and skills as the bedrock of all social work practice. Recognizing social work as a diverse activity that is rooted in common foundations, it explains how practice both shapes and is shaped by professional purpose. The text also explores the diverse range of social work practice methods available and aims to equip the reader with a foundation in the history and application of these varied approaches. Offering a step-by-step discussion that will empower readers to critically develop and refine their professional toolkit for purposeful and innovative intervention, this original rationale is an essential resource for any social work student or practitioner looking to build, or consolidate, their understanding of the range of methods and skills available for effective professional practice.

The Ethical Foundations of Social Work provides you with an engaging, theoretical and practice-based grounding in social work ethics. The authors first examine when, how and why principles and debates historically emerged, then explicitly map them onto everyday ethical challenges and situations in social work practice. As a result, the book promotes an ethically conscious approach where principles can be flexibly and confidently applied as tools to help you with critical problem solving.

The aging of societies is a global phenomenon. In the United States alone, the life expectancy for both men and women will continue to increase over the next few decades and with that a population explosion of older adults. The dramatic increase in the number and diversity of older adults elevates the visibility of gerontological matters. As a result, social work practice is becoming more multigenerational, thereby demanding social workers, regardless of their professional endeavors, to be equipped with the most innovative theories and practices to serve older adults and their families. This comprehensive text spans the new knowledge and skills required in direct practice areas, group work, and macro practice. It also outlines the Geriatric Social Work Competencies, as developed by social work educators, necessary to serve the older adult population and suggests how these competencies can be integrated into foundation curriculum. Social work educators, students, practitioners, administrators, and policymakers will find updated, useful information in this text regarding * assessment tools * cultural influences * evidence-based practices * intervention techniques * theoretical examples. "Individuals are living longer and healthier lives in part because of the extraordinary growth of biomedical knowledge and public health initiatives. The confluence of the rapid and large increase of the older population and the exponential increase in the dissemination of knowledge create an imperative for social workers to employ the most recent knowledge in their practice with people living increasingly long lives." -- JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez Department of Social Welfare University of California, Los Angeles