This fifth edition is updated with new, evolving theories, and provides an increased focus on specific practical applications for meeting the clients’ needs in an increasingly diverse and ever-changing socio-cultural landscape. It also attempts to address the dramatic changes mentioned above, including the Pandemic, economic instability, Black Lives Matter and climate change. The dramatic and unprecedented changes in the environment challenge us to adapt the theoretical conceptualizations, methods, and strategies for working with clients. The book provides an updated vision for working with transitions, with the integration of new theories, along with Schlossberg’s timeless model. It is predicated on several assumptions. The book includes enhancing resilience and coping, illuminated by updated literature and discussion of applications of Schlossberg’s theory and 4 S model–a model that offers effective techniques to understand and successfully navigate life transitions. The book addresses the roles of hope, optimism, and mattering. It also deepens the discussion of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and social justice, along with intersectionality regarding multiple identities as diverse individuals and their families navigate life transitions. The book highlights the role of escalating changes in the current global, political and socio-cultural landscape. It focuses on the increasing importance of helping adults navigate transitions and integrates Schlossberg’s unique transition model with both classic and emerging theories to guide adults in transition. The book discusses sociocultural and contextual factors in shaping the coping process and presents culturally sensitive strategies and interventions. It emphasizes social justice concerns and advocacy on behalf of underrepresented populations and delivers rich and diverse case studies focused on transition issues. The book includes updated learning activities and exercises to enhance understanding.

Human services professionals face tremendous challenges today. Clients, government agencies, and other funders increasingly expect professionals to produce measurable and verifiable outcomes. The main goal with this textbook is to help students better understand the utility of research to human services. That is to say, the book presents research as a tool for practice, something that can be used to help professionals in their work with clients, designing programs and services, and advocating for policy changes. In addition to presenting research as a tool for practice, the book also emphasizes connections between human service research and practice, stressing that each plays important and complementary roles in addressing social and personal problems. This textbook is primarily an introduction to social research as it relates to the human services. There are two new main features to this edition. Each chapter opens with a Vignette describing a situation in which a human services professional is faced with a task or dilemma that can be addressed through research or by employing a research technique in practice. The second new major feature is the Practitioner Profile, included in most chapters. These Practitioner Profiles present actual human services professionals who are not professional researchers but nonetheless incorporate research methods into their practice. Similar to the Practitioner Profiles, several chapters also include one or more Research in Practice features designed to help students better understand applications of research methods and concepts and the overall research process. At the end of each chapter, there is a list and brief description of the Main Points of the chapter, which serves as a review of the major concepts covered. Following the Main Points is a list of Important Terms for Review. Following the Important Terms for Review are three sets of questions, critical thinking, evaluating competency, and self-assessment.