The chapters in this book represent an effort to create a foundational textbook for social workers that introduces the student to justice informed social work practice and is an initial step — a starting point – for considering how to center oneself in justice oriented practice across systems and structures. Within the social work profession, justice is conceptualized as a constellation of social, economic, and environmental justice. Although population based books are common in social work scholarship, the authors have intentionally opted for a different approach. This text focuses on structural oppression and inequities connected to our clients' engagement in systems and structures that, although often purported to support them, frequently are broken and inflict harm. It starts with an overview of key concepts and theoretical underpinnings that provide foundational knowledge and then moves into chapters that focus on human rights, and varying systems related to education, criminal justice, housing, the environment, poverty, finances and wealth, and food insecurity. One will learn about the ways that injustice presents itself in the various systems in which social workers practice. Structural discrimination has systemic implications and systemic consequences as well. The book offers us foundational knowledge and tangible recommendations that one can apply and transfer to best fit the work we are doing in the multiple of practice settings, and with the diverse client populations with/in which one work. This book should also leave us with more questions than when one began reading and the authors hope will solidify our commitment to our life-long education, unlearning, and discovery around just practice. Within each chapter, context for understanding oppression and injustice today is interwoven with an understanding of how policies and programs, over time, have created and perpetuated inequity.

This book differs greatly from earlier versions because of two main changes. The first is the adoption of an intersectional approach in working with families. It underlines the importance of an intersectional approach to working with families that, in addition to culture and ethnicity, also considers socioeconomic class, gender, age, religion, immigration status, and sexual orientation as important factors. Additionally, the text expands its direct-practice view with the addition of four new chapters written by psychologists, plus a new chapter on health issues in multicultural families and access to health services. The book is updated with the latest knowledge and research, along with new and revised case vignettes demonstrating culturally competent practice. It provides a new intersectional approach to assessment and treatment and adds the perspectives of psychologists in four completely new chapters. The book includes a new chapter on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition from a multicultural perspective, plus new chapters on health and access to health services and offer the most up-to-date knowledge and research. It provides new and updated case vignettes and reflects changes in the family unit over the last quarter century and how it impacts treatment. The book addresses distinct sociopolitical issues affecting immigrants and undocumented families and focuses on the most important emerging issues of multicultural families. It covers multicultural mental health across the lifespan and encompasses the distinct perspectives of different ethnic and racial groups, and those of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families. The book also discusses domestic violence and substance abuse in regard to multicultural families and delineates the most effective treatment methods. It examines the culturagram as a useful assessment and treatment planning modality and addresses ethical issues including the National Association of Social Workers code of ethics.

This book vividly portrays the personal and professional lives of social work luminaries from the 19th to the present century. It links their groundbreaking contributions in social work to current Council on Social Work Education core competencies. The book focuses on leaders who shaped the field across modern American history — the Progressive Era, the Great Society, the New Deal, the Postwar period, and others—and examines their lives in the context of the social and historical environment, their contributions to social work, and lessons from their experiences that are still relevant to social work today. Through detailed, engaging life stories and photographs, readers—including undergraduates, graduate students, and practicing social workers—will learn about the profession’s rich history rooted in charitable work, “friendly visitors”, and social justice advocacy. The book also touches upon the contributions of early social work pioneers as well as those leading us forward in the 21st century. The social work leaders explored are Dorothea Dix, Ellen Gates Starr, Mary Richmond, Frances Perkins, Whitney Moore Young Jr, Katherine Anne Tuach Kendall, Dr. Nazneen Sada Mayadas, and Barbara Mikulski. It provides important historical groundwork for classes in social welfare policy, introduction to social work, and social work history courses. Chapters include discussion questions and activities to facilitate professional growth and personal development.

Adolescence is an extremely unique and critical stage of development. In order to provide the helping professional with a clear understanding of typical adolescent development, and to fill the gap many have in understanding adolescence in general, this book offers a concise, in-depth, scientific overview of adolescent development specifically geared toward those applying the information in the helping professions. The intended audience for the book is helping professionals such as psychologists, mental health counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, educators, and nurses. The book covers adolescent developmental theories that provide a basis for understanding observations about the nature of adolescents. These theories include the intrapsychic, cognitive, behavioral/environmental, and biological theories. Puberty is also the signal indicating the beginning of physical and neurological growth. The hormonal changes of puberty initiate drastic growth in the body and organs of adolescents. The book reviews several aspects of overall adolescent health, including the issue of adolescent sleep and its importance and how adolescent diet and nutrition impact development. In addition to the “hardware” transformation in an adolescent’s brain, adolescents undergo important changes in their ability to think. The book also examines Piaget’s adolescent stage of cognitive development, the formal operational stage, and how changes in the way adolescents think impact their interactions with others. It introduces the multiple social changes with family and friends that occur during adolescence and examines how adolescents interact with TV, media, and technology and deals with the issue of cyberbullying and reviews the most common adolescent problems, such as drug use, risky behaviors, eating issues, and depression. Each chapter integrates several features to guide helping professionals in applying adolescent development in practice.

Field education has been identified as the “signature pedagogy” social work education. The practice of having students working alongside community practitioners is almost as old as the social work profession itself. Field education, which involves students working with practicing social workers to learn the knowledge, skills, and values of the social work profession, brings the intellectual content of the classroom into focus with everyday tasks and responsibilities. Therefore, the work of community-based practitioners who supervise social work interns is essential to our profession. This book includes content on how to recruit a practicum student, as well as useful information about effective supervision, learning assessment planning and development, integration of theory and practice, helpful evaluation techniques, and teaching social work ethics. It provides an introduction to the practice of field education, along with useful recommendations about how to maximize the learning experience of practicum students. College and university social work programs provide regular orientations to their field education programs. Students should adhere to agency expectations regarding dress, language, and boundaries. Once students are aware of the agency culture, they should be held accountable for meeting those expectations. Effective communication between the academic institution and the field instructor/agency setting is indispensable to the social work practicum process. Several models exist to help students determine an ethical course of action or to resolve an ethical dilemma. Practicing as an ethical social worker requires not only knowledge of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, but also the ability to apply sound decision-making strategies to everyday situations encountered in social work practice.

This book helps social workers ensure they maintain the highest professional standards by raising awareness of both the strengths and challenges of the immigrant community. The book first explores the changing demographics of immigrant newcomers and legal classifications of immigrants. It seeks to help social workers better understand the legal meaning of terms such as nonimmigrant, immigrant, Green Card holder, and citizen. Then, the book explores theories of cultural competency and social work practice and describes the intersection of immigration and health, mental health, criminal justice issues, and employment. Issues of particular interest to immigrant communities, such as the exploitation of immigrant workers (and appropriate legal remedies), immigrant access to health services and public benefits, the triple mental health trauma many refugees and asylees face, and the issue of newcomers as victims of crime as well as the immigration consequences of criminal conviction are discussed. The book also deals with family groups, which, although inherently strong, are made vulnerable because of their immigrant status in the United States. It concludes by urging practitioners to expand their strategies and advocate not only for individual clients (at the micro level), but to advocate as well for change at the organizational/agency level (mezzo level), and at the federal, state, and local levels (macro level).

The book examines various theories of aging including a contrast between the strengths-based person-in-environment theory and the pathologically based medical model of psychological problems. It advocates truly engaging with the older client during the assessment phase, and discusses a variety of intervention modalities. The book integrates an advanced clinical social work practice with in-depth knowledge of evidence-based practice as well as geriatric medicine, psychiatry and gerontology. The social worker must evaluate the status of the client’s housing, transportation, food, clothing, recreation opportunities, social supports, access to medical care, kinship and other factors considered important by the social worker or the client. Constructivist theory is a conceptual framework that is foundational to existential therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and narrative therapy, which are effective for older adults. Stigma associated with race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation produce psychosocial stressors that converge on older clients. The book discusses several medical conditions affecting older adults such as Alzheimer’s disease, arthritic pain, diabetes and various types of cancers. Older adults may also suffer from substance abuse-related problems, hypersexuality, and various types of abuse such as neglect. The book also highlights the problems faced by the older adult LGBT community and those suffering from HIV disease. It ends with discussions on care and residential settings for the older adults, and palliative care and euthanasia.

Direct practice social work is an approach for helping others that emphasizes a strengths perspective and focuses on person to person contact with individuals, groups, or families (Saleebey, 1996, 2011). The primary goal of direct practice social work is to provide assistance to vulnerable populations within our society. Direct practice social workers are required to be licensed by the state in which they reside and are regulated by a state board. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has established standards and guidelines for conducting the services that direct practice social workers provide. This book is organized into ten chapters. The first chapter provides an introduction to direct practice social work. The second chapter discusses the values and ethical foundations of social work practice. The third chapter presents social work theories, practice models, and the strengths-based direct practice framework. Chapter four describes the engagement process, which refers to the initial interactions between the social worker and the client. The fifth chapter focuses on assessment and goal formulation using a strengths-based approach. The sixth chapter details the factors that must be considered when identifying interventions and outlines a few of the more prevalently used modalities such as evidence-based practice, crisis intervention, cognitive restructuring, and group interventions. Chapter seven outlines the various ways social workers can evaluate progress with clients as well as guide practitioners through the process of terminating the helping relationship. The eight chapter describes strengths-based direct practice documentation. Chapter nine presents challenging practice conditions. It is designed to provide some of the basic knowledge to be used with a variety of specific client circumstances. The final chapter examines practice implications for the strengths-based direct practice professional. It focuses on typical obstacles that social workers must be alert to as well as methods for navigating them.

This book provides an overview of the three areas of family violence (i.e., child abuse, intimate partner abuse, and older adult abuse). It includes plentiful case examples, real-life stories, keywords, and discussion questions; the Test Bank is updated to align with changes in the chapters. In the area of child abuse, expanded information is provided on the various agencies working with abused children and on being an expert witness for the courts. In the area of intimate partner violence, additional information is provided on male victims of female perpetrators along with theoretical underpinnings, assessment instruments, and treatment options for both male and female victims and perpetrators. A section is added on the use of social media in precluding and enabling perpetrators. At-risk populations are expanded to include sex-trafficking victims; veterans of war suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); middle-class families; Native Americans; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) families. In the area of older adult abuse, chapters reflect recent policies and terminology to make clearer distinctions in the information contained within the chapters. Major changes in understanding old age assistance are made with emphasis on the different typologies of behaviors of various abusers, thus reducing the focus on caregiver stress as synonymous with older adult abuse.

This book is intended as an approachable reference guide for one of the most common neurological conditions, Parkinson’s disease and the spectrum of Parkinson-like syndromes. Parkinson’s disease is a slowly progressing neurodegenerative disease that primarily affects older adults. The book outlines the new advances in the management and treatment of the Parkinson patient, comparing risks and benefits as well as efficacy of new and older anti-Parkinson’s disease drugs. The task of diagnosing Parkinson’s disease and providing comprehensive guided treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach. Those involved in the diagnosis and care of the patient include neurologists; nurse practitioners; nurses; physical, occupational, and speech therapists; sleep medicine specialists; neuropsychologists; psychiatrists; radiologists; nutritionists; and social workers. The book is divided into seventeen chapters spread across four sections. The first section, Parkinson’s Disease, describes the following: neurobiology of Parkinson’s disease, patient exam, idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, imaging and advanced studies, neuropsychological analysis, and additional evaluations. The second section, Parkinsonisms, discusses Parkinson-plus syndromes and other Parkinsonisms. The third section, Treatment of Motor and Non-Motor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease, describes treatment of motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms such as autonomic dysfunction, sleep disturbances, disturbances of thought, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. The final section, Alternative Therapies and Other Considerations, talks about exercise, complementary and alternative therapies, nutrition, and caregiver burden. The book provides additional details such as Hoehn and Yahr Scoring scale, drugs that should be avoided in patients with Parkinson’s disease, patient-prepared information, standardized intake questions for evaluating a Parkinson’s patient, standardized questions for evaluating the patient in a follow-up visit, and resources in the appendices.