Synopses & Reviews
This book tells the story of a real social worker's practice in two rural townships over the course of a year. Each chapter reads like a social worker's “diary”, containing stories about clients and showing how this social worker reacted to a variety of situations. “Discussion and Study Questions” at the end of each chapter help students understand the connection between personal and professional lives, policy and practice issues, individual and environmental perspectives, and social work values and social justice concerns. |
Synopsis
This book tells the story of a real social worker's practice in two rural townships over the course of a year. Each chapter reads like a social worker's diary, containing stories about clients and showing how this social worker reacted to a variety of situations. Discussion and Study Questions at the end of each chapter help students understand the connection between personal and professional lives, policy and practice issues, individual and environmental perspectives, and social work values and social justice concerns.
Table of Contents
I.PROFESSIONAL CHOICES AND DEVELOPMENT. 1.The Kind Man at Ash Arbor and How It All Began (or Looking for a Job). 2.Getting Started (or Learning How to be Effective on the Job).
3.Sherlock Wells Gathers and Assesses Information (or Increasing One's Knowledge about the Job).
4.A No-Good Low-Down Phone Call (or Managing Personal Feelings in the Professional Setting).
5.Supervision (or Coping with Ineffective Supervisory Styles).
II.PRACTICE SKILLS. 6.Another Welfare Mother (or Assessing Client Needs and Making Effective Referrals).
7.A Starting Plan for Orangetown: The Luxury of Children and Toys (or Developing One's Own Job Description).
8.Social Histories in Orangetown (or Persisting In Performing One's Job Under Difficult Circumstances).
9.Emmet County Guidance Clinic Offers You Everything (or Confronting the Reality of Scarce Resources).
10.Stretching Scarce Resources (or Practicing at the Macro-Level to Meet Large-Scale Needs).
III.HUMAN DIVERSITY AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. 11.A Little Person of Value (or Understanding the Interaction of Factors That Affect Human Behavior: Biological, Psychological, Social, Cultural, and Economic).
12.Serving Bar with Mrs. Casey (or Dealing with Clients Who Perceive a Different Reality: Issues in Power and Social Control).
13. Rudolph Gonzales (or Should a Little Boy Disturbed by Cultural Differences Be Diagnosed as Emotionally Disturbed?).
14.Clarette Emalina Jones and Jeffrey Redcloud (or Psychological, Ethnic, Socioeconomic, and Cultural Factors Influencing Behavior).
15.Mrs. Hosmer Isn't Home (or Working with Families Where Problem Denial is a Lifestyle).
16.Henry's Calling (or Meeting the Needs of Homosexual and Bisexual Youth).
IV.POLICY ISSUES. 17.Homebound (or Policy Barriers in Providing Assistance to a Pregnant Teenager).
18.Special Education and the “Bad Apple” Classroom (or Trying to Differentiate Children with Emotional Disturbance from Children Who “Just Need Discipline”).
19.Paperwork (or Attending to Paperwork, Though Annoying, Can Avert a Malpractice Suit).
20.Talking to Mr. and Mrs. Responsible Taxpayer (or Arguing Various Pro's and Con's of Voluntary Private Charity Versus Tax-Supported Public Welfare Programs).
21.Juggling Decisions: Evaluating and Terminating (or Deciding Whether or Not to Keep One's Job).
V.VALUES, SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, AND POPULATIONS AT RISK. 22.Values and Social Justice Issues (or How Values Shape Social and Economic Policy Decisions).
23.Macro-Level Practice at a Central City Middle Schools, Janice M. Staral (or Working toward Empowerment of Inner City Youth and Families).
24.Great Grandparents' Dilemma (or the Struggles of Elderly People to Meet the Needs of Younger Family Members When Public Resources Have Been Slashed).
25.Karen and Kevin Riley (or the Struggle of a Teenage Mother, Ineligible for AFDC under Welfare “Reform”, to Care for Her Baby and Still Finish High School).
VI.EPILOGUE. 26.Epilogue (or Carrying on in Difficult Times; Looking toward the Future).
Index.