Engaging With Social Work

Equips students with a critical perspective and develops their understanding of social work practice.

With stories from the classroom, this book invites and challenges social work, human services and counseling educators to seek meaning in their methods and content in the processes of teaching. Empirically grounded, the authors propose a new model for advancing pedagogy to draw from many ways of knowing and wisdom across traditions. Through rich analysis of globalization, higher education, and the social work profession, as well as first person accounts, they co-create a story of holistic pedagogies that are being employed across the globe.

Featuring an evidence- and strengths-based approach to practice methods, this new text teaches students how to apply social work skills in a variety of settings. Designed to enhance self-awareness, professionalism, ethical reasoning, cultural sensitivity, and an appreciation for social justice issues, this text introduces readers to social work’s core values and practice methods to help them assimilate the skills needed for working in the field. Cases and skills-based exercises demonstrate how to make accurate assessments and design effective intervention plans. After laying the groundwork in theory, values, and ethics, the authors review methods for working with individuals, children, and families from an individual and environmental strengths-based perspective. Client engagement, assessment, intervention, evaluation and termination, and documentation are then reviewed. Readers are introduced to the foundational concepts of social work practice and through application learn to successfully work with clients. Key Features Integrates the Council on Social Work Education’s EPAS standards and core competencies throughout, including engagement, assessment, intervention, evaluation, social justice, ethics, critical thinking, professional conduct and decision making, and cultural competency and diversity. Case scenarios in client interview format that closely resemble actual interactions, followed by questions, test readers’ understanding of the practice skills needed to work in the field. Skill-building exercises including individual and group activities, role plays, simulations, and discussion questions that provide an opportunity to apply one’s knowledge and skill sets. Personal reflections that encourage students to examine their own beliefs to help them assimilate social work ethics and values into their professional demeanor. Icons throughout the text that draw attention to useful tips for developing direct practice skills. A strengths-based approach that heightens understanding and results in a higher level of proficiency in the change process. Introduces challenging situations often encountered in practice to help readers acquire the more advanced practice skills necessary for assessment and intervention. Resources including PowerPoints, test questions, sample syllabi, and suggested answers to text exercises and discussion questions.

This social work book is the first of its kind, describing practical steps that social workers can take to shape and influence both policy and politics. It prepares social workers and social work students to impact political action and subsequent policy, with a detailed real-world framework for turning ideas into concrete goals and strategies for effecting change. Tracing the roots of social work in response to systemic social inequality, it clearly relates the tenets of social work to the challenges and opportunities of modern social change. The book identifies the core domains of political social work, including engaging individuals and communities in voting, influencing policy agendas, and seeking and holding elected office. Chapters elaborate on the necessary skills for political social work, featuring discussion, examples, and critical thinking exercises in such vital areas as: Power, empowerment, and conflict: engaging effectively with power in political settings. Getting on the agenda: assessing the political context and developing political strategy. Planning the political intervention: advocacy and electoral campaigns. Empowering voters Persuasive political communication. Budgeting and allocating resources. Evaluating political social work efforts. Making ethical decisions in political social work. Political Social Work is a potent reference for social work professionals, practitioners, and students seeking core political knowledge and skills to practically advance their work. For specialists and generalists alike, it solidifies political action as vital for the evolution of the field.

International Social Work: Professional Action in an Interdependent World is a comprehensive introduction that places social work history, practice, policy, and education within an international perspective.

A conceptual and practical presentation of the strengths perspective in social work. Part of the Advancing Core Competencies Series, a unique series that helps students taking advanced social work courses apply CSWE's core competencies and practice behaviours examples to specialised fields of practice. The Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice, 6th edition, presents both conceptual and practical elements of the strengths perspective - from learning about and practicing the strengths perspective to using the strengths perspective with older adults, the chronically ill, and substance abusers. Many of the chapters address recent events -from the tragic shooting in Tucson to the uprisings in the Middle East. Each chapter begins with a section from an expert in the field. A better teaching and learning experience This program will provide a better teaching and learning experience--for you and your students. Here's how: Improve Critical Thinking - Each chapter contains four critical thinking questions and two short essay questions that require the reader to apply key concepts. Engage Students - Extensive case examples keep students interested and help them see a connection between theory and practice. Explore Current Issues - Three new chapters have been added to reflect the most current knowledge in the field. 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 competencies and practice behaviours.

The second edition of Social Work Policy Practice: Changing Our Community, Nation, and the World demystifies policymaking for social work students and demonstrates why policy practice is a critical dimension of social work. The text provides a comprehensive introduction to political advocacy, the political process, and how laws are enacted to inspire social work students to enter the field with a mind for political advocacy and social justice. The book is divided into three parts. In Part I, students learn a brief history of social welfare legislation in the United States and the role of social workers in policy development. Part II provides concrete information on how policies become law. It includes an overview of the levels and branches of government, in-depth descriptions of the policy change process, and various strategies advocates employ to enact change. Part III consists of real-world stories of advocates and advocacy organizations that have attempted to change policies on behalf of vulnerable populations. This edition includes up-to-date information regarding policy issues in child welfare, aging, healthcare, mental health, poverty and income equality, rights for racial minorities, and immigration. New material addresses policy issues pertaining to gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter social movements. Engaging and accessible, Social Work Policy Practice is an ideal resource for courses that introduce policymaking to students of social work.

"This scholarly and engaging volume shows us where social work has come from, and so helps us understand and shape its future. The author has a gift for making the profession's complex history accessible, whilst respecting its intricacy. The result is an illuminating 'tour de force' – a book that gives perspective and hope." Suzy Braye, Professor of Social Work, University of Sussex, UK "Pierson’s richly documented overview of social work’s evolution in Britain promises to support coming generations of social workers in learning from their field’s responses to changing issues and ideas on assistance for those in need." J. Lee Kreader, Interim Director, National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, USA This introductory textbook provides a concise account of the development of social work in Britain, from its beginnings in the industrial revolution to the present day. The book seeks to recover overlooked experiences and important but forgotten debates, whilst re-examining the concepts and approaches developed by chief architects of the profession. The book has several unique features designed to help students both understand the development of social work and to form their own judgements on the issues it raises: Timelines that mark important practice and policy developments Discussion points that pose questions for readers to think through First hand testimony and excerpts from case records showing the viewpoints, perspectives and decisions of social workers in earlier decades Documentary material that encourages students to critically reflect on the present in light of the past Understanding Social Work is written with the student and educator in mind, in a style and format that makes the history of social work approachable, relevant, and profound. The view of history embodied here is of a continuously unfolding, many-sided phenomenon that offers a rich source of ethical insight, practical experience and moral guidance.

Informed by a social justice approach, this user-friendly text for social work students provides a comprehensive introduction to contemporary school social work practice structured around the 2022 CSWE EPAS Competencies. With a focus on skills development, this innovative text is competency-based and encompasses professionalism, cross-disciplinary collaboration, research applications, theoretical foundations, policies, engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation. Following a brief historical overview and introduction to the discipline, the book delves into school social work practice and delivers timely content regarding professional identity, supervision, anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Practice knowledge is examined through social work theory, evidence-informed practice, use of data, and policies regarding school, children, and families. The text addresses the full range of client engagement, service provision, the multi-tiered system of supports, trauma-based practices, social emotional learning, termination, and transition-planning. An instructor's manual, sample syllabus, and PowerPoints accompany each chapter. Purchase includes digital access for use on most mobile devices or computers. Key Features: Organizes content by the CSWE professional competencies Provides case scenarios and practitioner spotlights in each chapter to illuminate the varied roles and responsibilities of school social workers Includes skill-development activities, additional resources, and reflection boxes to foster understanding and creative thinking Delivers a comprehensive focus covering policy, practice, and theory Addresses the full range of client engagement and service provision Incorporates contemporary issues relevant to school practice (MTSS, SEL, IDEA, ESSA) Views the discipline through a decolonial lens and acknowledges structural racism in the school system

Why social work and motivational interviewing? -- The heart of motivational interviewing -- Motivational interviewing and the engagement and assessment process / with Hilda Loughram and Sally Mathiesen -- Supporting self-efficacy, or what if they don't think they can do it? / with Stephanie Wahab and Katie Slack -- Expressing empathy : communicating understanding (even when it's hard) -- Developing discrepancy : using motivational interviewing in a group setting to increase ambivalence -- Rolling with resistance : motivational interviewing with adolescents or "you can't make me" / with Elizabeth Barnett and Audrey. M. Shillington -- Building collaboration : motivational interviewing in community organization work / with Mike Eichler -- Integrating motivational interviewing into social work practice / with Rhoda Emlyn-Jones, Bill James and Cristine Urquhart -- Final thoughts : lessons learned from training and teaching motivational interviewing.