Contemporary Social Work Practice - Softcover

Dewees, Marty

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0072845988 ISBN 13: 9780072845983

Publisher: McGraw-Hill College, 2005

Synopsis

This is the second of five books in McGraw-Hill's new series NEW DIRECTIONS IN SOCIAL WORK, this text helps translate the guiding theoretical perspectives of social justice, human rights, and critical social construction into purposeful social work practice.

"This text provides an exciting, stimulating and fresh approach in making the connection between our aspirations toward social justice and our 'real world' experience as social workers. ... In addition, it is one of the most readable texts I've seen in years!" -- Patricia O'Brien, Jane Addams College of Social Work

About this title

About the Author

Julie Birkenmaier is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Saint Louis University. Dr. Birkenmaier’s practice experience includes community organizing, community development, and nonprofit administration. Her research and writing focuses on community development, financial capability, financial credit, and asset development. With Marla Berg-Weger, she also co-authored the textbook, The Practicum Companion for Social Work: Integrating Class and Field Work (3rd edition).

Marla Berg-Weger is a professor in the School of Social Work at Saint Louis University, Missouri. Dr. Berg-Weger holds social work degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Her social work practice experience includes public social welfare services, domestic violence services, mental health, medical social work and gerontological social work. Her research and writing focuses on gerontological social work and social work practice. She is the author of Social Work and Social Welfare: An Invitation (2nd edition). With Julie Birkenmaier, she co-authored the textbook, The Practicum Companion for Social Work: Integrating Class and Field Work (3rd edition). She is the past president of the Association of Gerontology in Social Work and currently serves as the Chair of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work Editorial Board Executive Committee and is a fellow in the Gerontological Society of America.

Marty Dewees, Associate Professor Emerita, of the University of Vermont made her way into social work through counseling and then focused on mental health work at the state psychiatric facility. Her inclusion on the faculty at the University of Vermont provided the impetus for looking at social work practice through the lenses of human rights, social justice, strengths, and social construction. These are reflected in her previous publications and in the first edition of this book.

Review

"The integrative emphasis of social justice and human rights along with the strengths perspective and social construction make this a core text for undergraduate practice courses. With strong coverage of micro, mezzo and macro practice it is a perfect resource for the entire practice sequence. The text offers a wealth of application tools that include three in-depth interactive case studies on a fantastic web site and application exercises for each chapter."― Chrys C. Ramirez Barranti, California State University, Sacramento

"This is a dream text and website for anyone seeking to understand complex human problems engendered by individual inadequacies, structural inequities, and globalization; uses modern technology to grasp the rudiments, dynamics, and mechanics of generalist social work practice; and assesses the impact of professionals’ self-awareness, values, and theoretical perspectives on practice outcomes."― Olatunde A. Olusesi, New York University

"I am very excited about this book and website. The approach is a needed contemporary response to current introductory practice books. The integration of theoretical perspectives and case examples will truly help bring to life the core competencies for generalist social work practice. In particular, the companion website provides an innovative and accessible means of letting students "play" and "try on" different components of practice in a creative and modern way. "―Leslie Hasche, Kansas University

"This text covers several aspects of social work practice that are often ignored or covered only on the surface, and exceeds the goals and interests of my generalist practice course through features such as its discussion of theory, discussion of social and diversity issues, and use of an innovative, interactive website."―Keva Miller, Portland State University

This book provides a comprehensive well-organized overview of the development of generalist social work practice. Explicating the multiple levels of systems assessment and intervention in a conceptually clear presentation help students to grasp the complexity of social work practice."--Michael Melendez, Simmons University

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill College
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0072845988
• ISBN 13: 9780072845983
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 411