Best Practices For Social Work With Refugees And Immigrants

Social work practice with refugees and immigrants requires specialized knowledge of these populations and specialized adaptations and applications of mainstream services and interventions. Because they are often confronted with cultural, linguistic, political, and socioeconomic barriers, these groups are especially vulnerable to psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, alienation, grief, and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as concerns arising from inadequate health care. Institutionalized discrimination and anti-immigrant policies and attitudes only exacerbate these challenges. The second edition of Best Practices for Social Work with Refugees and Immigrants offers an update to this comprehensive guide to social work with foreign-born clients and an evaluation of various helping strategies and their methodological strengths and weaknesses. Part 1 sets forth the context for evidence-based service approaches for such clients by describing the nature of these populations, relevant policies designed to assist them, service-delivery systems, and culturally competent practice. Part 2 addresses specific problem areas common to refugees and immigrants and evaluates a variety of assessment and intervention techniques in each area. Using a rigorous evidence-based and pancultural approach, Miriam Potocky and Mitra Naseh identify best practices at the macro, meso, and micro levels to meet the pressing needs of uprooted peoples. The new edition incorporates the latest research on contemporary social work practice with refugees and immigrants to provide a practical, up-to-date resource for the multitude of issues and interventions for these populations.

Rather than focusing on specific groups, this book takes a pan-cultural perspective that focuses on the common experiences of refugees and immigrants. It presents a best-practice for each problem area defined.

"This book is an optimal tool for instructors and students of graduate classes in social work and related disciplines." --Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health "I applaud social work students, professors, and social workers who seek to serve and empower the immigrant community. This text is a great tool toward raising awareness of the many issues immigrants face, and helping them find solutions." --Frank Sharry, Executive Director, America's Voice "The book is a major contribution to social workers and their clients as it addresses advocacy on behalf of immigrants and refugees during a social, economic and political period that restricts immigrants' rights and service access." --Dr. Diane Drachman, Associate Professor, University of Connecticut School of Social Work Successful social work with immigrants must begin with an understanding of their legal status and how that status impacts their housing, employment, health care, education, and virtually every other aspect of life. Chang-Muy and Congress present social workers with the only book on the market to emphasize the legal aspect of immigrant issues as well as critical practice and advocacy issues. Topics discussed include historical and current trends in immigration, applicable theories for practice with immigrants, policy and advocacy methods, and the need for cultural competence. By providing comprehensive coverage of both the legal and practice issues of this complex field, this book will help social service professionals and graduate students increase their cultural sensitivity and work more effectively with immigrants. Key Features: Covers the latest aspects of the immigration debate and discusses how social workers are affected by emerging immigration policies Discusses special populations such as refugees, elderly immigrants, and victims of international trafficking Includes case studies on the most critical issues immigrants face today: legal processes, physical and mental health issues, employment difficulties, family conflicts, and more Instructional Materials Available! Free to instructors with a verified order of seven or more copies. Email [email protected] to request syllabus and PowerPoint slides.

Working with Immigrants and Refugees examines the issues and processes that help, hinder, or obstruct the settlement experiences of newcomers to Canada. This contributed volume explores major challenges commonly faced by immigrants and refugees, especially those newcomers whose race, gender,sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, or position as an asylum seeker makes them particularly vulnerable. The text offers critical analysis of challenges and issues alongside practical suggestions and insights to ensure students are fully prepared to work with immigrants andrefugees.

Mass-migration, conflict and poverty are now persistent features of our globalised world. This reference book for social workers and service providers offers constructive ideas for practice within an inter-disciplinary framework. Each chapter speaks to a skill and knowledge area that is key to this work, bringing together myriad voices from across disciplines, interspersed with the vital perspectives of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants themselves. The book discusses the specific challenges faced when working in the community, and where people have suffered torture, in the context of social work practiced from an ethical value-base. Staying up to date with the latest developments in policy; and addressing key specific skills needed to work with people affected by borders, this book is a valuable resource for both practitioners and students.

This book provides a framework to guide mental health providers who work with refugees and immigrants. Nearly 70 million people today are refugees or forcibly-displaced migrants. More than half of them are children suffering from the effects of dislocation and violence. The authors describe the unique needs and challenges of serving these populations, and offer concrete steps for providing evidence-based, culturally-responsive care. Using the socioecological model, the authors conceptualize the developing child as living within concentric circles that include family, school, neighborhood, and society, embedded within a cultural context. Mental health providers identify and provide targeted support to combat disruptions within any or all of these ecological layers. Chapters examine the complex ways in which culture impacts the refugee experience, barriers to engagement in mental health practice and strategies for overcoming them, assessment, collaborative and integrated mental health interventions, and efforts to increase resilience in children, families, and communities. The book is an essential guide for mental health providers, and all who seek to help children in need.

A growing number of people immigrants, refugees, asylum-seekers, displaced individuals, and families lead lives that transcend national boundaries. Often because of economic pressures, these individuals continually move through places, countries, and cultures, becoming exposed to unique risk and protective factors. Though migration itself has existed for centuries, the availability of fast and cheap transportation as well as today's sophisticated technologies and electronic communications have allowed transmigrants to develop transnational identities and relationships, as well as engage in transnational activities. Yet despite this new reality, social work has yet to establish the parameters of a transnational social work practice. In one of the first volumes to address social work practice with this emergent and often marginalized population, practitioners and scholars specializing in transnational issues develop a framework for transnational social work practice. They begin with the historical and environmental context of transnational practice and explore the psychosocial, economic, environmental, and political factors that affect at-risk and vulnerable transnational groups. They then detail practical strategies, supplemented with case examples, for working with transnational populations utilizing this population's existing strengths. They conclude with recommendations for incorporating transnational social work into the curriculum.

This textbook provides theoretical and clinical knowledge needed by social workers and other practitioners involved in humanitarian emergency response. Social workers are well positioned to serve coordinating and leadership roles in this interdisciplinary field due to their holistic training. This book weaves together micro, mezzo, and macro levels of practice into integrated social work practice. Its historical account of humanitarian emergencies, coverage of social work frameworks and principles, and review of existing best practices at the clinical, community, and policy levels ground the reader in a field of social work that requires consideration of historical frameworks alongside innovative responses to the complexity of humanitarian emergencies. The contributors incorporate best practices as well as address gaps in awareness, knowledge, and skills that they have observed and studied worldwide. Some of the topics explored include: Social Work with Displaced Children, Women, LGBTQI+, Asylum Seekers Return and Reintegration of Displaced Populations and Reconstruction in Post-conflict Societies Culture, Trauma, and Loss: Integrative Social Work Practice with Refugees and Asylum Seekers Clinical Social Work Practice with Forcibly Displaced Persons Grounded in Human Rights and Social Justice Principles Integrative Social Work Practice with Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Other Forcibly Displaced Persons is adoptable as a primary text for MSW and doctoral elective courses on global social work or international social work practice with persecuted and forcibly displaced people. This textbook is targeted to clinical social work or policy courses as well, and can be supplemental reading for required courses for migration and forced displacement majors. It is also useful for social workers or interdisciplinary practitioners working around the globe with displaced populations.