Empowerment In Social Work Practice

First published in 1994, this book was hailed as a cutting-edge, theory-driven report from the front-line trenches in the battle for social justice. Both clinical and community oriented and written from a global perspective, it presents clients speaking for themselves alongside reports of prominent social work educators. This new edition puts greater emphasis on "how-to" skills in working with people toward their own empowerment and stresses multiculturalism. A new chapter identifies worldwide issues of oppression such as abuse of women and children and neglect of the mentally ill.

As a philosophy and method of practice, empowerment provides a way to rethink one's approach to social work practice. This book provides specific examples of how empowerment practice is conducted in the field and gives social workers tools for incorporating empowerment in their own practice. In addition to Gutierrez, Parsons, and Cox, 13 authors contribute writings that demonstrate how empowerment practice can be used in different settings and with different populations. Empowerment in Social Work Practice presents a comprehensive model for empowerment practice with applications to key populations across all three levels of social work practice (micro, mezzo, and macro) and even to research, policy, evaluation, and administration.

Praise for the first edition "Finally, a social work practice text that makes a difference! This is the book that you have wished for but could never find. Although similar to texts that cover a range of practice theories and approaches to clinical practice, this book clearly has a social work frame of reference and a social work identity." --Gayla Rogers, Dean of the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary The major focus of this second edition is the same; to provide an overview of theories, models, and therapies for direct social work practice, including systems theory, attachment theory, cognitive-behavioral theory, narrative therapy, solution-focused therapy, the crisis intervention model, and many more. However, this popular textbook goes beyond a mere survey of such theories. It also provides a framework for integrating the use of each theory with central social work principles and values, as well as with the artistic elements of practice. This second edition has been fully updated and revised to include: A new chapter on Relational Theory, and newly-rewritten chapters by new authors on Cognitive-Behavioral Theory, Existential Theory, and Wraparound Services New critique of the Empirically Supported Treatment (EST) movement Updated information on the movement toward eclecticism in counseling and psychotherapy A refined conceptualization of the editors' generalist-eclectic approach

This contributed volume offers a holistic understanding of social work practice in deprived communities through its thematization of understanding deprived communities globally, the development of competencies for social work practice in and with deprived communities, social work education as a community development tool, and the empowerment of social workers in deprived communities. Inequality as a globally recognized challenge is extensively elaborated within the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Agenda program for social work, making this a timely and important contribution to the literature. Deprived communities, used in this book to mean slums, ghettos, favelas, and low-income, remote, underserved, vulnerable, impoverished, underdeveloped, disadvantaged, or less-favoured communities, exist worldwide and are conceptualized under different terms and concepts. For that reason, social work, specifically in deprived areas, is not sufficiently recognized as a specific field of practice within community work. As a result, this volume features contributions that: provide a conceptual clarification of many different terms that are used for describing deprived communities and offer a systematic literature review on community processes and effects on well-being in underdeveloped communities; map different fields of social work involvement in deprived communities with concrete practice examples; and, stress why social work as a profession needs support and how it can be empowered to improve its capacities in deprived communities. With international authorship and perspectives on social work approaches for deprived communities from India, Sub-Saharan Africa, North and Central Europe, and North America, Practicing Social Work in Deprived Communities is an essential resource for social workers, social work educators, and community development practitioners. The text also should be of interest to students of social work, as well as other professionals and researchers working within community development and deprived communities.

This book integrates time-honored approaches to empowerment practice with today's more modest goals, mindful of what empowerment can and cannot do. Synthesizing several theoretical supports -- the strengths perspective, system theory, theories of family well-being, and theories of coping -- the author responds to the question "What works?" with today's families in need. Practice illustrations are provided throughout.

within the wider social environment.