Handbook Of Social Services For Asian And Pacific Islanders

This handbook emphasizes culturally sensitive social services for Asian and Pacific Islanders. It integrates conceptual information with concrete, hands-on application of skills. The book is divided into three parts: (1) the nature and scope of social services for Asian and Pacific Islanders (2) Asian and Pacific Islander populations and (3) special issues and problems. The first section establishes a foundation for culturally sensitive practice through an overview of all Asian and Pacific Islander groups. It presents a framework for appropriate intervention with these populations and details the interface of western and eastern psychologies. Section two specifically focuses on seven of the largest Asian and Pacific Islander populations in the United States: the three largest Asian American groups (Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese); the three largest Pacific Islander groups (native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Chamorros); and the newest refugee group (Vietnamese). The contributors provide in-depth information on topics critical to culturally sensitive practice such as history, sociodemographic description, values and behavioral norms, and profiles of social and psychological problems, then discuss appropriate social service intervention. Finally, section three addresses special problems and issues confronting Asian and Pacific Islanders in contemporary society such as family violence, aging, and social literacy. It is projected that in the year 2030, one of every three Americans will be a person of color. It is essential that social and human service educators and providers begin to examine critically those components that constitute culturally sensitive practice for a historically neglected population. This book will be an essential part of that process.

This handbook emphasizes culturally sensitive social services for Asian and Pacific Islanders. It integrates conceptual information with concrete, hands-on application of skills. The book is divided into three parts: (1) the nature and scope of social services for Asian and Pacific Islanders (2) Asian and Pacific Islander populations and (3) special issues and problems. The first section establishes a foundation for culturally sensitive practice through an overview of all Asian and Pacific Islander groups. It presents a framework for appropriate intervention with these populations and details the interface of western and eastern psychologies. Section two specifically focuses on seven of the largest Asian and Pacific Islander populations in the United States: the three largest Asian American groups (Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese); the three largest Pacific Islander groups (native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Chamorros); and the newest refugee group (Vietnamese). The contributors provide in-depth information on topics critical to culturally sensitive practice such as history, sociodemographic description, values and behavioral norms, and profiles of social and psychological problems, then discuss appropriate social service intervention. Finally, section three addresses special problems and issues confronting Asian and Pacific Islanders in contemporary society such as family violence, aging, and social literacy. It is projected that in the year 2030, one of every three Americans will be a person of color. It is essential that social and human service educators and providers begin to examine critically those components that constitute culturally sensitive practice for a historically neglected population. This book will be an essential part of that process.

This first-of-its-kind, two-volume set examines physical, psychological, social, and environmental factors that undermine—or support—healthy development in Asian American children. How do skin color, culture, racial and ethnic identities, politics, economics, and environment influence children's mental health and academic success? Asian American and Pacific Islander Children and Mental Health spotlights these forces and more. This unique, two-volume work examines a wide range of factors that affect children, including family conditions and economic status, child abuse, substance abuse, gangs, and community stability, as well as prejudices such as the common expectation that Asian Americans are a "model minority" and their children "whiz kids." Since education is key to success, contributors consider the factors affecting Asian American children largely in the context of educational readiness and academic adjustment. However, the set is not limited to exploring problems. It also looks at factors that help Asian American children be mentally healthy, engaged, and successful at school and in later life. Volume one of the set explores development and context, while volume two looks at prevention and treatment.

Asian Americans are the fastest growing minority group in the United States. When Asian immigrants arrive in the United States, they regularly encounter a vast number of difficulties integrating themselves into their new culture. In Handbook of Mental Health and Acculturation in Asian American Families, distinguished researchers and clinicians discuss the process of acculturation for individuals and their families, addressing the mental health needs of Asian Americans and thoroughly examining the acculturative process, its common stressors, and characteristics associated with resiliency. This first-of-its-kind, multi-dimensional title synthesizes current acculturation research, while presenting those concepts within a clinical framework. In addition to providing an in-depth look at both past and present research and offering directions for future topics to explore, the book also offers a range of practical tools such as research scales to measure levels of acculturation, interview techniques, and clinical approaches for special populations including children, the elderly, and their families. Thought-provoking and informative, Handbook of Mental Health and Acculturation in Asian American Families will enhance the understanding of the clinical and sociocultural problems Asian Americans face, providing clinicians with all the necessary insights to better care for their patients.

Scholars of psychology, education, social work, and counseling examine such topics as transracial adoption, women's issues, substance abuse, and the racial experiences of 43 different ethnic groups often statistically lumped together. Among the specific topics are Asian Indian women's bicultural experience, political ethnic identity versus cultural ethnic identity, ethnic variations in the adaptation of recent immigrant Asian adolescents regarding, and sexual abuse.

Riding on the success of Indigenous Social Work Around the World, this book provides case studies to further scholarship on decolonization, a major analytical and activist paradigm among many of the world’s Indigenous Peoples, including educators, tribal leaders, activists, scholars, politicians, and citizens at the grassroots level. Decolonization seeks to weaken the effects of colonialism and create opportunities to promote traditional practices in contemporary settings. Establishing language and cultural programs; honouring land claims, teaching Indigenous history, science, and ways of knowing; self-esteem programs, celebrating ceremonies, restoring traditional parenting approaches, tribal rites of passage, traditional foods, and helping and healing using tribal approaches are central to decolonization. These insights are brought to the arena of international social work still dominated by western-based approaches. Decolonization draws attention to the effects of globalization and the universalization of education, methods of practice, and international ’development’ that fail to embrace and recognize local knowledges and methods. In this volume, Indigenous and non-Indigenous social work scholars examine local cultures, beliefs, values, and practices as central to decolonization. Supported by a growing interest in spirituality and ecological awareness in international social work, they interrogate trends, issues, and debates in Indigenous social work theory, practice methods, and education models including a section on Indigenous research approaches. The diversity of perspectives, decolonizing methodologies, and the shared struggle to provide effective professional social work interventions is reflected in the international nature of the subject matter and in the mix of contributors who write from their contexts in different countries and cultures, including Australia, Canada, Cuba, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and the USA.

As a region, the Pacific is changing rapidly. This edited collection, the first of its kind, centres Pacific-Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being in Pacific social work. In so doing, the authors decolonise the dominant western rhetoric that is evident in contemporary social work practice in the region and rejuvenate practice models with evolving Pacific perspectives. Pacific Social Work: • Incorporates Pacific epistemologies and ontologies in social and community work practice, social policy and research • Profiles contemporary Pacific needs – including health, education, environmental, justice and welfare • Demonstrates the application of Pacific-Indigenous knowledges in practice in diverse Pacific contexts • Examines Pacific-Indigenous research approaches to promote inform practice and positive outcomes • Reviews Pacific models of social and community work and their application • Fosters Pacific perspectives for social work and community work education and training in the Pacific region. Pacific Social Work demonstrates the role of social work within societies where social and cultural differences are evident, and practitioners, community groups, researchers, educators, and governments are encouraged to consider the integration between local indigenous and international knowledge and practice. Providing rigorously researched case studies, questions and exercises, this book will be a key learning resource for social work and human and community services students, practitioners, social services managers and policy makers in Australia, New Zealand and various Pacific Island states across the Pacific including Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.