Social Work Practice In Sexual Problems

This pioneering volume explores the diversity of the social work profession's involvement in working with clients'sexual problems, including those related to age, lifestyle, and gender identity. The informative chapters reflect the development of practical knowledge and technology in this area and shed light on this emerging practice speciality. Gain unique insights into clinical intervention in relation to sexual incompatability, performance problems, and oppression of sexual expression based on social status.

Sexuality and sexual identity have been relatively marginalized areas in both social work education and practice. However, changes in policy and legislation in the UK and other countries over the past decade have brought discussions of sexuality into the mainstream public service agenda. In social work and social care, gay and lesbian citizenship rights have been explicitly recognised. In the fields of adoption and fostering new regulations and guidance have helped improve and develop practice around assessment and intervention. It remains the case, however, that sex is often perceived as a problem area within social work and social care, discussed only in relation to sexually diverse communities or in the realm of dysfunction or pathology. This collection aims to generate a more proactive and challenging discussion of sexuality and sexual identity in social work. Its starting point is that sexuality is an essential aspect of individual identity, that users must be able to express their sexuality, and that it is essential for social workers to be able to respond and discuss sexual issues appropriately. The contributions are informed by feminist research, considering, in particular, the experiences of women working in and using social care services since the 1990s. In addition to a consideration of the wider policy, legislative and service providers' perspectives, the book includes reflective accounts as well as research-led contributions, offering a comprehensive and balanced account of this important field, which aims to inform both theory and practice.

Sexuality remains a neglected and largely taboo area within practice, but it can be a demanding aspect of social work. Social workers may be familiar with the importance of issues such as racism and ethnicity, but sexuality is also a very significant part of people′s lives, closest relationships and sense of identity. This valuable resource introduces the topic, using a combination of perspectives to consider sexual diversity and examining related issues across the life course, including sexual orientation, disability, HIV, sexual abuse, mental health and sexual exploitation.

Social workers and social care practitioners are increasingly required to engage directly with matters relating to sex and sexuality in their everyday work. Policies and guidance on how to approach these sensitive areas are emerging. This book provides busy practitioners with a ready reference for the day-to-day problems that they are likely to face in key areas of engagement, such as promoting sexual health, preventing sexual violence, working with those subjected to sexual abuse, and engaging with the complexities of contemporary sexualities. The book: · reviews current policy in each area; · outlines the relevant guidance; · and provides links to further reading and other helpful sources of information. Concise but comprehensive, practical and accessible, the book is realistic in terms of what services practitioners can provide. Sexual issues in social work is essential reading for anyone who works with others where sex and sexuality have become part of the practice concerns.

This volume offers an invaluable resource for both social work educators and practitioners working with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) clients and their families. It is the first such work to specifically address issues affecting bisexual and transgender people as well as the larger concerns of the GLBT community. Contributors present specific, practical suggestions for effective knowledge-based and skills-based practice with GLBT clients. Topics include heterosexism and homophobia, identity development, coming out, GLBT adolescents and older adults, health-care concerns, relationships and families, workplace issues, the history of the GLBT civil rights movement, sex reassignment, AIDS, and the role of spirituality in the lives of GLBT individuals. The contributors also consider intragroup issues of race, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status.

First published in 1985, this ground-breaking volume contributes to a largely neglected area of social work research, theory and practice. The collection of essays by internationally known social work educators and practitioners applies feminist perspectives to a wide range of issues influencing the social work profession and social work practice. In doing so, it demonstrates that a liberal feminist position is consistent with social work practice. Nearly all the chapters focus on direct practice issues, such as problems faced by women who have been sexually assaulted, the lack of adequate health care provided to lesbians from traditional health care systems, and sexist bias in sex therapy and family therapy models. This book will be of interest to students and practitioners of social work.

"The book argues that understanding the stress that men who have sex with men experience and their coping strategies will assist sympathetic groups and professionals to work with this community. It maintains that helping professions like social work can help - through various interventions and by adopting individual, group and community approaches - this population and create a better and more tolerant environment for them."--BOOK JACKET.