In: Journal of community practice: organizing, planning, development, and change sponsored by the Association for Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA), Band 24, Heft 1, S. 77-93
Purpose: To evaluate the integration of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression and suicide prevention (CBT-SP) into social work practice with youth after a 2-day training and 3 months of group consultation. Method: A purposive sample of 22 clinical social workers completed a one-group pre–post and 3-month follow-up assessment to evaluate knowledge of CBT and CBT-SP, utilization, and barriers to utilization of CBT treatment and skills. Results: Knowledge of CBT and CBT-SP skills improved following training. All trainees integrated at least one new skill into practice and increased use of prior skills. No trainees integrated the full-manualized CBT-SP intervention into practice. Participation in group consultation increased the likelihood of integrating CBT-SP skills into practice for males and trainees with more practice experience. Discussion: The findings support the importance of training clinicians in common element skills of CBT and CBT-SP rather than only focusing upon integrating full-manualized treatments into social work practice.
In: Social work in health care: the journal of health care social work ; a quarterly journal adopted by the Society for Social Work Leadership in Health Care, Band 52, Heft 2-3, S. 280-295
This article attempts a preliminary exploration of the evolving dimensions & underlying subtleties of multiculturalism for social work practice in Greece, particularly in the region of Thrace. It is based on a pilot study with a group of social workers, who disclose their experience & attitudes through accounts of practice. The central argument developed is that, although it is important for professionals to be aware of cultural differences, it might also be dangerous to rely too much on the importance of culture without considering structural elements such as poverty & discrimination which lead to social exclusion. 31 References. Adapted from the source document.
The author addresses social work practice with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) youth. Identity development, including disclosure and the emergence of sexuality are discussed, along with family and school issues. Particular emphasis is given to a number of risk factors that GLBT youth encounter: emotional distress, isolation, internalized homophobia/transphobia, depression, substance abuse, suicide, violence/victimization, family conflict, school performance, and sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. Guidelines for social work practice with GLBT youth are presented.
Social work practice with the mentally ill has traditionally relied upon an interdisciplinary- based, problem-solving approach. But as the medicalization of the mental health field evolved over the past three decades, a distancing from the behavioral sciences and a subsequent division within social work itself regarding practice definitions and goals of research appear to have occurred. A reexamination of contemporary social work research and the profession's practice mandate, together with a reconceptualization of findings from the behavioral sciences, suggests important and legitimate areas of social work inquiry into severe mental disorders. Criteria for identifying and implementing the basic content of a social work curriculum pertinent to the nature, treatment, and further study of chronic mental illness are offered.
International Social Work Practice compares and contrasts divergent social work approaches in countries around the world, providing students with a unique perspective on social work as it is actually practised. Using case studies from frontline practitioners from across the globe, this innovative new textbook stimulates critical thinking about international social work practice issues. Providing a review of both country-specific social work practices and universal social work issues, the text looks at a variety of core social work topics, framed here in terms of CSWE competen.
Eclecticism in social work has been criticised because interventions may be based on theories that have incompatible basic assumptions. The author offers a structural analysis of theories informing social work practice, according to each theory's basic assumptions about the nature of human society as either conflict or consensus, and human behaviour as a product of either free will or determinism. Four basic paradigms of practice in social work are created as quadrants within a circle and labelled, respectively, as the functionalist, existentialist, humanist and structuralist paradigms. The structure is then modified to establish a fifth 'heuristic paradigm' as an inner circle. The author suggests that heuristic paradigm theories are those that best accommodate the paradoxical coexistence of free will and determinism, and also conflict and consensus. Heuristic practice is therefore not seen simply as intuitive eclecticism, but an active and reflective use of various theories as 'heuristic tools' to shape practice interventions and thereby build practice wisdom.