Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice with Children, Youth, and Families

The Life and Career of Matthew O. Howard

Over past decade, there has been an increasing recognition that social work should be evidence based. The potential contribution of evidence-based practice (EBP) to effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of social work education and practice has been emphasized (Gambrill, 1999, 2007; Gellis & Reid, 2004; Gilgun 2005; Thyer, 2004). This article reflects on reasons, preconditions, and effects of adopting EBP in social work. These issues are important but are rarely examined. We find that proponents of EBP in social work are conservative toward problem that research evidence is not used by practitioners. They neglect preconditions for implementing EBP and are not sensitive to negative effects of adopting EBP in social work. MEANING AND PERFORMANCE OF EBP IN SOCIAL WORK In terms of meaning of EBP, many scholars in social work (for example, Gambrill, 1999; Gibbs & Gambrill, 2002; Gilgun, 2005; Thyer, 2004) follow definition of evidence-based medicine, such as the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, & Haynes, 2000, p. 1). Regarding performance of EBR five steps of evidence-based medicine formulated by Sackett et al. (2000) are also followed by social work scholars (for example, Gibbs & Gambrill, 2002; Thyer, 2004). The five steps are as follows: first, to covert one's need for information into an answerable question; second, to search best evidence to answer that question; third, to critically evaluate that evidence; fourth, to integrate critical evaluation of research evidence with one's clinical expertise and with patient's unique biology, values, and circumstances; and fifth, to evaluate one's own effectiveness and efficiency in undertaking previous steps and to strive for self-improvement. REASONS TO ADVOCATE EBP IN SOCIAL WORK A review of literature on EBP in social work reveals two fundamental reasons for academics to advocate EBP in social work. According to Gibbs and Gambrill (2002), Rosen (2003), and Crisp (2004), one obvious reasons to advocate EBP in social work is that social workers in service agencies have seldom applied research evidence to their practice. These academics all based their arguments on studies by Kirk and Rosenblatt (1981), Rosen (1994), and Rosen, Proctor, Morrow-Howell, and Staudt (1995), in which findings revealed that social workers rarely use and value research evidence in their decision making for interventions and other practices. Another reason is that EBP is believed to be able to promote utilization of research findings in social work education and practice. For example, to advocate EBP in social work education, Howard, McMillen, and Pollio (2003) highlighted importance of empirical research to effective social work practice; they argued that scientific findings should guide selection and application of social work practice and that social workers should remain current with a growing scientific database. DISCUSSION AND SUGGESTIONS EBP has potential benefits to social work. First, social work has been obsessed with professional status (O'Neill, 1999). The emphasis of research evidence in EBP social work can enhance credibility of social work profession. Second, it has been found that social workers seldom use research evidence in practice (Rosen, 1994; Rosen et al., 1995; Sheldon & Chilvers, 2000). The emphasis of research evidence in EBP social work can promote integration of research evidence into social work practice. However, realization of benefits of adopting EBP in social work is subject to many factors, such as relevance of evidence to social work practice. A reflection on reasons, preconditions, and effects of adopting EBP in social work indicates that present implementation of EBP may result in much harm. Reflection on Reasons to Advocate EBP A reflection on two fundamental reasons to advocate EBP in social work will reveal beguiling rationale when we make a simple comparison of it with consumers' neglect of industrial products or business services. …

Although professional social work in Egypt has a 100-year history, there is a dearth of information in English about social work in Egypt and other non-Western countries. Five domains of social work in Egypt are (1) the international flow of Western social work practice into Egypt, (2) modern social work, (3) social work research and social work interventions, (4) social work education, and (5) fields of practice. These five domains that inform modern social work in Egypt were produced from international flows of Western social work practice into Egypt. It was also produced from social work research and social work intervention. Modern social work also comes from teaching bachelor of social work students professional social work courses. Social work knowledge was adapted, authenticated, and indigenized to meet local context. These five dominated themes have been detailed and explained. International flows of Western social work practice into Egypt include transmission (transplantation), authentication, and indigenization. Modern social work in Egypt includes social work practice and social welfare policy. Social work research has included explanatory, descriptive and experiment social work research studies. Social work intervention has included social work intervention of aiming at solving problems and stressors and social work intervention of aiming at applying resources for change. Fields of social work practice includes family and child Social Work and school social work. Social work education is focused only on Bachelor of Science in Social Work covering the professional social work courses group work practice, social casework practice, community organization, social welfare planning, policy and administration, fields of social work practice. A synthetic approach that knits together these five themes entail that modern social work has been produced from international flows of Western social work practice into Egyptian context. It is also produced from social work research and social work intervention. Modern social work also comes as results of teaching Bachelor Social Work (BSW) students the professional social work courses.

Een zoektocht naar de identiteit van het sociaalwerkonderzoek: een reflectie over de kenmerken van een academische discipline

ABSTRACTSocial work practice is often criticised for lack of support of theories and research evidence. This article attempts to learn from business practice and proposes the creation of a plan as an essential part of social work practice and education to encourage the use of theories and research evidence in social work practice and to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of social work practice. Based on logic modelling, a modified logic social work practice plan is presented and illustrated using a case example. The plan incorporates basic social work elements and the elements of alternative interventions, monitoring and control as well as cost. The potential benefits of inclusion of practice plan in social work practice and the ways to promote the adoption of a practice plan in social work education and practice are discussed.

This bibliographic treatment of Christianity and social work is necessarily incomplete, reflecting the fragmented and somewhat contested nature of the topic itself. On one level, there have always been Christians practicing social work, and identifying themselves as Christian social workers, back to the earliest 19th-century roots of the profession. While it would follow from such a historical fact that there would be a well-developed and widely accepted set of ideas, frameworks, and interventions that Christian social workers could be implementing in the early 21st century, this is far from the case. In actuality, the idea that there is even a “Christian” way to do social work is extremely unsettling for some in our field, who see the negative impact of organized Christianity on many of the vulnerable populations that social work seeks to empower. Additionally, the field itself has a somewhat ahistorical reaction to the whole topic, treating it as somehow taboo to discuss the faith life of our clients, and certainly to somehow integrate our own faith experience (or lack thereof) into effective social work practice. This article seeks to correct this parochial view of Christianity and social work practice and to replace it with a more ecumenical and expansive one, albeit one that is still at an early stage in terms of its scholarly formation. The references noted here are almost all ones that were produced since the late 1990s, and that is no accident: despite being as old as social work itself, the study of Christianity and social work in academic circles is only starting to come into its own. Christianity and social work has a long and complicated history. From the early development of social work in the West, it was clear that many (though not all) social work practitioners were called to become social workers because of their faith, and many of those early social workers were Christians from a variety of Christian denominations. The Charity Organization Societies (COS) that formed first in Europe and then in the United States in the late 19th century were led and staffed by Christians who saw their mission as employing a scientific approach to solve the problems of urban poverty. The Settlement House movement, though at times explicitly secular (e.g., Jane Addams and Hull House), and focused on different approaches to help the poor than the COS, was nonetheless also heavily informed by Christian ideas of ministry and social justice. These two strands of social work practice—the COS and Settlement House movements—helped to set the framework for social work practice well into the 20th century, even as tensions persist today about what the appropriate role for religious institutions and faith-based practitioners should be in social work. It is important for social work to consider in the early 21st century how much of its early history of Christians in social work practice is still informing what social workers do today to assist their clients, and how much of it has been simply minimized or erased from social work education, practice, and policy.

ABSTRACTThis paper offers a critical analysis of existing literature on historical and contemporary gender dynamics in Australian social work education and practice. Analyses of gender dynamics and inequalities have the potential to illuminate pathways for inclusive social work education and practice, for both practitioners and people who access social work services. This critical review of the literature demonstrates that Australian social work education and practice have been shaped by gendered discourses, structures, and power dynamics since its inception. In a contemporary sense, women constitute the majority of social work educators and practitioners, while men disproportionately dominate positions of power and prestige, although rigorous Australian data on the roles and representation of men and women are not readily available. Our findings point to the need for further engagement with gender as a unit of analysis in Australian social work research, including further engagement with inclusive and intersectional feminisms.IMPLICATIONSEnhanced knowledge of Australian social work history, particularly in relation to gender, allows for a greater understanding of current gendered power relations in social work education and practice.Gender dynamics are underresearched in contemporary Australian social work education and practice.Up-to-date data on the status and representation of men, women, and nonbinary people in social work are needed as the foundation for transformative and inclusive social work education and practice.

Issues such as lack of licensure and registration, a dearth of standards, and lack of defined job descriptions and job titles are some obstacles that create challenges to the expansion of the field of social work internationally. The purpose of this article is to provide insight on the challenges of implementation and professional development of social work education and practice in Pakistan. This article is divided into five sections: the historical development and characteristics of social work education, the development of social work practice, the professional development of social workers, the need to improve social work education, and professionalizing social work practice and education using indigenous social work education and practice in Pakistan.

Padgett's (1998) article, Does the Glove Really Fit? Qualitative Research and Clinical Social Work Practice strongly questions the assumption that there is goodness of fit between qualitative methods and social work practice. Her arguments that there are, in fact, major conflicts between social work's clinical and practice approaches and qualitative research traditions are based on her outdated and sanitized view of clinical social work, her failure to appreciate the diverse kinds of encounters that people (study respondents or clients) can experience as helpful, and her muddling of research and practice issues with research and practice role issues. Reconceptualizing Clinical Social Work We are troubled that Padgett seems to equate clinical practice with an outdated and stereotyped image of private practice. In her clinical paradigm, the client initiates the social worker-client relationship, there is regularly scheduled 50-minute hour, and the client meets the practitioner on the practitioner's turf. Padgett also characterizes the clinical practitioner as beginning his or her assessment with a ready-made conceptual framework . . . based on model of maladjustment and pathology (p. 376). The expertise and the impetus for change rest with the practitioner. These stereotypes and inaccuracies limit Padgett's ability to speak to the hand-in-glove between qualitative approaches and clinical social work. We contend that today's clinical social worker, thankfully, no longer labors under many of Padgett's assumptions. The contexts of clinical work are varied and so our potential reach is greater. Social workers are involved with clients who are often mandated (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larsen, 1997), they see clients in groups, and they sometimes work in client homes or other naturalistic settings. The clinical process involves skill, creativity, and flexibility in building the helping relationship (Raiff & Shore, 1993, p. 87). Clinical work entails biopsychosocial assessment and an effort or intervention directed toward enhancing socioemotional functioning. Interventions can be ego supportive, or oriented toward cognitive, behavioral, or environmental changes (Raiff & Shore, 1993). Clinical perspectives increasingly are guided by different visions of social work practice that have immediate relevance for clinical practice and debunk Padgett's medical model orientation (Bein & Lum, 1999; DeJong & Miller, 1995; Green, 1999; Saleebey, 1992). Saleebey urged us to humanize our relationships and tune into and embrace client strengths rather than emphasize client pathology. The strengths perspective sets the tone for client-social worker partnership and helps establish the groundwork toward client empowerment. Green (1999) and Bein and Lum (1999) explain the importance of allowing our clients to teach us about their lives. Practitioners enhance their effectiveness when they adopt an inductive researcher's mentality, which seeks to discover the unique meanings that particular events and circumstances have for clients. Clients tell social workers about what events, conditions, behaviors, and decisions mean to them, and social workers understand the client's narrative on the client's own terms. When clients teach social workers about their lives, clients experience that their voice counts, that they are respected, and that they are not judged (Bein & Lum, 1999, p. 150 emphasis in original). In addition to strengths and inductive-oriented methods, clinicians increasingly use solution-focused approach (DeJong & Miller, 1995), which posits that clients themselves often are doing many things well and that the direction of treatment needs to be based on their own assets, past successes, and self-generated solutions. The social worker places faith in the client's desire to grow and lets go of an expert role, which charges the social worker with the primary responsibility for generating solutions. …

This manuscript is the first to consider the emergence of spirituality as a topic in Canadian social work scholarship and practice. A broad overview is provided of three time periods, beginning with the origins of the profession and ending with present-day considerations. These three periods are ones in which spirituality had/has strong influence in shaping practice, research and pedagogical discourses. First, we emphasize the overwhelming significance of spirituality to the early history of social work, prior to its emergence as a secular, professional discipline taught in university contexts. Second, we examine how spirituality continued to have a place within the writings of several major social work scholars in Canada, up to 1970 at which point spirituality seems to fade from scholarly social work literature. Third, spirituality re-emerged as a Canadian topic for research in the 1990s - at the beginning of the third millennium the spirituality and social work literature has emphasized three major themes: social justice work and community organizing; social work pedagogy; and social work practice. Finally, we briefly consider barriers to, and prospects for, the continued emergence of spiritually infused social work research and practice in Canada.

Social work education and practice has primarily been dominated by a medical model worldview. Traditional social work frameworks and medical models have focused on deficits or psychopathology and limited wellness to bio-psycho-social dimensions. In 2005, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (TWOA) introduced a social work degree that incorporates Māori holistic models of well-being and practice. The degree was further developed into a four-year degree in 2016. This chapter looks at the contribution made by this bicultural social work degree to social work education and practice. This innovative and bold initiative by TWOA accords privilege to Māori and other indigenous bodies of knowledge and practice frameworks equal to those of western theories and frameworks. The bicultural degree argues that an indigenous approach to social work education and practice frameworks are not in competition or antithesis to western frameworks but are complementary and complete the helping process.

ABSTRACTClinical or micro intervention predominates in social work education and practice. The prevailing assumption in social work practice and education is that one engages in either micro or macro intervention. In this article, we describe how these interventions may be merged into an integrated whole through social work practice with groups. The conceptual and evidence base of community work is summarized, as are efforts to identify practice skills that overlap both approaches. We assert that group work is ideally suited to promote individual empowerment and community change. Case examples illustrate the relative ease with which tasks and skills of group work at the micro level can be used in group work practice in the community. Implications for social work education are discussed.

This chapter attempts to cross-compare social work field education in India and China. It reviews the development of social work education and field work practice and presents the current status of social work education and field work in these two developing countries. In doing so we aim to understand the structure, nature, and challenges faced by social work field education in these countries figuratively listed in the global south. Neither social work education nor social work practice in both India and China is well established or recognised. Nevertheless, both these countries have different administrative structures that either encourage or restrict the development and growth of social work education and practice. While social work is a State-mandated profession in China, Indian social work is still struggling for public recognition and State support despite 84 years of education and practice. This chapter examines the challenges faced by these two countries with respect to social work education with special reference to social work field education.

Each chapter concludes with Summary and Selected References. I. INTRODUCTION. 1. What Is Social Work? Social Welfare. Social Work. Distinguishing Characteristics of Social Work. Sociology and Social Work. Psychiatry and Social Work. Psychology and Social Work. Counseling and Social Work. Social Work in the World Today. 2. The Evolution of Social Welfare and Social Work in the United States. Echoes of the Past. European Roots. Beginnings in the United States. Public Assistance and Social Welfare Emerge. Services of Volunteers. Social Workers Appear. 3. Education for Social Work. Social Work Education. Council on Social Work Education. II. SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE. 4. Generalist Practice and Introductory Theory. Need for a Theoretical Framework. Introductory Inner and Outer Forces Paradigm. Additional Model Definition. The Life Cycle and the Inner and Outer Forces Model. Social Functioning. Levels of Social Functioning. A Base for Generalist Social Work Practice. 5. Social Work Practice with Individuals. Work with the Individual: A Generalist Approach. Social Casework Defined. History of Social Casework. Trends in Casework. The Practice Framework. Methods of Social Casework. Problems in Social Casework. The Casework Process. The Multi-Systems Approach. 6. Social Work Practice with Groups. Historical Developments. Group Work Defined. Group Work Models. Formation of Groups. Selection of Group Members. Preparation of Group Members. Structuring the Group. Stages of Group. Group Work Settings. 7. Social Work Practice with Communities. What Is Community Organization? Beginnings of Community Social Work. Underlying Principles in Community Organization. Community Social Work Processes. Roles of the Community Organizer. Case Summaries. 8. Administration and Research. Administration. Research. III. SOCIAL WORK SERVICES. 9. Mental Health Services. Beginnings in Mental Health. Elements of the Mental Health Network. Essential Elements of Comprehensive Mental Health. Special Problems and Issues in Mental Health. 10. Social Work in Health Care. Definition of Social Work in Health Care. The Meaning of Illness. The Role of Social Work in Health Care. The Future of Social Work in the Health Care Services. Prevention and Social Work. 11. Social Work in the Schools. The Education Delivery System: New Approaches. Problems Plaguing the Public Schools. Beginnings in School Social Work. Social Work Practice in the Schools. Social Work Using a Group Approach. School Social Work and the Community. Working with Minorities. When the System Fails. 12. Social Security and Public Welfare. Government's Responsibility for Welfare. The Social Security Act. Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Government and Public Welfare. 13. Family and Child Welfare Services. Marriage and Family Counseling. Child Welfare Services. Home Care of Children. Foster Care of Children. Adoption Services. Protective Services. Child Sexual Abuse. 14. Correctional Services. The Social Problems of Delinquency and Crime. Social Work and Corrections. Social Work Practice in Corrections. Processes and Principles. Social Services and Case Examples. 15. Services for the Aged. Older Americans Act of 1965. White House Conference on Aging, 1971. Adequate Income. Appropriate Living Arrangements. Institutional Responsiveness and a New Attitude Toward Aging. Independence and Dignity. 16. Drug Abuse and Social Work. Misused Drugs and What They Do. Extent and Cost of Drug Abuse. Programs for Control, Prevention, and Treatment. Role of Social Work in Treatment. 17. Services with Minorities. Minority Problems. Social Services. Educational Developments. 18. Social Work in Rural Areas. Beginnings in Rural Social Work. Rural Social Work Practice. Roles of the Rural Social Worker. Rural Social Service Agencies. Distance Learning for Rural Social Work. 19. Case Management. Historical Developments. Case Management Defined. Case Management Research. IV. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 20. Social Work: A Maturing Profession. Criteria of a Profession. Historical Background. Social Work Today. 21. Social Work Prevention and Enrichment. Social Work Focus on Prevention. Problems Involved. Examples of Prevention. Implications of Prevention. Social Work Enrichment. 22. Social Work and the Future. Professional Maturation. Increase in Services. Professional Identification and Visibility. Licensing. Spirituality in Social Work Practice. Changing Continuum in Social Work Education. Development of the Role of Consultant. Status of Social Worker. Private Practice. Case Management. Advocacy Role. Improved Public Relations. Rural Social Work. Technology. Expansion of Leadership Roles. Increase in International Social Work. Prevention. Enrichment. Movement for Higher Quality. Name Index. Subject Index.

1. Knowledge for Practice with LGBT Persons Gerald P. Mallon 2. Values/Ethics in Social Work Practice with LGBT Persons Peg McCartt Hess and Nancy Feldman 3. Lesbian, Gay, Biseuxal and Transgendered Persons of Color Karina L. Walters and Roy Old Person 4. Social Work Practice with Bisexual Persons Geodana Weber and Kathy T. Heffern 5. Social Work Practice with Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Persons Carrie Davies 6. Social Work Practice with Lesbian Individuals Sarah Jane Dodd and Laura Booker 7. Social Work Practice with Gay Individuals Michael Shernoff 8. Social Work Practice with Lesbian Couples Laura Booker and Sarah Jane Dodd 9. Social Work Practice with Gay Couples Don McVinney 10. Group Work Practice with LGBT Persons Mitchel Rosenwald 11. Social Work Practice with LGBT Persons Within Families Gerald P. Mallon 12. Social Work Practice with LGBT Parents Gerald P. Mallon 13. Social Work Practice with LGBT Communities Eleanor Nealy 14. LGBT Communities and Health Care Brian J. Flynn 15. Social Work Practice with LGBT Persons Within Organizations George A. Appleby and Edgar Colon