Techniques and Guidelines for Social Work Practice

This ninth edition of Techniques and Guidelines for Social Work Practicehas been carefully updated and streamlined to minimize length and maximize content. It provides students with easy access to the most current information on fundamental techniques and useful guidelines for social work practice from the generalist perspective. #xA0; The application of techniques and guidelines in client situations is inadequate and potentially harmful unless they are used in the context of highly professional social work practice. Seven chapters overview this context and address the domain of social work, the art and science required, the roles/principles/practice frameworks that guide interventions, and stress the importance of evidence-based practice and critical thinking when guiding a planned change process with clients. #xA0; The remainder of this text describes and illustrates multiple tools often used by social workers for both direct and indirect intervention activities. Touching upon everything from creating an effective helping relationship to guidelines for evaluating client change, the content of this text is so widely applicable it is a valuable aid for both students and professional social workers.

Brad Sheafor is Professor of Social Work at Colorado State University where has taught a wide variety of courses in both the BSW and MSW programs. He has also served in administrative positions including Director of the social work program, Associate Dean for Research and Interim Dean of the umbrella college that includes social work, Associate Director of the Human Factors Research Laboratory, and Co-Director of the Family and Youth Institute.

                Dr. Sheafor has served as a juvenile probation officer, director of a community planning council, and as president of his local United Way. He has been a member of the Exam Committee for the Association of Social Work Boards (licensing), part of the workgroup creating NASW’s Center for Workforce Studies, and a founding member of the Baccalaureate Program Directors Association. With the Council on Social Work Education he has been President, Senior Scholar, and recipient of CSWE’s Lifetime Achievement in Social Work Education Award. He has also been a Fulbright Lecturer to New Zealand and a Visiting Fellow in Australia.

                Dr. Sheafor is co-author of 23 books listed with the Library of Congress. In addition to Techniques for Social Work Practice (8 editions with Charles Horejsi), he has co-authored 12 editions of Social Work: A Profession of Many Faces (with Armando Morales and Malcolm Scott), a history of the development of baccalaureate social work in the United States (with Barbara Shank), a book on field instruction (edited with Lowell Jenkins), and book reporting a comprehensive task analysis of social work practice (with Robert Teare).

 

 

Charles Horejsi is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Montana having served that university for a number of years as a faculty member teaching primarily child welfare and social work practice courses, as well as being involved with the School of Social Work’s field instruction program.

                A licensed clinical social worker, Dr. Horejsi had practice experience in marriage and family counseling, child welfare, and juvenile probation. He conducted agency staff training in more than a dozen states and received the Montana NASW’s “Social Worker of the Year” award recognizing his many contributions to strengthening the quality of social work in that state.

                Dr. Horejsi’s research has focused on risk assessment in child protection, issues of worker safety on the job, and on methods of assessment and case planning in child welfare agencies. In addition to numerous monographs and more than 30 professional articles, Dr. Horejsi has authored or co-authored 13 books listed with the Library of Congress. These publications include: Family Foster Care: A Handbook for Social Workers, Social Work Practice with Parents of Children in Foster Care: A Handbook (with Anne Vandeberg Bertsche and Frank Clark), three editions of  The Social Work Practicum: A Guide and Workbook for Students (with Cynthia Garthwait), and eight editions of Techniques and Guidelines for Social Work Practice (with Bradford Sheafor).

Preface

 

I. SOCIAL WORK AND THE SOCIAL WORKER

 

1. The Domain of the Social Work Profession

The Social Work Domain

An Overview of Social Work Practice

 

2. Merging Person with Profession

Selecting Social Work as a Career

Establishing Oneself as a Social Worker

The Interplay of One's Personal and Professional Lives

A Fitness Program for the Social Worker

Having Fun in Social Work

 

3. Merging the Person's Art with the Profession's Science

The Social Worker as Artist

The Social Worker as Scientist

 

II. THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

 

4. The Roles and Functions Performed by Social Workers

Identifying Professional Roles

 

5. Guiding Principles for Social Workers

Principles that Focus on the Social Worker

Principles that Guide Practice Activities

 

6. Practice Frameworks for Social Work

Requirements of a Practice Framework

Guidelines for Selecting a Practice Framework

Selected Practice Perspectives

Selected Practice Theories and Models

 

7. Using Evidence to Guide the Change Process

Evidence-Based Practice

Critical Thinking When Making Practice Decisions

Guiding the Planned Change Process

The Context of Planned Change

Identifying the Actors in Planned change

Phases of the Planned Change Process

 

III. TECHNIQUES COMMON TO ALL SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

 

8. Basic Communication and Helping Skills

Creating an Effective Helping Relationship

Verbal Communication Skills

Nonverbal Communication Skills

Helping Skills

Enhancing Client Motivation

Understanding Emotions and Feelings

Responding to Defensive Communication

Elements of Professional Behavior

Making Ethical Decisions

Applying Cultural Competence to Helping

 

9. Basic Skills for Agency Practice

Written Reports and Correspondence

Effective Telephone Communications

Using Information Technology

Client Records and Documentation

Managing Time and Workload

 

IV. TECHNIQUES AND GUIDELINES FOR PHASES OF THE PLANNED CHANGE PROCESS

 

10. Intake and Engagement

Introduction

Section A. Techniques and Guidelines for Direct Practice

Section B. Techniques and Guidelines for Indirect Practice

 

11. Data Collection and Assessment

Section A. Techniques and Guidelines for Direct Practice

Section B. Techniques and Guidelines for Indirect Practice

 

12. Planning and Contracting.

Section A. Techniques and Guidelines for Direct Practice.

Section B. Techniques and Guidelines for Indirect Practice.

 

13. Intervention and Monitoring

Section A. Techniques and Guidelines for Direct Practice

Section B. Techniques and Guidelines for Indirect Practice

 

14. Evaluation and Termination

Section A. Techniques and Guidelines for Direct Practice

Section B. Techniques and Guidelines for Indirect Practice

 

V. SPECIALIZED TECHNIQUES AND GUIDELINES FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

 

15. Guidelines for Working With Vulnerable Client Groups

The Client Who Is Experiencing Poverty

The Client Who Is a Child

The Client Who Is an Adolescent

The Client Who is a Parent or Grandparent

The Client Who Is an Older Person

The Client Who Is A Battered Woman

The Client Who Is at Risk of Suicide

The Client with an Intellectual Disability

The Client with Brain Injury

The Client with a Serious Physical Disability

The Client Who Is Chemically Dependent

The Client with a Serious Mental Illness

The Client on Psychotropic Medication

The Client Who is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender

The Client with an Eating Disorder

The Client Experiencing Grief or Loss

The client with Concerns Related to Spirituality and Religion

The Client Who is Affected by War

The Client Who is an Immigrant or Refugee

The Client or Community Experiencing an Emergency or Disaster

 

16. Techniques for Sustaining Social Work Practice

Getting a Social Work Job

Preparing for Social Work Competency Exams

Developing Self-Awareness

Avoiding Compassion Fatigue and Stress Management

Dealing with Sexual Misconduct

Avoiding Malpractice Suits

Testifying in Court

Giving and Receiving Supervision

Building and Maintaining Mentoring Relationships

Consuming and Contributing to Professional Knowledge

Improving the Social Work Image

Becoming a Leader

 

Appendix A: Acronyms Commonly Used in Social Work

Appendix B: Retired Techniques and Guidelines from Prior Editions

Author Index

Subject Index