Capturing the Power of Diversity

This stimulating book explores the many ways in which social group workers approach diversity. Capturing the Power of Diversity represents a range of interests and approaches to the challenges faced by group workers throughout the world. It illustrates the complexity, creativity, and excitement of the diversity concept and it explores how practitioners manage and adjust to diversity and use its power constructively. The contributing authors discuss macro approaches to inequality in social, political, and economic spheres and address concerns about the fit of group work into the social work curriculum and practitioners’techniques. In this guidebook, readers can discover how to emphasize social group work to enhance the education of social work students and to help professionals deal more effectively with cultural diversity.Capturing the Power of Diversity covers practice, theory building, teaching, research, and various age and ethnic groups. Chapters explore topics related to: the value and importance of using social group work practice at the macro level educational and practice dimensions of diversity the necessity of dealing with inequality the macro system and its economic and political consequences teaching and practice issues emerging from the effects of race and class on practiceAn enlightening reference and guide, Capturing the Power of Diversity is a much-needed source of information for social work practitioners and students who are interested in how diversity impacts social group work and are curious as to how to make group work more effective.

Contents Introduction: The Power of Diversity Group Work and Ethnic Diversity Social Group Work, Social Action in the Twenty-First Century Economic and Political Context Social Group Work, Sink or Swim: Where Is Group in a Generalist Curriculum? The Crisis of Diversity Building an Empirical Foundation for Social Work With Groups Group Work for What? Group Work Linkage of Micro- and Macro-Social Policy Issues Developing Professional Identity Through Social Group Work: A Social Development Systems (SDS) Model for Education Group Work With Children of Substance Abusers: Beyond the Basics Utilizing a Group Approach to Improve the Social Skills of Children With Learning Disabilities The Use of Self in Group Work: Power and Empowerment Past Practice, Future Prospects: Reminiscence Group Work for the Twenty-First Century (Tom Hopkins) Social Group Work in Hong Kong: Future Challenges for the 1990s The Action Component of Group Work Practice: Empowering the Client Treating the Chronically Ill in an Outpatient Hospital Setting: Does Group Work Work? What Are We Teaching as Group Work? A Content Analysis of Undergraduate and Graduate Syllabi Index Reference Notes Included

Marvin D Feit, John S Wodarski, John H Ramey, Aaron R Mann