Books in the Empowering the Powerless: A Social Work Series series

An exploration of the social movements, ideas and beliefs that have been most influential in shaping the development of the empowerment tradition in US social work practice. An explanation of empowerment is given, and the basic processes of the empowerment approach are described.

This guide to organization in the community has been designed for social workers who want to help ordinary citizens to become strong leaders. It explains how to bring about change in the major social and economic issues of our times.

This is the first textbook to address the specific but polymorphous needs of women of color. With the help of guest authors, Gutierrez and Lewis provide an excellent framework through which social workers can more effectively aid women of color in their ongoing struggle against systemic oppression.

Offers approaches necessary for successful and empowering interventions across the trauma spectrum. This book provides insight into the psychological and spiritual resources practitioners need to help victims move forward and improve upon their circumstances. It helps readers learn to strengthen their sense of self to prevent secondary trauma.

This book is the first to utilize the empowerment approach of social work practice with substance-abusing clients, bridging clinical, community, and social policy approaches in order to place individual addiction in its sociopolitical context. As Lorraine Gutierrez points out in her foreword, the book "e;challenges us to transform our thinking about substance abuse and move beyond our existing focus on individual deficits."e; Arguing that pathology-focused definitions of substance abuse tend to transform people into their problems, Freeman instead advocates for strengths-centered policies and regulations as the means to empower clients, communities, and society as a whole.Freeman outlines basic empowerment principles and practices, then details the service delivery processes; offers a context for power, policy, and funding decisions; and examines the needs of special populations. Case examples supplement each chapter, and the final part examines four exemplary programs that demonstrate the empowerment process in action.

The most comprehensive resource to date on the methods of empowerment with lesbian and gay clients, this book explores the history and politics of gay identity and explains the basis and development of the empowerment approach in social work practice in the United States. After analyzing the different types of homophobia (individual, institutional, and internalized) and how these are manifested in real life situations, Tully addresses the special needs and issues particular to three age groups: gay and lesbian youth, adults, and older clients. The author offers practical applications for the social worker and client at the micro-, mezzo-, and macro-levels, from helping a teenage client to discover a personal sexual orientation (micro), to organizing a social event for lesbians and gays (mezzo), to building a community coalition (macro). Eye-opening case studies are provided for each age group and cover everything from defining problems, identifying the underlying issues causing them, understanding the role of homophobia, and the application of the empowerment perspective.

For more than 150 years, empowering practices have been used by social workers in their work with families, but the techniques of today differ significantly from those of the pioneers or even from those of a few years ago. Today's practitioners recognize that empowering others is impossible; social workers can, however, assist others as they empower themselves. This book integrates time-honored approaches with today's more modest goals, mindful of what empowerment can and cannot do. Synthesizing several theoretical supports-the strengths perspective, system theory, theories of family well-being, and theories of coping-the author responds to the question "e;What works?"e; with today's families in need. Practice illustrations are provided throughout to bring concepts to life and, more important, to present families describing their own experiences with achieving empowerment.

Offers approaches necessary for successful and empowering interventions across the trauma spectrum. This book provides insight into the psychological and spiritual resources practitioners need to help victims move forward and improve upon their circumstances. It helps readers learn to strengthen their sense of self to prevent secondary trauma.