Community Practice: Theories and Skills for Social Workers

Community Practice, a definitive teaching text for all courses in community organization and foundation practice, presents a comprehensive and integrated overview of the theory and skills fundamental to all areas of social work practice. Based on the theory that social workers, whether generalists, specialists, therapists, or activists, need to focus on both the individual as well as the surrounding community, the authors have created a text which offers the skills necessary to promote the welfare of the individual clients and larger community, thus having a positive impact on the lives of individuals as well as entire families. This text distills the essence of complex theoretical concepts, managing to avoid the common problem of oversimplifying and "watering down" the subject matter. Its most impressive feature is the amalgam of theory and practice necessary for all social work practitioners and students. Virtually every chapter that introduces significant theoretical constructs includes a follow-up discussion of their practical application through case studies and examples. Readable and unusually broad in coverage, it is geared to both graduate and undergraduate students. Exhaustive, lucid, and wide-ranging, Community Practice is an up-to-date and accessible text for all courses that emphasize the community aspect of social work.