Single-System Designs in the Social Services

This new book explores basic issues in the use of single-system designs by practitioners in field settings. Single-System Designs in the Social Services addresses current methodological and practice issues involving single-system designs (SSDs). It reviews the history of SSDs and discusses future issues and options in the evaluation of practice in social service settings using SSDs. The book provides an intellectual frame of reference to understand the place of SSDs in contemporary social work practice and examines the application of SSDs to nonbehavioral methods of practice, the use of SSDs in family practice, the connection of SSDs and computers, and criticism (and response) regarding SSDs. While single-system designs are easy to use in many kinds of client situations, their use also raises many important issues. Chapters in this book address such issues and provide tentative suggestions to resolve them by answering such questions as: What are the ethical principles for using single-system designs with clients? How can the parallel revolution in high technology be connected to single-system designs? Do graduates of schools of social work actually use these methods after graduation? Are there practical short-cuts to using these modes of evaluation? How applicable are single-system designs to non-behaviorally oriented practitioners? How can single-system designs be applied to families? Social work educators are mandated by their accrediting organizations to teach students to evaluate their own practice. This book addresses the tough issues in fulfilling that mandate through instruction in single-system designs, discussing topics often not covered in-depth by textbooks. Social work practitioners, researchers, and educators in applied social science such as social work and clinical psychology, will find this a valuable book to help them sort out the myriad issues surrounding the use of single-system designs.