Empowerment Practice with Families in Distress

by Judith Bula Wise

Overview

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 "What works?" 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231124621
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	02/09/2005
Series:	Empowering the Powerless: A Social Work Series
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Judith Bula Wise, professor emerita, has held academic positions at Columbia University and the University of Denver. She is the coeditor, with Marian Bussey, of Trauma Transformed: An Empowerment Response (Columbia University Press) and has developed and served as the first coordinator of the Trauma Response Certificate Program at the University of Denver.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part I. A Family-Centered Empowerment Framework
1. Empowerment Then and Now
2. Seeing Families Through an Empowerment Lens
Part II. Three Family Profiles: The Journey from Oppression to Empowerment
3. The Laurencio-Smith Family: Our Differences Saved Us
4. The Williams Family: New Lives Beyond Incest
5. The Brown-Wiley Family: Homeless No More
Part III. Helping Families
6. The Phases and Actions of Empowering Practice
Part IV. A Closer Look at Families WITH Their Communities
7. Empowering Families with Community Resources
8. Supporting Theories that Empower Social WorkerñFamily Transactions
Appendix A. Cross-Cultural Counseling Competencies: A Conceptual Framework
Appendix B. The Family Power Analysis

What People are Saying About This

Ann Weick

This book is a masterful blend of the processes and principles of family-centered social work practice, as seen through the powerful lens of empowerment and strengths. Substantive family narratives add richness to this finely nuanced presentation from a stellar social work practitioner and educator.

— Ann Weick, Dean and Professor, University of Kansas School of Social Work

Editorial Reviews

This book reveals the great potential of empowerment practices through specific principles and actual case materials.

Families In Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Sciences

This book reveals the great potential of empowerment practices through specific principles and actual case materials.

Families In Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Sciences

This volume adds to the discourse of empowerment practice with families.

Social Work with Groups - Raymond Rodriguez

This volume adds to the discourse of empowerment practice with families.

— Raymond Rodriguez

Social Work with Groups