Days in the Lives of Social Workers: 58 Professionals Tell Real-Life Stories From Social Work Practice (4th Edition)

Spend a day with social workers in 58 different settings, and learn about the many career paths available to you. Did you ever wish you could tag along with a professional in your chosen field, just for a day, observing his or her every move? DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS allows you to take a firsthand, close-up look at the real-life days of 58 professional social workers as they share their stories. Join them on their journeys, and learn about the rewards and challenges they face.

This book is an essential guide for anyone who wants an inside look at the social work profession. Whether you are a social work graduate student or undergraduate student, an experienced professional wishing to make a change in career direction, or just thinking about going into the field, you will learn valuable lessons from the experiences described in DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS.

The 4th edition includes four new chapters, a new appendix on social media and mobile apps, and features a foreword by Elizabeth J. Clark, executive director of the National Association of Social Workers.

Table of Contents

About the Editor/Contributors
Foreword
Introduction to the 4th Edition
Acknowledgments

PART 1--HEALTH CARE

• Social Work in the ER
• Social Work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
• Remembering Why I Became a Social Worker: Lessons Learned on Internal Medicine
• Social Work in an Infertility Clinic
• Working with Pregnant Women in Public Health
• Managing in Managed Care
• Social Work in the Commissioned Corps

PART 2--HIV/AIDS

• Private Practice With Urban Gay Men: With a Subspecialty in HIV/AIDS
• A Very Special Nursing Home in the South Bronx
• Pediatric HIV Research

PART 3--SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK

• Elementary School Social Work
• An Inner-City High School
• Social Work in a Rural School District

PART 4--CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES

• Urban Child Protective Services
• A Neighborhood Youth Center
• Play Therapy and Bullying
• Working with Gay and Lesbian Youth
• Child Welfare Ombudsman
• Employee Assistance Programs
• Social Work Goes to Summer Camp

PART 5--DISABILITIES

• Developmental Disabilities
• "Us" Becoming "Them"

PART 6--MENTAL HEALTH

• Involuntary Admission: A New Worker's Introduction to the "603"
• Partial Hospitalization
• Social Work in a Clubhouse
• Life as a Group Home Manager
• Disaster Mental Health Services

PART 7--SUBSTANCE ABUSE

• Dual Diagnosis: Substance Abuse and Mental Health in an Inpatient Setting
• Social Work in the Alaskan Bush
• Adventure-Based Practice

PART 8--PRIVATE PRACTICE

• Private Practice and the Eclectic Social Worker
• An Office to Call My Own: Private Practice in the Lesbian Community

PART 9--CRIMINAL JUSTICE: WORKING WITH OFFENDERS AND VICTIMS

• Prison Substance Abuse Treatment
• A Hard Day's Night: Working with Assaultive Men in Prison
• Residential Treatment for Adolescent Sexual Offenders
• Forensic Social Work: Mitigating Death Penalty Cases in a Capital Defense Unit
• Victim Services

PART 10--OLDER ADULTS AND THE END OF LIFE

• Social Work With Survivors of the Holocaust
• Nursing Home Social Work
• Senior Adult Coordinator
• Hospice Social Work
• Home Health Social Work
• Geriatric Care Management: A Growing Profession

PART 11--MANAGEMENT

• The Daily Life of NASW's Executive Director
• Life as an Agency CEO
• Association Management

PART 12--VETERANS AND THE MILITARY

• Family Advocacy in the Military
• Outreach to Homeless Veterans

PART 13--HIGHER AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

• Life as a BSW Educator
• A University Counseling Center
• Providing Continuing Education to Social Workers

PART 14--INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL WORK

• Consulting in Armenia
• Working with Unaccompanied Minors in Britain
• Working with Raskal Gangs in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea
• Working with Russian Immigrants

PART 15--WORKING IN COMMUNITIES

• Community Organizing for Social Change
• A Day in the Life of a Policy Practitioner
• Mucho Gusto en Conocerle (I'm Pleased to Meet You): Working with Migrant Farm Families

APP. A: Organizations of Interest to Social Workers
APP. B:  Additional Reading
APP. C: Web Resources
APP. D: Social Media, Blogs, and Apps, Oh My!