Working with Families of the Poor, First Edition: First Edition (The Guilford Family Therapy) - Softcover

"This beautifully written book will be a valued text for introductory and advanced social work courses. Drawing upon both systemic and ecological models, the book integrates individual, family, and larger systems. Perhaps most important, it addresses the diverse contexts in which social work practice actually occurs." --Joan Berzoff, MSW, EdD, Professor and Codirector of Doctoral Program, Smith College School of Social Work "Bravo! These innovative pioneers in strength-based systems approaches with inner-city children, families, and agencies have met a critical need in training and practice. Without a systemic perspective and intervention skills, dedicated professionals can become as overwhelmed and discouraged as their clients in dealing with multicrisis situations, persistent environmental challenges, and fragmented social services. This outstanding volume provides a solid framework and practical guidelines to transform service delivery and strengthen vulnerable families. It will be required reading in my family therapy courses, and I highly recommend it for family support groups." --Froma Walsh, PhD, Professor, School of Social Service Administration and Co-Director, Center for Family Health, The University of Chicago, Author, Strengthening Family Resilience, Past President, American Family Therapy Association "This masterfully written book presents a clear and practical approach to working with underprivileged families. The authors guide practitioners through the complexities of contemporary human service structures, describing effective macrosystemic examples of interventions on behalf of families in treatment. The book is also a useful text that could help social service students, workers, and supervisors develop and implement family-centered and family-friendly programs." --Ramon A. Rojano MD, MPH, Hartford Human Services Director; Creator of the Community Family Therapy Approach; Faculty, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Central Connecticut State University "This book reminds us that family networks are remarkably resilient and durable, and that even under great stress, these networks may be sources of solutions, help and healing. If there is one theme woven throughout the book, it is about the power and potential of connections: between, among and within familiel; between the helper and the helped; between individuals, networks and systems; and among systems. The authors illuminate a promising pathway toward respectful and affirming help for families struggling to do well by and for their kids in tough circumstances." --Ralph Smith, Vice-President, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland "This is a good, succinct presentation of basic structural family therapy concepts and techniques applied to institutional systems. The practicing clinician who consults with foster care, residential children's centers, in-patient children's psychiatric settings, or substance abuse treatment would benefit from the consultation model. Social service administrators and professionals in these settings would also benefit." -- Journal of Family Psychotherapy " Working with Families of the Poor updates and applies the structural approach of family therapy to the care of poor families with multiple problems. It is aimed especially at social workers and social service agencies who provide foster care, perinatal programs for women who abuse substances, residential care of troubled and troubling children, psychiatric hospital care of children, and home-based services for families at risk of child welfare placement....especially valuable for social workers and other professionals who work with children and youth in counseling or in child welfare services....[It] is not only solid theoretically; it is also enjoyable reading, shot through with interesting case studies which bring the content alive. Students and seasoned practitioners alike will find it a source of inspiration for 'thinking family' and for finding the strengths of even the most troubled families." -- Family Ministry "This book has several virtues....It instructs without resorting to jargon....Above all, the authors believe in preserving and strengthening the ties that exist between members of even the most destitute and troubledfamilies....It is full of concrete illustrations, each of which sheds light on some of the skills needed for implementing a systems approach to family therapy. Thus, the volume will be useful in imparting such skills to agency personnel who currently lack them." -- Science Books and Films "This important book should be read by all professionals who work with or administer programs for poor families. The authors draw on their structural family therapy model to show how eco-systemic thinking can be effectively applied in a variety of clinical realms....The many benefits of a collaborative family approach are emphasized as is the importance of coordination among involved agencies to avoid duplication and fragmentation of services." -- The Journal of Systemic Therapies , .."offers a fresh perspective for therapists and social workers who work with multi-crisis families, particularly the poor of the inner city....offers important insights into the human dynamics of change and growth, as well as the diverse contexts and challenges facing social workers in a daily basis." -- Perspectives "This is a good, succinct presentation of basic structural family therapy concepts and techniques applied to institutional systems. The practicing clinician who consults with foster care, residential children's centers, in-patient children's psychiatric settings, or substance abuse treatment would benefit from the consultation model. Social service administrators and professionals in these settings would also benefit." --"Journal of Family Psychotherapy" ""Working with Families of the Poor" updates and applies the structural approach of family therapy to the care of poor families with multiple problems. It is aimed especially at social workers and social service agencies who provide foster care, perinatal programs for women who abuse substances, residential care of troubled and troubling children, psychiatric hospital care of children, and home-based services for families at risk of child welfare placement....especially valuable for social workers and other professionals who work with children and youth in counseling or in child welfare services....[It] is not only solid theoretically; it is also enjoyable reading, shot through with interesting case studies which bring the content alive. Students and seasoned practitioners alike will find it a source of inspiration for 'thinking family' and for finding the strengths of even the most troubled families." --"Family Ministry" "This book has several virtues....It instructs without resorting to jargon....Above all, the authors believe in preserving and strengthening the ties that exist between members of even the most destitute and troubled families....It is full of concrete illustrations, each of which sheds light on some of theskills needed for implementing a systems approach to family therapy. Thus, the volume will be useful in imparting such skills to agency personnel who currently lack them." --"Science Books and Films" "This important book should be read by all professionals who work with or administer programs for poor families. The authors draw on their structural family therapy model to show how eco-systemic thinking can be effectively applied in a variety of clinical realms....The many benefits of a collaborative family approach are emphasized as is the importance of coordination among involved agencies to avoid duplication and fragmentation of services." --"The Journal of Systemic Therapies" .,."offers a fresh perspective for therapists and social workers who work with multi-crisis families, particularly the poor of the inner city....offers important insights into the human dynamics of change and growth, as well as the diverse contexts and challenges facing social workers in a daily basis." --"Perspectives"

First published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.