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In this article, findings from a national survey of social service managers are described. Respondents were asked to identify theories and models of management that influenced their administrative activities. The results indicate that many of the respondents used an empowerment-oriented approach to management. Respondents were more likely to engage in management activities that focused on empowering staff than in activities intended to increase client involvement in the political process or organizational decision making. However, when the responses of participants with MSW degrees were compared with those of nonsocial workers, findings indicate that social workers are more likely to engage in workplace activities that facilitate the political empowerment of clients. KEY WORDS: empowerment; management practice; participatory management; theories of management, As defined by Gutierrez, Parsons, and Cox (1998), empowerment practice in social work can occur in interactions between clients and workers, among members of self-help groups, and in actions taken [...]

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing recognition that social work should be evidence based. The potential contribution of evidence-based practice (EBP) to the effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability [...]

Anti-oppressive research in social work is defined and suitable assessment criteria are discussed using a case study.

Community organizers often encounter ethical dilemmas in practice. Most organizers engage on a regular basis with community residents, constituency groups, local institutions, and government decision makers. Consequently, most practice activities [...]

The rioting in Los Angeles in 1992 following the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney G. King beyond submission could have been predicted. Most of the United States [...]

Despite the social turmoil created by drug abusers who are resistant to treatment, very little has been done to develop techniques for working with them. This article identifies some of the more promising approaches in the literature. Among these are individualized and objective feedback on the social and physiological effects of drug consumption. Expert advice to quit and the deliberate manipulation of environmental contingencies by workers can also be effective, as can partner interventions such as reciprocity marriage counseling and reinforcement training. Resistant drug abusers are of particular interest to social workers, who frequently encounter drug addiction in the context of some other, often more pressing, social crisis such as domestic violence or homelessness., In recent years, the psychological treatment of addiction has come to be dominated by the so-called transtheoretical model of change developed by Prochaska and DiClemente (1984, 1986; Prochaska, 1982). Under [...]

Although the current composition of the Supreme Court and appointments to lower federal courts by President Reagan foreclose most opportunities for progressive social policy reform through federal litigation, state courts may provide avenues for law reform litigation. Such litigation, including single suits as well as more complex "litigation campaigns," should remain a tool in the arsenal of policy reformers, including social workers. This article focuses on litigation campaigns, summarizing potential roles of social workers in conceptualizing, planning, and pursuing such campaigns and in monitoring and protecting reforms achieved through such campaigns. References are made throughout to examples of social work roles in the welfare rights campaign of the late 1960s.

An oncology social work case management model of intervention is described quantitatively and qualitatively. Sixty-nine newly diagnosed breast cancer patients followed by telephone for one year required 374 hours of the social worker's time in providing reassurance, information, and referral to existing community resources. This process took less than one-half hour per patient per month. Case examples provide insight into the clinical aspects of the social worker's efforts. This telephone-based model was found to be highly effective and cost-efficient in addressing the rehabilitation needs of cancer patients. It also is a generic model that can be used with cancer patients with any disease sige or phase of illness.

The ethical scrutiny and governance in UK social work research namely the ethical basis of research, the policy contexts that impact upon social work research and issues and processes of accountability between all stakeholders is described. The exploration reveals that the dominance of the natural sciences paradigm in the social science is nationally, regionally and internationally.

An apparent dissonance between the dominance in Britain of 'anti-oppressive' social work discourse and the social work discourse is discussed. The success of 'anti-oppressive' discourse should adopt as a strategy of critical analysis.

Drawing on research that explores conditions that facilitate reflective practice in child-care social work contexts it is suggested that whilst individual internal characteristics play a part in the development of reflective child-care practice, there are a number of organizational, external conditions which are of equal significance.

The relationship between implementation of the marketing approach and the successful execution of a community project with regard to adherence to the programme implementation plan, programme's effectiveness, its contribution to the organization it is intended to serve and client empowerment is investigated.

The concept of dialogue is examined further at the internal and external levels and the relevance of internal and external dialogue to social work practice and education is discussed.

The author reviews the implications of how the new act in the U.K. will tackle the problem of protecting and empowering vulnerable adults with decision making deficiencies and the issues arising form it.

The need to integrate the social and health care services in relevance to dementia is put forward with the possible difficulties that may be faced for policy and practice implementation.

The bold initiative taken in Scotland to provide free personal care to all aged citizens regardless of income is welcomed as well as viewed skeptically.

The mixed opinions between social organizations on the move by the U.K. government to give cash against care facilities to the elderly are the topic of discussion in the article.

The increasing interest in leadership in general and in social work in particular is examined, and the absence of a generalized definition of the term and the many ways it is interpreted in social work are highlighted. Some components of leadership are considered and the extent to which such skills are exclusive to leadership is discussed.

The decreasing emphasis on the political role of social work in the U.K. in promoting social inclusion, citizenship and social justice is discussed. The importance of forms of participatory democracy through social work is highlighted by linking the discourse around the growth and change in user involvement with the discourse around political participation.

The research on the importance of decision making to social work practice is limited, due to methodological difficulties and thus it is argued that factorial survey, as a research design to study the way professionals make decisions, would address the problem. It is observed that factorial survey has potential as a method for rigorous study of the impact of client, family and context factors on decisions by social work and social care staff.

A study examines a total social services adult care population, excluding residential care, in the context of its co-terminous health authority population. It also explores the care population shared between social services and other agencies, identifying the amount of shared care and the characteristics of specific shared care subgroups.