2008 Annual Index

The complete 2008 annual index is now available for viewing or downloading for free on the Families in Society Web site.

The index is divided into multiple sections: authors, subjects, and book reviews. All journal content from the past 28 years can be searched on the Web site with a variety of comprehensive online tools.
 

2008 Consulting Editors Appreciation

The list of consulting editors upon which Families in Society has relied between October 2007 and September 2008 can be downloaded or viewed on the Consulting Editor Web page.

These individuals have supplied an invaluable service that provides critical feedback to authors and improves the body of available literature. Families in Society and its publisher, the Alliance for Children and Families, extends our appreciation for their time, professionalism, and commitment to excellence. We look forward to working with our reviewers again in 2009.

Would you like to be a part of our peer review corps? Contact us for a reviewer profile form.
 

2009 Subscription Renewal—Don't Forget!

Have you renewed your subscription for 2009? Don't miss out on a new volume of research trends and practical recommendations for the social work field.

Do you use Families in Society with your students? Contact your library to make sure there's no interruption to this important resource.
 

90th Anniversary Volume in 2009

"What are you thinking?" With that earnest query, the publication now titled Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services was launched nine decades ago to gauge existing conditions in the burgeoning field of social work while tracking trends that would direct its future.

Download editorial suggestions for submissions, or visit the 90th Anniversary Volume Web page for more information on submissions and opportunities to further support the journal's nonprofit mission.
 

Call for Papers: Revisiting Risk and Resilience

For this special focus, Families in Society is soliciting manuscripts, essays, and case studies on the topic of risk and resilience. In particular, contributions from the field are sought that address whether or not changes are needed in the current practice paradigm.

Can we benefit from bringing knowledge from other fields and folding it into our own work? Have the basic assumptions of client risk and resiliency practice changed, and, if not, is it necessary to revisit those tenets and make our thoughts more sophisticated? Are there more subtle internal and external factors and resources that influence the level of resilience in clients?

Papers based on research, practice, or theory are welcome, and should clearly address the practical applications of the information they provide. For more information, including manuscript guidelines and submission deadline, visit Call for Papers: Resilience.
 

Preview the Next Issue (January-March 2009; Vol. 90, No. 1)
To acknowledge 90 years worth of service to the family social work field, the January-March 2009 issue of Families in Society will feature a special focus on parenting and families.

Other topics include cultural perspectives, restorative justice, and the journal's recurring series
"Writers at Work."   Read the abstracts for the upcoming articles. 
 

Portable Learning: Podcasts and Social Media
Families in Society now offers podcasts as an additional learning tool for social service professionals. New episodes feature the abstracts of articles found in current and future journal issues and allow for easy downloading and listening on the go. This new option to browse issues allows readers to identify articles of interest quickly, and directs them to the Families in Society Web site database to read or download the selected articles. 

Future podcasts will feature author interviews and research updates. These episodes will compliment the journal’s existing Hot Topic Webinar Series—interactive presentations with nationally-recognized experts focusing on topics relating to practice, education, and policy within social services. 

Webinars in 2008 featured social work interventions with the working poor and a comparison of child welfare outcomes for children placed in kinship care versus traditional foster care. The 2009 series will kick off in February with “No Gain, No Pain: Ethics and the Genomic Revolution,” a discussion on social work ethics and advances in genetic knowledge. Visit the Families in Society Web site for announcements on additional 2009 presentations.
 

New Articles with Online Continuing Education Courses
CE4Alliance, the online continuing education program provided by Families in Society and its publisher, the Alliance for Children and Families, features over 130 courses arranged in 20 topic categories. Visit the site, or download the course catalog.

New courses developed from articles in the October-December 2008 issue are now available:

• Challenges of Street-Level Child Welfare Reform and Technology Transfer: The Case of Team Decisionmaking
  by David S. Crampton, Thomas M. Crea, Anne Abramson-Madden,
  & Charles L. Usher (Vol. 89, No. 4)
  Course #101478 │Abstract
  Team Decisionmaking (TDM) involves a meeting of community representatives, family members, and social workers who review all decisions to remove children from their parents or changes of placement via reunification or adoption. Respondents in this study generally indicated commitment to the practice was strongest at the top leadership and diminished as one moved down from deputies to program managers, supervisors, and caseworkers. Findings suggest child welfare staff generally support the use of TDM, but caseworkers and supervisors prefer to have discretion about when they are required to use it—particularly about the time and resources required to convene TDM for all placement decisions. Ensuring that this comprehensive practice model is followed requires leadership, communication, resources, and supervision to help caseworkers move from compliance to competence in TDM practice.
   
• Survival Analyses of the Dynamics of Sibling Experiences in Foster Care
  by Vicky N. Albert & William C. King (Vol. 89, No. 4)
  Course #101476 │Abstract
  More than half of the foster care caseload consists of siblings, and recent policies and practices in child welfare demonstrate a commitment to placing kin together with support partially stemming from the belief those placements help maintain crucial bonds and minimize trauma associated with the parent–child separation. This study consistently shows that those placed completely together are less likely to remain in care over the long run and aids in speeding up the reunification process than those placed completely apart. It also offers insights about patterns of reunification under alternate conditions for siblings placed together, placed partially together, or placed apart. While siblings placed completely or partially together reunify at a faster rate than those placed apart, the gap increases over time, in particular after the first year in care. Future policies and practices need to increase commitments to place siblings together by putting a great deal of effort into recruiting, training, and supporting foster parents willing to take sibling groups and perhaps providing them with extra monetary incentives. Caseworkers will face challenges with some sibling units, such as those that have one or more members that need a much higher level of care or a more restricted environment.
   
• Enhancing the Cultural Relevance of Empirically-Supported Mental Health Interventions
  by Kyaien O. Conner & Nancy K. Grote (Vol. 89, No. 4)
  Course #101473 │Abstract
  The evidence-based practice movement has greatly stimulated mental health professionals to develop, test, and adopt efficacious treatments for clients, but what is missing in the literature is the cultural context in which these treatments must be implemented to be effective with racial/ethnic minority populations. The authors utilize the culturally centered, eight-component framework set forth by Bernal, Bonilla and Bellido (1995) to examine its utility in assessing to what extent empirically supported mental health treatments incorporate culturally relevant components. They examine two case illustrations—The Women Entering Care Study and The Promoting Healthy Families Study—both of which adapted evidence-based psychotherapies and/or pharmacotherapy to be culturally relevant to racial/ethnic minority clients with depression. The authors conclude that incorporating the components into interventions may help to reduce symptoms and improve functioning in clients, in part, by increasing client engagement and retention in treatment.
   
• Assessment and Formulation: A Contemporary Social Work Perspective
  by Ruth G. Dean & Nancy Levitan Poorvu (Vol. 89, No. 4)
  Course #101474 │Abstract
  Every clinical situation is unique and leads to the collection of information and development of a formulation specific to the particular circumstances of that situation. At the same time, the values and interests of the social work profession require a broad approach to assessment and formulation that integrates social justice, ecological, systemic, biological, cultural, spiritual, and psychological perspectives. At this time in the history of social work, there are pressures to reduce, simplify, and reconfigure the assessment and formulation process in ways that will redefine practice. The authors advocate a model for assessment and formulation that is broadly conceived containing components historically important in social work. This model reconfigures principles and methods in the light of contemporary theories and approaches. With a comprehensive model, social work can sustain the richness of multiple orientations and understandings that best inform the field.
   
• Developing Spiritual Competency With Native Americans: Promoting Wellness Through Balance and Harmony
  by Gordon E. Limb & David R. Hodge (Vol. 89, No. 4)
  Course #101475 │Abstract
  Native Americans tend to hold culturally unique beliefs about the origin of problems and ways in which problems can be ameliorated. For most tribal communities, spirituality is interconnected with health and well-being. When practitioners consider various interventions the best source of information is Native American clients themselves. They are ideally situated to assess whether or not an intervention or program is appropriate. Acknowledging this reality to clients can, in and of itself, be empowering. It is important to reiterate that interventions with Native clients do not necessarily need to be targeted to a particular cause or symptom. Rather, the focus should be on bringing the client back into balance. The relational model of wellness can be used to open a conversation with clients regarding their perceptions of what type of interventions—whether mental, physical, or spiritual—would best promote wellness. In many cases, clients believe that spiritual interventions will be necessary in order to move toward health and wellness. Practitioners should consider exploring client spiritual beliefs and practices, a process that often leads to the co-selection of various spiritual interventions.
   

View Our New Book Reviews Online
Families in Society has just expanded its reviews of publications written for social workers and other professionals in the fields of human services, psychology, behavioral health, and medical care. Dozens of newly published and archive reviews are available for free to registered Web users.

All book reviews can be accessed by becoming a registered user on the journal Web site:
Visit www.FamiliesInSociety.org/BookReviews.asp.
 

More Than Miracles: The State of the Art of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
by Insoo Kim Berg (Eds. Yvonne Dolan & Terry Trepper)
New York: Haworth Press, 2007
Reviewed by Wallace J. Gingerich
Book Review PDF

Taking On The Big Boys: Or Why Feminism Is Good For Families, Business, And The Nation
by Ellen Bravo
New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2007
Reviewed by Lisa Colarossi
Book Review PDF

This Changes Everything: The Relational Revolution in Psychology
by Christina Robb
New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2006
Reviewed by K. Jean Peterson
Book Review PDF

Homelessness in Rural America: Policy and Practice
by Paul A. Rollinson and John T. Pardeck
New York: Haworth Press, 2006
Reviewed by Joanne Riebschleger
Book Review PDF

Sharing Sacred Stories: Current Approaches to Spiritual Direction
by Robert Frager
New York: Crossroads Publishing Company, 2007
Reviewed by Ann Marie Mumm
Book Review PDF

Challenging Social Work: The Context of Practice
by Catherine McDonald
Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006
Reviewed by Katherine van Wormer
Book Review PDF

Social History Assessment
by Arlene Bowers Andrews
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 2006
Reviewed by Jonathan B. Singer
Book Review PDF

When to Worry: How to Tell if Your Teen Needs Help and What To Do About It
by Lisa Boesky
New York: AMACOM , 2007
Reviewed by Carol Santucci
Book Review PDF

Collaborating with Community-Based Organizations Through Consultation and Technical Assistance
edited by Patricia Stone Motes and Peg McCartt Hess
Irvington, NY: Columbia University Press, 2007
Reviewed by Bryan Warde
Book Review PDF

Call for Book Reviewers
Love new books about social work and related fields? Become a book reviewer and add titles to your personal library, publish reviews in Families in Society, and contribute to peer knowledge-building.

Interested in being a reviewer? Complete a book reviewer profile online* or download the form and e-mail to Reviews@FamiliesInSociety.org. 

*To submit the form online, you must have Flash installed on your Internet browser and the free Adobe Reader for PDF files.

Current Issue  │ Table of Contents  │  Article Summaries  │ Editorial

Topics in this issue include:

• Child Welfare and Foster Care
• Adoption Policies
• Ethics
• Practice Approaches
• Cultural Perspectives

Online subscribers and registered Web users can access the full-text article links below. Sign in now, subscribe, or register for a free account.

To view all articles, visit the current issue page. Online subscribers can view the complete issue and non-subscribers can view all abstracts and summaries.

Highlighted Articles:

No Gain, No Pain:  Ethics and the Genomic Revolution
by Martin T. Hall, Anna Scheyett, & Kimberly Strom-Gottfried
If current assessments of the value of human genome mapping and scientific discoveries of genetic contributions to disease are marginally accurate, the revolution will impact social workers at every level of practice, and few elements of the profession will remain untouched. Familiar ethical provisions such as confidentiality, informed consent, self-determination, and social justice take on new meaning in light of innovations in genetic science. The authors review ethical issues and practice implications emerging from advances in genetics knowledge, and suggest mechanisms for continuing professional development and involvement. In their view, social work practice likely will be positioned to help clients cope with their genetic identities, consider options for disclosure to family and friends, weigh decisions about the future, and even assist clients in identifying conditions that have a genetic link. According to the authors, social workers also are uniquely situated to translate genetic advances to clients and the lived experience for researchers involved in genetic research.
Abstract │ Article PDF (free to registered users)

Preamble, Purpose, and Ethical Principles Sections of the NASW Code of Ethics:
A Preliminary Analysis
Ray Woodcock
The author contends the first three, brief sections of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers (1999) display striking inconsistency of content and uncertainty of purpose; the decision to incorporate those sections into a single code document along with the lengthy fourth section on Ethical Standards contributes to their imperfection. The mission statement and the ethical principles, in particular, would be better if they were divided into separate documents, each with its own distinct purpose, helping to reduce the extent to which social workers must rely upon individualistic rather than shared wisdom in responding to common ethical issues. Some ethical propositions may be amenable to social scientific testing—perhaps social workers should question the ethicality of a code that disregards empirical verification. An ethical principle or standard regarding integrity, for example, might be refined or superseded by research into professional behaviors that display varying degrees of truthfulness or predictability. The author concludes that it continues to seem that the social worker, like the client, must cut his/her own path through a vast thicket of ethical possibilities, drawing upon a spectrum of sources for guidance and inspiration.
Abstract │ Article PDF (free to registered users)

Child Welfare Service Plan Compliance: Perceptions of Parents and Caseworkers
by Brenda D. Smith
Parents and caseworkers involved in the child welfare system similarly perceive service plans as directives and compliance as parental task completion and cooperation. But whereas caseworkers perceive a motivation to parent as the primary influence on service plan compliance, parents perceive multiple influences, among them confidence that compliance will ultimately lead to reunification. This study highlights the need to measure service engagement and goal attainment in ways other than task completion. Engagement in services is distinguished from “going through the motions” in caseworker training on treatment compliance, but to these respondents, “the motions” were a primary focus. Such findings raise questions about emphasis on client engagement and cooperation in child welfare and, in particular, about distinctions between “cooperation” and deference. Paradoxically, an original intent of child welfare service plans was to assure providers were meeting service obligations to families. But now, in routine practice, service plans are used to ensure parents meet objectives and obligations to complete services. Perhaps continuing infusion of family-centered and strengths-based practices can lead to service plan requirements that are tailored to individual family differences, reflective of family-identified needs, and better able to address obstacles to safe parenting.
Abstract │ Article PDF (free to registered users)

A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Ethnic Socialization Among International Adoptees
by Jayashree Mohanty & Christina Newhill
The number of American families who choose international adoption has grown dramatically during the past decade, yet concern remains about separating children from their racial/ethnic/cultural groups of origin. Findings suggest adoptive parents face a complex task in socializing their children to their birth culture: direct effect of family ethnic/racial socialization and positive developmental outcome among minority children is demonstrated, yet the effect of overemphasis of ethnic socialization poses the possibility that excessive parental emphasis is counterproductive to children’s developmental and overall psychological well-being. The authors believe an important direction for social work in international adoption practice is to develop specific recommendations for parents as a “roadmap” for guiding the process of ethnic socialization for their adopted children that will enhance the child’s self-esteem and psychosocial development, support and encourage their sense of ethnic and racial pride, and nurture their sense of belonging with their adoptive family.
Abstract │ Article PDF (free to registered users)

Toward a Model for Engaging Latino Lay Ministers in Domestic Violence Intervention
Tina U. Hancock & Natalie Ames
Rural social worker knowledge, skills, and professional networks make them ideal resources for developing collaborative domestic violence interventions involving Latino church leaders and helping professionals in their communities. In this article, structural and cultural issues are examined relating to domestic violence among rural Latino immigrants along with a culturally appropriate, environmentally-based model for intervention and prevention. The model recognizes immigrant Latino couples are often unable or unwilling to use existing community resources and that domestic violence services developed for non-Latinas may not be culturally relevant or may be perceived as threatening by illegal immigrants. The intersection of conservative religious beliefs and Latino cultural beliefs about men and women may present barriers to involving church leaders. However, social workers can frame these issues for church leaders in such a way that helps them perceive a professional and ethical obligation not to sacrifice the health and emotional well-being of abused women to preserve family units held together by the dehumanization of family members, that wives have the right to be protected from physical and emotional abuse, and male perpetrators of abuse are responsible for stopping the violence.
Abstract │ Article PDF (free to registered users)

Practitioners and educators find value in FIS ...

"Our mission is to train Pennsylvania’s public county agency Child Welfare Professionals. In [our] curriculum, we offer an overview of contracting initiatives—one of which is EBP and child welfare service provider contracting. The article Moving Best Practice to Evidence-Based Practice in Child Welfare would be beneficial to our trainees as a resource since it offers excellent information that could assist the Commonwealth’s county agency Fiscal Officers." ● Read the article abstract

Eugene (Gene) L. Detter
Curriculum and Instructional Specialist
The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Training Program
University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work
Mechanicsburg, PA
 

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We use your [practice with survivors of torture] materials as part of a training for social workers, case managers and others who provide social services support in torture treatment centers. The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1985 to provide care and rehabilitative services to survivors of politically-motivated torture and members of their families. CVT, the first organization of its kind in the United States, has pioneered a comprehensive assessment and care program. In recent years the Center expanded its work in research, training, and public policy initiatives designed to create new resources for torture survivors worldwide and new allies in the campaign to end the use of torture.
● Read the article abstracts: Article 1 and  Article 2

Ann Lundberg
National Capacity Building Project
Logistics and Communications Coordinator
The Center for Victims of Torture
Minneapolis, MN

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"I've been a consumer and contributor to Families in Society and its predecessor, Social Casework, for over twenty years. The journal has been enormously helpful in my careers as a senior executive for a social service agency and as an academic. I appreciate articles geared toward social work and other human service practitioners interested in direct practice, as well as policy and research."

Richard K. Caputo, Ph.D.
Professor of Social Policy & Research
Director, PhD Program in Social Welfare
Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Yeshiva University, New York
 

We want to hear from you...
FIS is a forum for social workers, practitioners, and educators to explore and share new ideas and concepts in the fields of social work and human services.  Let your voice be heard through Letters to the Editor, Field Notes, or Op-Ed pieces.  See www.FamiliesInSociety.org/Writing.asp for more information. 

Is there something missing you’d like featured in an FIS E-Alert? Send an email with your idea: Alerts@FamiliesInSociety.org