Social Work: Seeking Relevancy in the Twenty-First Century

The ecological model is a philosophy, not an emperically vallidated theory. Social work has a troubled relationship with science. It's pretty easy to get into graduate school in social work. Our scholarship is of questionable quality. As a profession we are not taken seriously on issues that are important to us. These and other disturbing truths about social work are brought forth in this volume with clarity and force. This book critically examines the dominant theories in social work, the gatekeeping and educational models in social work training, and the scope of social work practice at the beginning of the 21st century. In doing so it points out many of the weaknesses of organized social work, which after 100 years still struggles with issues of professional ideantity, uniformity of training, and common philosophy. While quite critical of many aspects of the profession, these authors clearly care about social work. Their criticism is not merely indictment, but suggests action. This book is not a wakeup call, because the issues are well known. Rather it is a challenge to us as a profession. We can not improve the state of things unless we have the courage to critically self examine ourselves and take action. This book articulates the issues better than anything else I've come across. Like a true friend, it tells you what you may not want to hear, but what you know is right.