The New Social Worker Vol. 19, No. 4, Fall 2012 | Page 4

Publisher’s Thoughts Dear Reader, I hope you had a great summer and are now in the full swing of the fall season. This year is a presidential election year, and I have already heard of many social workers and students (like the ones on our front cover from La Salle University) who have become involved in such activities as voter registration, advocacy regarding the voter ID laws, campaigning for candidates, and the like. Linda Grobman (right) with friends of The New Social Worker—Susan As social workers, we have ethical responsibilities to clients, colleagues, practice settings, Mankita, Karen Zgoda (seated), and and the broader society. I encourage you to Kryss Shane, at the NASW conference. review the NASW Code of Ethics, and then think about which candidates’ positions are in line with our ethical responsibilities to society. Be an advocate by being involved! Don’t forget to cast your vote this November. Over the summer, 1,000 social workers gathered in Washington, DC, for the “Restoring Hope” conference of the National Association of Social Workers. I was pleased to participate as a presenter and an exhibitor. Read my blog post about it at http://blog.socialworker.com/2012/07/the-power-of-face-to-face-conference.html. I mentioned previously that I was working with my co-editor, Jennifer Clements, on a new book, Riding the Mutual Aid Bus and Other Adventures in Group Work. (See back cover.) I am pleased to tell you that this book is available NOW. Also, in the coming issues, we will be featuring a series of articles about group work. Starting in the next issue, Allan Barsky, the new chair of NASW’s National Ethics Committee, will be a regular ethics contributor to THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. In this issue, we are featuring an excerpt from Barsky’s book, Clinicians in Court. In August 2012, Hurricane Isaac headed toward the U.S., leaving fatalities in Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi. Many feared a repeat of Hurricane Katrina. The American Red Cross was ready with its new digital disaster volunteer program, spreading support and virtual hugs throughout cyberspace. Read about this new program, as well as the new Disaster Distress Helpline, on pages 30 and 31. If you are planning to apply to graduate school in social work, don’t miss Robin Wingo’s article on page 18. Also, head over to our new Social Work Graduate School Site at http://www.socialworkgradschool.com! Additional articles in this issue address burnout and self-care, homeless education, workplace safety for social workers, time machines in hospice social work, student research participation, and more! Until next time—happy reading, and enjoy the changing colors of the leaves! Fall 2012 Vol. 19, Number 4 Publisher/Editor Linda May Grobman, MSW, ACSW, LSW Contributing Writers Barbara Trainin Blank THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® (ISSN 10737871) is published four times a year by White Hat Communications, P.O. Box 5390, Harrisburg, PA 17110-0390. Phone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. Send address corrections to: [email protected] Advertising rates available on request. Copyright © 2012 White Hat Communications. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the publisher. Photo/art credits: Image from BigStockPhoto.com © Ari Sanjaya (page 4), Phatic-Photography (page 6), Ramona Smiers (page 10), Cheng En Lim (page 14), and Wolfgang Filser (page 18). The New Social Worker is indexed/abstracted in Social Work Abstracts. Editorial Advisory Board Rachel Greene Baldino, MSW, LCSW Vivian Bergel, Ph.D., ACSW, LSW Fred Buttell, Ph.D., LCSW Joseph Davenport, Ph.D. Judith Davenport, Ph.D., LCSW Sam Hickman, MSW, ACSW, LCSW Jan Ligon, Ph.D., LCSW, ACSW Joanne Cruz Tenery, MSSW Send all editorial, advertising, subscription, and other correspondence to: Write for The New Social Worker We are looking for articles from social work practitioners, students, and educators. Some areas of particular interest are: social work ethics; student field placement; practice specialties; technology; “what every new social worker needs to know,” and news of unusual, creative, or nontraditional social work. Feature articles run 1,500-2,000 words in length. News articles are typically 100150 words. Our style is conversational, practical, and educational. Write as if you are having a conversation with a student or colleague. What do you want him or her to know about the topic? What would you want to know? Use examples. The best articles have a specific focus. If you are writing an ethics article, focus on a particular aspect of ethics. For example, analyze a specific portion of the NASW Code of Ethics (including examples), or talk about ethical issues unique to a particular practice setting. When possible, include one or two resources at the end of your article—books, additional reading materials, and/or Web sites. W e also want photos of social workers and social work students “in action” for our cover, and photos to accompany your news articles! Send submissions to [email protected]. 2 The New Social Worker Fall 2012 THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER White Hat Communications P.O. Box 5390 Harrisburg, PA 17110-0390 [phone] Phone [phone] Fax [email protected] http://www.socialworker.com http://www.facebook.com/newsocialworker http://www.twitter.com/newsocialworker Print Edition: http://newsocialworker.magcloud.com