The New Social Worker Vol. 20, No. 1, Winter 2013 | Page 30
Reviews
Social Work Matters: The Power of Linking
Policy and Practice, by Elizabeth F. Hoffler
and Elizabeth J. Clark, Editors, NASW Press,
Washington, DC, 2012, 360 pages, $54.99.
More than at any time in recent history, the need for the profession of social
work is now. As economic and social
stresses rise across the country, issues of
social justice are threatened as the social
and political environment shifts to a more
conservative stance toward social issues.
From founding mothers Mary Richmond
and Jane Addams, to recently retired
Congressman Ed Towns, social workers
have always been at the forefront of social
justice and the advancement of human
rights. Social Work Matters is a timely collection of entries by leading social workers, reminding the reader of the profession’s roots in policy and advocacy, and
the interdependence of micro and macro
social work.
In Social Work Matters, editors Elizabeth Clark and Elizabeth Hoffler present
two goals: to portray all that social workers accomplish in a variety of fields, and
to link the direct practice side of social
work to policy and advocacy. This collection of 47 chapters is divided into fourteen
topic areas, including administration,
advocacy, children and families, communities, corrections and the courts, direct
practice, education and loan forgiveness, equality and social justice, finances,
government programs, health, HIV/
AIDS, parity, and research. Each chapter
includes both a vignette, often taken from
a direct practice setting, and a discussion of the policy issues related to the
vignette. Specific policies are named and
described, and each chapter closes with a
series of discussion questions. This format
allows the reader to understand how
policy affects clinical and casework, and
also how policy can be influenced by the
advocacy of direct practice social workers
who see clearly the impact of policy on
individuals, families, and communities.
This book is an excellent resource
for all social workers, but is particularly
useful for social workers working in academic settings. The chapters are short,
allowing them to be useful as supplemental class readings, and the discussion
questions included in each chapter are
excellent jumping off points for further
28
The New Social Worker
classroom dialog. This book is also an
excellent resource for newer social workers who are looking for an overview of
the scope and breadth of the social work
profession.
The primary mission of the social
work profession is “to enhance human
well being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular
attention to the needs and empowerment
of people who are vulnerable, oppressed,
and living in poverty” (NASW, 2008). Social Work Matters emphasizes the essential
role that policy work plays in the accomplishment of this mission while illustrating
the scope of influence of the profession.
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