Social Work E-News 
Issue #178
September 9, 2015
 
 
 
Social Work E-News
Editor's Eye
Hello --

Welcome to Issue #178 of the Social Work E-News! Thank you for subscribing to receive this e-mail newsletter, which is brought to you by the publisher of The New Social Worker magazine, SocialWorker.com, SocialWorkJobBank.com, and other social work publications. 
 
To all new and returning social work students, I wish you a year filled with learning and growth!
 
Did you know? September 6 was Jane Addams' birthday!
 
 
This month is National Suicide Prevention Month. This week is also National Suicide Prevention Week, and tomorrow is World Suicide Prevention Day. There is one death by suicide every 13 minutes in the U.S., making suicide the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., according to Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE).
 
As social workers, it is important for us to know how to have difficult conversations, using respectful language. This is what social workers do every day. Language changes over time, and this is true of the language that we use in talking about suicide. Two social work experts—Jonathan Singer and Sean Erreger—have written “Let’s Talk About Suicide: #LanguageMatters” to explain current preferred and problematic terminology related to suicide. Our hope is that you will use this article to inform yourself and to share with others in your practice setting to start, or continue, a conversation about how you talk about these issues with your clients and others.
 
For Suicide Prevention Day, which is tomorrow, we have a new article providing valuable insight into being a suicide loss-survivor, by social worker Janet Schnell. The article, “Suicide Loss Survivors Are Not Alone,” is available here.
 
Our Fall issue is coming soon! Don’t forget—the Summer issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is available NOW. Read articles from this issue at http://www.socialworker.com. Highlights of this issue include the DSM-5 and ethics of diagnosis, living with uncertainty, evaluating job offers, working in a chronic pain clinic, job interviewing skills, finding a mentor, neuroscience and social work, sharing culture to achieve racial equity, emotional contagion through social media, a review of the long-awaited sequel to ReMoved, six book reviews, and more.
 
Here’s a quick link for immediate download of the PDF edition for Summer 2015: Summer 2015 issue: Quick Download Now
 
You can go to http://www.socialworker.com/Subscribe_to_The_New_Social_Worker and subscribe (free) to receive an e-mail reminder and table of contents of each issue of The New Social Worker magazine when it is available. If you are a subscriber to the E-News (which you are reading now), this does NOT mean that you are automatically subscribed to The New Social Worker magazine. They are two different publications.
 
If you like our Web sites, The New Social Worker, and the Social Work E-News, please help us spread the word by using the "Share" button on the right side of this newsletter to share with your friends and contacts. Tell your friends, students, or colleagues to visit us at http://www.socialworker.com, where they can download a free PDF copy of the magazine, become one of our 107,000+ fans on Facebook, and more. If you have a social work-related Web site, please feel free to link to us (www.socialworker.com) and let me know about your site, too, so I can check it out.
 
Until next time,
Linda Grobman, ACSW, LSW
Publisher/Editor
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER®
 
 
Networking:
 
 
This Month
September marks several observances, including but not limited to:
 
  • National Suicide Prevention Month
  • Healthy Aging Month
  • National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
  • National Recovery Month
  • World Alzheimer’s Month
  • National Suicide Prevention Week (September 7-13)
  • World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10)
  • RAINN Day (September 17)
  • National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day (September 18)
and more!
 
Words From Our Sponsors

 
What does a life in social work look like? You might look at it as a series of “sideways” stories! “If life were black and white, we’d have no need for social work.” Read Ogden Rogers’ collection, Beginnings, Middles, & Ends: Sideways Stories on the Art & Soul of Social Work. Available on Amazon.com (print and Kindle), Google Play (e-book), directly from the publisher, and other bookstores. Do you know a social worker or social work student who loves to read? This book is a welcome retreat from academic textbooks.
 

 
 
 
Advertise With Us
 
If you would like to reach our audience of 40,000+ social workers and others interested in social work with information about your program or social work-related product, please contact Linda for information on advertising in THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, the Social Work E-News, or on our website at SocialWorker.com.

 
Job Corner
Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC  
 
Associate Program Manager in our Workplace Mentoring Center
Full-time
MSW preferred, 1-2 years of SW experience with Master’s degree
3-4 years SW experience with Bachelor’s degree
Manage site based one-to-one mentoring programs at multiple corporate locations.
Conduct and assess client psycho-social interviews, write assessments.
Send résumé and cover letter to bbbsresume@bigsnyc.org
 

 
Social Work Consultant - San Diego and El Centro
 
Social Work Consultation to Social Service Departments in Nursing Homes. Must have LCSW and healthcare and/or geriatric experience. 
 
4-20 hours/month. Starts at $38/hour.
 
San Diego and El Centro
 
Masters in Social Work. Licensed in California (LCSW).
 
Geriatric and/or Healthcare Experience.
 
Contact: Jody Giacopuzzi, LCSW
No phone calls please.
E-mail: JodyGiac@aol.com
 

 
Find jobs for new grads and experienced social work practitioners at http://www.socialworkjobbank.com, THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER’s online job board and career center.
 
 
If you or your agency are hiring social workers, don’t forget to post your jobs on SocialWorkJobBank.com. Please check the SocialWorkJobBank “products/pricing” page for job posting options and SPECIAL offers. 
 
Job seeker services are FREE—including searching current job openings, posting your confidential résumé/profile, and receiving e-mail job alerts. Please let employers know that you saw their listings in the SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS and at SocialWorkJobBank.com.
 
There are 1,063 jobs currently posted on SocialWorkJobBank.com. Check it out today.
 
Featured Excerpt
The Internet Made Me Depressed: Emotional Contagion Through Social Media
 
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the Summer 2015 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. Read the full article at:
 
by Ellen Belluomini, LCSW
 
Truth and myths about emotional contagion and social media appear frequently on the Internet. Emotional contagion in social media occurs when an emotional state or mood, such as happiness or sadness, can be spread unknowingly between people through reading posts, tweets, blogs, and so forth. Warnings appear online about the effects of social media on mental health.
 
The upcoming political season, for example, is a potential source for emotional contagion. Social media posts, memes, and articles about the negatives of each candidate can lead to mixed emotions. Watching ads focusing on the negative behaviors candidates display or their political agendas can increase feelings of sadness, anger, or apathy.  High conflict topics like guns, civil/gay rights, and taxes can stir opposing viewpoints and irritation or even rage. Usually supportive friends may voice different opinions. The awareness of trigger topics can minimize emotional contagion.  
 
How can social workers discern the truth about social media’s effects of emotional contagion on their clients to increase treatment efficacy? Understanding society’s use of social media is a start.
 
The Internet provides a means of connection for people across generations, ethnicities, and incomes. According to Pew Research Center, more than 91% of teenagers use smartphones at least daily, with 21% identifying their use as “almost constantly.” African American and Hispanic teenagers report their Internet usage as 11-13% higher than that of their Caucasian counterparts.
 
The advancing technologies linking social media, computers, and smart phones make usage increasingly easier for every age. Of those using social media sites, 52% of adults and 71% of teens manage two or more social media accounts. Once seniors integrate technology use into their lives, 71% go online daily, with 31% specifically using Facebook. Socioeconomic level affects every category of social media users. As income increases, so does the use of multiple social media platforms. Keeping updated on these trends will help social workers ask meaningful questions in an assessment interview.
 
Initial interview questions provide identification of emotions and behavior causing distress in an individual. Emotional contagion through social media is only one aspect of assessment, but an important one. Adults utilize Facebook to a greater extent. Teenagers will explore multiple new and existing platforms for socializing. These networking sites may present different risks by population.
 
Read the rest of this article at:
 
 
Read more articles from the Summer 2015 issue of The New Social Worker.
 
Bonus: Check out our recent web-exclusive articles:
News & Resources
 
Race Forward
 
Race Forward offers a series of educational videos about systemic racism. The series includes short videos on systemic racism and the wealth gap, unemployment, housing discrimination, government surveillance, incarceration, drug arrests, immigration policy, and infant mortality.
 
Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation “advances racial justice through research, media, and practice.” Colorlines is its daily news site.
 
 

 
 
Developing a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System
 
The Child Welfare Information Gateway has published a new issue brief on developing a trauma-informed child welfare system. You can access the new brief at:
 

 
 
 
Write for THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER
 
I am seeking a limited number of articles for THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER website. I am especially interested in articles related to the following:
 
  • September—Healthy Aging Month, National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, National Recovery Month
  • October—Domestic Violence Awareness Month, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Bullying Prevention Month, Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 4-10), National Depression Screening Day (October 8),
  • November—National Family Caregivers Month, National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
  • December—World AIDS Day (December 1)
 
Let me know if you have other ideas. Our style is conversational and educational, and web articles typically run 500-750 words. We want positive articles that social workers can use to help them advance in their careers.
 
I also welcome poetry, photographs, illustrations, artwork, videos, audio, and other creative work depicting social work and related topics.
 
Please contact Linda Grobman, editor/publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, at: lindagrobman@socialworker.com
 
For consideration, submit articles to Linda Grobman with a subject line that says “Submission—(insert title or topic of submission). Attach your submission as a Word file.  Please include in this file: title of submission, your name as you want it to appear with your article, body of your submission, a brief bio about yourself. 
 
In Print
White Hat Communications, publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine and the Social Work E-News, has published several books about social work. These books make great gifts (for graduation, holidays, or other occasions) for yourself, or for your friends, students, and colleagues in social work!
 
We also publish books on nonprofit management. Want to start your own agency? We have a book for that.
 
 
HOW TO ORDER
 
All of our books are available through our secure online store at:
 
Most are also available at Amazon.com.
 
You can also view and download our catalog in PDF format.
 
Reminders
IMPORTANT UPDATE

Future newsletters will come from a new address. Please add this address to your approved senders list:
newsletters@socialworkermail.com
  
 
VISIT OUR SITES

www.socialworker.com
 
 

IN THIS ISSUE
This Month
Words from Our Sponsors
Job Corner/Current Job Openings
Featured Excerpt
News & Resources
On Our Web Site
In Print
Reminders
NEWSLETTER NECESSITIES
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
 
THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® SOCIAL WORK E-NEWS is published by:
White Hat Communications (publisher of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® magazine and THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER® ONLINE)
P.O. Box 5390
Harrisburg, PA 17110-0390
Linda Grobman, Editor
lindagrobman@socialworker.com
http://www.socialworker.com
 
 
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