Editor's Eye

• Video: Social Work Is...
• Closing the Circle: A Memorable Moment in Social Work
• Becoming a Social Worker: A Bridge From My Past to My Future
• Remembering Frances Perkins
• A Love Letter to Social Work
• The Hard Queston: How I Got Started in Social Work
• Chestnuts
• The MSW Changed My Life

March marks several observances. In addition to Social Work Month, it is also Women’s History Month, National Kidney Month, National Problem Gambling Awareness Month, National Youth Violence Prevention Week (March 7-11), National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (March 10), National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (March 20), and more.

 

 

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HOT TITLE: 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’ new collection, Beginnings, Middles, & Ends: Sideways Stories on the Art & Soul of Social Work. Read reviews and interviews with the author at Social Justice Solutions and Social Work Career Development. Listen to an interview on Wisconsin Public Radio. Now available on Amazon.com (print and Kindle), Google Play (ebook), 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 and makes the perfect gift for graduation and other occasions.

 

For info, see http://www.beginningsmiddlesandends.com.

 

 

THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER Magazine’s Back-to-School Guide for Social Work Students, edited by Linda May Grobman and Karen Zgoda, is available now! Get this e-book at:  http://www.amazon.com/WORKER%C2%AE-Magazines--School-Students-ebook/dp/B00EZAXVJ8 (Kindle format) or http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/355823 (ePub and other formats).

 

Check out all of our social work and nonprofit books, social work greeting cards, social work buttons, and more. All of our books and products are available through our secure online store at: http://shop.whitehatcommunications.com.

 

 

You can also download our catalog in PDF format.

 

 

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**Get your textbooks!** Support The New Social Worker while you shop. Follow this link to Amazon.com for all your textbook and other supply needs.

 

Job Corner

 

Featured Excerpt

by Janice Hawkins, Ph.D., LMSW

 

Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the Winter 2014 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER. Read the full article at:

 

Being an Afro-Caribbean American social worker, I have always found it personally difficult to be receptive to therapy. I am by no means exempt from the vicissitudes of life and have entered therapy several times with varying degrees of success. I always start with good intentions, but I am the ultimate resistant client with attitude and too much information. As a black woman, I learned early that authority figures generally could not be trusted. I learned to distract them from focusing on my issues with my sense of humor and an outgoing attitude. I knew instinctively that it was important to look okay so “they” left me alone.

 

Growing up in a household with Afro-Caribbean parents, I was brought up to neither share confidences nor admit emotional pain to outsiders. The personal disclosure and behavioral changes that therapists typically suggest were often embarrassing and totally unimaginable to me even from a cultural point of view. Most women from my background would rather “handle their own business” than seek outside help from a stranger. It was considered an embarrassment to one’s family and upbringing to admit that any issue is so severe that only a “head doctor” could help.

 

As a social worker for a city agency, I was called in by a coordinator of a teen mother program to interview a teenage mother. According to the coordinator (who was Black American) and the social worker (who was Latino), there was “something wrong” with the girl. She would not carry through on instructions although she was a pleasant quiet girl who never said “no.” When I spoke to her, I recognized that as the youngest member of her household, she could not make decisions. Her grandmother would have to be consulted, as she was the family matriarch. Despite the teen mother’s age (18) and her motherhood, she was still considered a child in her culture (Guyana) and behaved as such. The program coordinator remained resistant, stating she had to change because “she is in America now.” Disclosing personal problems to a counselor (“stranger”) could not only be seen as a sign of weakness, but also as leaking family secrets. Personal matters that cause pain or discomfort are only discussed with family members and very close friends. As an indirect result, parents and other extended family members exert considerable influence on important decisions, such as career choices and choice of marriage partners, assuming an unusually strong role in structuring and directing response to stress and stressful situations.

 

Culture and ethnicity have been well documented as key factors in the psychotherapeutic process. Even if therapists are aware of the variations of African diasporic cultures, they can mistakenly think that individuals from those cultures prefer to be called “African American.” The term “African American” is commonly used to refer to individuals who share historical ties to the west coast of Africa, and to experiences of slavery. African Americans are diverse with respect to appearance, religious affiliation, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, cultural expressions, family composition, and geographical origin. But black people from the Caribbean, South and Central America, and Canada speak different languages and/or different versions of English and may consider themselves to be black but not African American because of vastly different historical and cultural experiences (Liggan & Kay, 1999).

 

Generally speaking, in family systems of African descendants, family members assist each other with child care, finances, emotional support, housing, counsel, and so forth, particularly in times of trouble or stress. Families are considered to extend to non-blood related relatives, such as neighbors, babysitters, friends, ministers, ministers’ spouses, and church family, with ties as well as bio-family members (Evans & Davies, 1996).

 

Read the rest of this article at:

 

Articles from the Winter 2014 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER include:

 

...and much more!

 

 

 

The above is just a sample of the content of the Winter issue. Visit our website for the full list of online articles and to download the full issue!

 

Features

News & Resources

 

Adoption at the Movies is a blog by none other than our own “Social Work at the Movies” columnist Addison Cooper.  In honor of Oscars season, Addison posted his own awards at http://www.adoptionlcsw.com/2014/02/the-2014-adoption-at-movies-awards.html.  The main page of the blog is http://www.adoptionlcsw.com.  Visit to read about how adoption is portrayed on the big screen.

 

 

 

I am seeking articles for upcoming issues of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine and/or our website. I am especially interested in articles in the following categories:

 

 

Our style is conversational and educational, and articles typically run 1,500-2,000 words for feature articles (considerably shorter for news items).

 

I also welcome submissions of 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

On Our Web Site

 

The Winter issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER is available now! It is available to download in PDF format at:

 

 

THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER’s Web site at http://www.socialworker.com includes the full text of hundreds of articles from past issues of the magazine. The current issue is featured on the site’s main page. Articles in various categories, such as field placement, ethics, and technology, can be found by clicking on “Articles” in the top navigation of the site.

 

In addition to the free PDF and Web versions of the magazine, the magazine is available in PRINT at http://newsocialworker.magcloud.com! Order it today!

 

You can also purchase bound volumes for 2011, 2012, and 2013 at Amazon.com. Search for “The New Social Worker” (in quotes).

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!

 

Briefly, those currently in print are:

 

 

DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS: 58 Professionals Tell Real-Life Stories From Social Work Practice (4th Edition), edited by Linda May Grobman

 

MORE DAYS IN THE LIVES OF SOCIAL WORKERS:35 Real-Life Stories of Advocacy, Outreach, and Other Intriguing Roles in Social Work Practice, edited by Linda May Grobman

 

DAYS IN THE LIVES OF GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIAL WORKERS: 44 Professionals Tell Stories From Real-Life Social Work Practice With Older Adults, edited by Linda May Grobman and Dara Bergel Bourassa.

 

 

IS IT ETHICAL? 101 SCENARIOS IN EVERYDAY SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE: A DISCUSSION WORKBOOK, by Thomas Horn

 

THE FIELD PLACEMENT SURVIVAL GUIDE: What You Need to Know to Get the Most From Your Social Work Practicum, 2^nd Edition, edited by Linda May Grobman

 

THE SOCIAL WORK GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANT’S HANDBOOK: The Complete Guide to Selecting and Applying to MSW Programs, by Jesus Reyes

 

We also publish books on nonprofit management. Want to start your own agency? Check out THE NONPROFIT HANDBOOK: Everything You Need to Know to Start and Run Your Nonprofit Organization (6th Edition) and IMPROVING QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE IN YOUR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, by Gary M. Grobman.

 

 

All of our books are available through our secure online store at:

 

 

You can also download our catalog in PDF format.

VISIT OUR SITES

www.socialworker.com