Rural Social Work: Building and Sustaining Community Capacity 2nd Edition

“There are so few texts on rural social work it is exciting to see this excellent update. It fills an important niche for rural practitioners, helping social workers creatively recognize and build on the unique set of assets that can be found in rural communities. It’s just what I want for my students. Congratulations to Drs. Scales, Streeter & Cooper on their accomplishment.”
―Linda Hillemann, MSW, LCSW, Coordinator, UM School of Social Work Off-Campus MSW Program

“As the social work profession has evolved we have learned the value of identifying social problems while simultaneously refocusing on the qualities that empower people and move them through their hardships. Rural Social Work: Building and Sustaining Community Capacity 2nd Edition, does a masterful job of capturing this professional growth. It demonstrates movement away from our disillusionment about what cannot be done and instead focuses on our sanguine assessment of community possibilities. The editors, Scales, Streeter and Cooper, have selected contributors who understand the myriad qualities inherent to rural communities, embrace possibilities, and skillfully discuss ways and means of rural policy practice.”
―Iris Carlton-LaNey, Ph.D., Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Social Work

“Whether at the individual, family, group, community or organizational levels, rural social work practice requires a specific body of knowledge and a unique skill set. Since much of social work education assumes practice will occur in an resource-rich urban area, social workers are often perplexed when the knowledge, values and skills they have learned do not effectively translate to a rural setting. This book takes the reader from a thorough history of social welfare in rural settings to practice with diverse rural populations rarely covered in the literature (e.g., rural African Americans, Latinos, GBLT populations, rural children and adolescents, the homeless, etc.). Both the beginning and advanced practitioner will learn how to work effectively with rural congregations, formal and informal helping networks, and mapping frameworks to address capacity building in rural mental health services, schools, hospice centers, AIDS services, and community development. The authors have richly added to the body of knowledge on rural social work practice from a “down home,” multisystem perspective. Social workers, both urban and rural, must have this practical “how to” on their shelves. It will be required reading in our social work practice classes.”
―Barbara J. Nowak, Ph.D., LCSW/MSW, Program Director, Department of Social Work, Albany State University

“Rural Social Work: Building and Sustaining Community Capacity 2nd Edition, Second Edition is a wonderful update to a major text in the rural social work literature. Scales, Streeter, and Cooper, along with the chapter authors, expertly explain and demonstrate a strengths-based, asset and capacity building approach to rural social work practice. Engagingly written, this text includes useful discussion topics and activities. It will continue to be a must read text in rural social work.”
―Barbara Pierce, PHD, LMSW, ACSW, Associate Professor, Indiana University, School of Social Work

A thoughtful text integrating strengths, assets, and capacity-building themes with contemporary issues in rural social work practice

Now in its second edition, Rural Social Work is a collection of contributed readings from social work scholars, students, and practitioners presenting a framework for resource building based on the strengths, assets, and capacities of people, a tool essential for working with rural communities.

This guide considers methods for social workers to participate in the work of sustaining rural communities. Each chapter features a reading integrating the themes of capacity-building and rural social work; discussion questions that facilitate critical thinking around the chapter; and suggested activities and assignments.

Rural Social Work, Second Edition explores:

• Important practice issues in rural communities, including the challenges of working with stigmatized populations such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, the homeless, and people living with HIV/AIDS
• Practice models that hold special promise for rural social workers, including evidence-based practice and community partnership models
• Newer research tools such as asset mapping, social network analysis, concept mapping, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Exploring how social workers can integrate the tremendous resources that exist in rural communities into their practice, Rural Social Work, Second Edition provides a solid introduction to the complex, challenging, and rewarding work of building and sustaining rural communities.