How can you make necessary professional judgments without being judgmental? Assessment and diagnostic skills are essential professional tools for the social worker, but all too often they are neglected or downplayed. Diagnosis in Social Work argues for the reinstatement of social diagnosis to its former place as an essential concept in social work. This courageous book demonstrates the detrimental impact of the loss of diagnostic skills on the quality of social work intervention. Combining meticulous history with insightful analysis, Diagnosis in Social Work shows how the concept of diagnosis in social work has been misunderstood. It examines the negative, narrow definition of diagnosis offered in commonly used texts. Diagnosis in Social Work includes the tools you need to use the power of correct, careful diagnosis, including: case examples of social work diagnoses a thorough profile of the judgments constituting a social work diagnosis suggestions to enhance diagnostic acumen an analysis of diagnosis as a process and a fact ways to use computers in diagnosis an assessment of the risks of diagnosis Diagnosis in Social Work includes everything social work practitioners need to know about the process and meaning of this sorely neglected part of the field. It is an ideal textbook as well, and it offers suggestions for further research. To view an excerpt online, find the book in our QuickSearch catalog at www.HaworthPress.com. Reviews: “A VIGOROUS AND HEARTFELT ANALYSIS of how to improve social work education and practice. This book can be profitably read by social workers and members of all clinical professions who work with them.” Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease “TURNER MAKES A PASSIONATE CASE for the profession to embrace the term diagnosis as the accurate and therefore correct name for what practitioners do within the worker-client helping relationship. Turner's 'diagnosis' is A RICHLY TEXTURED, MULTIDIMENSIONAL, AND INEVITABLE PROCESS. It is the essence of social work practice. Turner has placed himself with the giants of social work theory: Mary Richmond, Charlotte Towle, Florence Hollis, Gordon Hamilton, and Helen Harris Perlman.” Luke Fusco, MA, Dean, Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada “WONDERFUL, A MUST-READ. . . . Effectively captures the historical role that sound clinical judgment has played in social work . . . Turner's experience-based analysis leads the reader to a contemporary understanding of the importance of diagnosis in practice.” G. Brent Angell, PhD, LCSW, Associate Professor and MSW Program Chair, School of Social Work and Criminal Justice Studies, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina Contents: Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. The History of Diagnosis in Social Work Chapter 3. What Led Us Astray? Chapter 4. Diagnosis: What It Is Not! Chapter 5. Diagnosis: What It Is Chapter 6. Our Ethical Responsibility to Diagnose Chapter 7. Our Ethical Responsibility to Label Chapter 8. A Spectrum of Critical Judgments Chapter 9. Diagnosis As a Process and a Record Chapter 10. Diagnosis and Gut Reaction Chapter 11. Diagnosis and Assessment Chapter 12. Diagnosis and Theory Chapter 13. Diagnosis and the Computer Chapter 14. The Risks of Diagnosing Chapter 15. Diagnosis and Research: A Contemporary Challenge Chapter 16. Enhancing Diagnostic Skills Chapter 17. Final Comments Appendix: Some Examples of Social Work Diagnoses Bibliography Index Reference Notes Included from the publusher's website |