Main description:

This book provides students and practitioners with a theoretical and methodological foundation for implementing client- and family-centered `partnership' approaches in human services. Unlike other texts in the field, the author integrates the principles and practices of sociology with applied work in the helping professions and shows how key sociological concepts can be used to explain the nature of clients' perspectives and expand client opportunities.

Contents:

Preface. Part I: Background and Theoretical Foundations. 1. The Partnership Approach: A Sociological Model of Practice. 3. Theoretical Foundations I: Social Structure. 4. Theoretical Foundations II: Social Process. Part II: The Client's Social World and Methods for Discovering It. 5. The Social World of the Service User. 6. Identification Techniques I: Observation. 7. Identification Techniques II: Interviewing. 8. Identification Techniques III: Questionnaires. Part III: Models of Intervention and Evaluation. 9. Linking Identification and Intervention: Developing and Implementing Service Plans. 10. Social Change, Social Problems, and the Limits of Intervention. 11. Service Evaluation. Chapter Summary. Suggested Exercise I. Suggested Exercise II. Suggestions for Further Reading. Review of the Process of Partnership-Based Practice. References.