Book Details

• Author: Robert Adams

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

• Language: English

• Edition: 2023

• ISBN: 9781349960668

• Pages: 164

• Cover: Hardcover

• Release Date: 19-04-2023

About the Book

Self-help, Social Work and Empowerment explores the dynamic and often under-examined relationship between self-help movements and professional social work. With self-help groups gaining momentum across the world as powerful tools of individual and community empowerment, this book offers a structured and thoughtful analysis of how social workers engage with, support, or stand apart from these initiatives.

Author Robert Adams presents a comprehensive framework for understanding self-help in three core forms:

1. Self-help as an integral part of social work

2. Self-help that is facilitated by social workers

3. Self-help that is autonomous of formal social work structures

Through carefully selected literature, real-world case studies, and academic discourse, the book provides practical and theoretical insights into:

• The foundations and philosophy behind self-help

• Strategies for initiating and maintaining self-help groups

• Evaluating the effectiveness and challenges of self-help models

• Enhancing collaboration between self-helpers and social workers

Each chapter is designed to offer both reflective thought and actionable guidance, including a step-by-step method for critical appraisal and a concluding fourfold strategy for promoting empowerment among both social workers and self-helpers.

Whether you are a student, educator, policy-maker, or field practitioner, this book serves as a vital resource to understand and apply the evolving practices of self-help in the field of social work.

Chapters Include:

1. Self-Help: A Case of Unfair Dismissal

2. How Social Workers Relate to Self-Help

3. How Social Workers May Develop Integral Self-Help

4. How to Facilitate Self-Help

5. Social Workers and Autonomous Self-Help

6. Initiating and Maintaining a Self-Help Group

7. How to Appraise Self-Help

8. Self-Helpers and Social Workers

9. Furthering Self-Help

About the Author

Robert Adams is the Head of the Division of Social Work and Professional Studies at Humberside College of Higher Education. He is a seasoned academic and practitioner with extensive experience in both theoretical and applied social work, and his research focuses on empowerment, community participation, and collaborative practice.