Demographics
Gunnar Almgren and Ji Young Kang
This entry provides a brief overview of the field of social demography, the components of population change, projections for future population growth, and recent transformations in ...
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Direct Social Work Practice
Joseph Walsh
Direct social work practice is the application of social work theory and/or methods to the resolution and prevention of psychosocial problems experienced by individuals, families, and ...
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Discrimination
Kendra DeLoach McCutcheon
Social workers have a responsibility to challenge discrimination and promote social and economic justice. To fulfill this responsibility, it must be understood how discrimination exists ...
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Disparities and Inequalities
King Davis and Hyejin Jung
This entry defines the term disparity as measurable differences between groups on a number of indices. The term disparity originated in France in the 16th century and has been used as a ...
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Disproportionality and Disparities
Rowena Fong, Ruth McRoy, and Alan Dettlaff
Racial disproportionality and disparities are problems affecting children and families of color in the child welfare, juvenile justice, education, mental-health, and health-care systems. ...
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Ecological Framework
Alex Gitterman, Carel B. Germain, and Carolyn Knight
Ecological concepts and principles enable social workers to keep a simultaneous focus on people and their environments and their reciprocal relationships, not only in direct practice with ...
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Ecological Social Work
Uschi Bay
Ecological social work requires a shift in thinking for social workers because it does not place humans at the center of its concerns. Rather ecological social work puts the ...
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Feminist Social Work Practice
Cheryl A. Hyde
Feminist social work practice is based on principles derived from the political and social analyses of the women's movement. As a practice approach, feminism emphasizes gendered analyses ...
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Gay Men: Overview
James I. Martin
This entry explains who gay men are, how gay identity constructions have evolved since their inception, and how they continue to evolve. It also describes the health and mental health ...
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Gay Men: Practice Interventions
Robert L. Miller Jr.
This chapter explores salient concepts of social work practice with gay men. These concepts are described within a life cycle context. The illuminated concepts have been identified based ...
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Global Community Practice for the Global Agenda
Manohar Pawar and Marie Weil
This article presents an integrated perspective and framework for global practice towards achieving the Global Agenda. First, it presents the origin and current understanding of the Global ...
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Haitian Americans
Flore Zéphir
Haitians constitute a visible segment of American society, with a population close to 1 million. Many experience a great deal of difficulty adjusting to a different culture and language, ...
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Hate Crimes
Nancy A. Humphreys and Shannon Lane
Hate crimes and their traumatic repercussions are an important area for social worker intervention. This entry will examine how hate crimes are defined and handled, and the difficulties ...
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Health Literacy
Vivian Jackson and Wendy Jones
The revised NASW Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice (2015) requires social workers to “provide and advocate for effective communication with clients ...
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HIV/AIDS and People of Color
Michele Rountree and Courtney McElhaney Peebles
Communities of color are disproportionately burdened by the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Research has shown that race and ethnicity in the United States are population characteristics that ...
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HIV in an Era of Biomedical Advances: Prevention
Diana Rowan
Since the start of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic, numerous biomedical advances have caused the social-work response to shift from management of a crisis to prevention of ...
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Human Rights and Social Work in Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
Obie Clayton and June Gary Hopps
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) affirms a social worker’s responsibility to social change and social justice on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed peoples (NASW, 2008). ...
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Human Sexuality
Laina Y. Bay-Cheng
This entry defines sexuality and identifies dominant explanatory models. In doing so, the entry outlines the central debate regarding the relative contributions of biology and social ...
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Immigration Policy
Uma A. Segal
Individuals and families from around the globe form a continuous stream of immigrants to the United States, with waiting lists for entry stretching to several years. Reasons for this ...
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Incarcerated Women
Patricia O’Brien
This article summarizes the incidence of women in the United States who have been sentenced to prison as a consequence of a felony conviction for violation of state or federal laws. It ...
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