This collection of case studies that model LGBTQ+ affirmative social work practice offers real-life scenarios from a range of social work scholars, educators, and practitioners, representing diverse sexualities, genders, and intersectional identities. Together, they demonstrate contemporary, multilevel, queer-affirming social work practice with LGBTQ+ people and communities.
These fourteen case studies follow social workers across the country on their quest for quality service provision for vulnerable populations. Chapters explore issues such as finding trans-affirming care for teens, methamphetamine abuse among elderly gay men, previously exploited teens reentering foster care, navigating nonmonogamous relationships, and more. Each chapter offers concrete, comparative case formulation that depicts culturally responsive work with LGBTQ+ people by LGBTQ+ social workers. These diverse vignettes showcase a range of life experiences and explore how factors like religion, age, and immigration status affect social work practice. The case studies in this volume integrate best-practice standards and interventions, social work ethics and competencies, and clinical and critical theories. Queer Social Work is a progressive pedagogical tool that provides a forum for marginalized communities and individuals as well as the committed practitioners who serve them.
Industry Reviews
This edited volume is recommended in the hope that many more like it will follow. -- B. Troutman, The University of Texas at Arlington * Choice *
Richly descriptive and eminently readable, Queer Social Work is a welcome addition to the available literature on social work practice with LGBTQ+ people. The volume is particularly valuable for its rich illustrations of intersectionality in client identities and the implications of these intersectional identities for each client's life problems and sources of potential support. -- James I. Martin, New York University
Argueello and his colleagues' rich history and expertise in the social work profession exemplify the meaning of rigorous and scholarly work as much as they illustrate a commitment to social justice for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Their timely and widely relevant contributions are truly well-constructed and will be most useful for students, practitioners, and educators alike across a variety of readership populations and diverse settings. -- Michael Dentato, Loyola University Chicago
LGBTQ+ people, while increasingly visible in the media, are still a footnote in academia, especially in clinical training programs where affirmative theory is named but rarely articulated. Argueello and contributors have outlined complex and detailed case studies highlighting the complexity of intersectional affirmative treatment. These in-depth clinical assessments will help enhance social work programs and assist students in developing critical and compassionate affirmative care. -- Arlene Lev, University at Albany, State University of New York
This study really provides a more accurate representation of the rich tapestry of the complexities of queer lives, the challenges we face, and triumph and resilience. This contributions support the overall 'hands on - something to hold on to' for voyagers that often find themselves adrift in 'theoretical, intellectual, and historical' queer seas. -- Charlie Pitre Hoy-Ellis, University of Utah
A fabulous tool for clinical social workers that goes well beyond basic treatment planning, Queer Social Work will help students and professionals look at the "big picture" of their clients, incorporating all aspects of their lives. Crucially, Argueello and his contributors recognize intersectionality and diversity as essential elements in treating the client as a whole to create the best formulation of treatment trajectory. -- Darlene Tando, LCSW
