Sexuality remains a neglected and largely taboo area within practice, but it can be a demanding aspect of social work. Social workers may be familiar with the importance of issues such as racism and ethnicity, but sexuality is also a very significant part of people′s lives, closest relationships and sense of identity. This valuable resource introduces the topic, using a combination of perspectives to consider sexual diversity and examining related issues across the life course, including sexual orientation, disability, HIV, sexual abuse, mental health and sexual exploitation.

Sexuality and sexual identity have been relatively marginalized areas in both social work education and practice. However, changes in policy and legislation in the UK and other countries over the past decade have brought discussions of sexuality into the mainstream public service agenda. In social work and social care, gay and lesbian citizenship rights have been explicitly recognised. In the fields of adoption and fostering new regulations and guidance have helped improve and develop practice around assessment and intervention. It remains the case, however, that sex is often perceived as a problem area within social work and social care, discussed only in relation to sexually diverse communities or in the realm of dysfunction or pathology. This collection aims to generate a more proactive and challenging discussion of sexuality and sexual identity in social work. Its starting point is that sexuality is an essential aspect of individual identity, that users must be able to express their sexuality, and that it is essential for social workers to be able to respond and discuss sexual issues appropriately. The contributions are informed by feminist research, considering, in particular, the experiences of women working in and using social care services since the 1990s. In addition to a consideration of the wider policy, legislative and service providers' perspectives, the book includes reflective accounts as well as research-led contributions, offering a comprehensive and balanced account of this important field, which aims to inform both theory and practice.

This pioneering volume explores the diversity of the social work profession's involvement in working with clients'sexual problems, including those related to age, lifestyle, and gender identity. The informative chapters reflect the development of practical knowledge and technology in this area and shed light on this emerging practice speciality. Gain unique insights into clinical intervention in relation to sexual incompatability, performance problems, and oppression of sexual expression based on social status.

The only book of its kind, Human Sexuality, Ethnoculture, and Social Work combines information about ethnocultural groups in the United States with a focus on issues about sexuality. The authors, each a member of the group about which he or she writes, contribute a unique understanding and perspective within a common conceptual framework. The basic details provide readers with the background about the cultures in general--black, Mexican, native Hawaiian and Samoan, Japanese, Jewish Philippino and Puerto Rican--with an emphasis on human sexuality. Invaluable data is included about behavior, attitudes, gender roles, family patterns, and child socialization. Social workers and other helping professionals, as well as scholars in the areas of sexuality and culture, will increase their understanding and their ability to work with clients from different ethnocultural backgrounds.

Drawing on international perspectives and research, this book explores the experiences of sex and sexuality in individuals and groups living with HIV in later life (50+).

Until now, sexuality has been treated as a specialist topic or area of specialist social work practice. This book cuts across all areas of the discipline. It examines the relationship between sexuality, sexual identities and intimacies and the life course, and showcases a range of issues pertinent to social work through these lenses. It opens up new possibilities for better understanding sexuality in social work, and contains empirical work and theorising about sexuality, intimacy and gender not currently found in a traditional course on life course theory and practice. The chapters position new areas of scholarship in sexuality including trans perspectives, masculinities, bisexuality and the voices of other gender and sexual minority populations within a life course trajectory. Empirical research picks up on the broader public health and well-being agenda with a strong focus on challenging normative theories to promote human rights and justice for marginalised individuals and groups. Sexuality, Sexual and Gender Identities and Intimacy Research in Social Work and Social Care will significantly enhance any core texts on life course theory and practice, anti-oppression and anti-discriminatory theories for professionals. It should be considered essential reading for academics, practitioners and undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Contemporary Feminisms in Social Work Practice explores feminism as core to social work knowledge, practice and ethics. It demonstrates how gender-neutral perspectives and practices obscure gender discourses and power relations. It also shows feminist social work practice can transform areas of social work not specifically concerned with gender, through its emphasis on relationships and power. Within and outside feminism, there is a growing assumption that equality has been won and is readily available to all women. However, women continue to dominate the ranks of the poor in developed and developing countries around the world; male perpetrated violence against women and children has not reduced; women outnumber men by up to three to one in the diagnosis of common mental health problems; and women continue to be severely underrepresented in every realm of power, decision-making and wealth. This worrying context draws attention to the ways gender relations structure most of the problems faced by the women, men and children in the day-to-day worlds in which social work operates. Drawing together key contemporary thinking about feminism and its place in social work, this international collection looks at both core curriculum areas taught in social work programs and a wide range of practice fields that involve key challenges and opportunities for future feminist social work. This book is suitable for all social work students and academics. It examines the nuanced nature of power relationships in the everyday and areas such as working with cross-cultural communities, mental health, interpersonal violence and abuse, homelessness, child protection, ageing, disability and sexuality.

A practical and complete introduction to contemporary social work written by subject experts, including best-selling Transforming Social Work Practice authors.

The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work is a comprehensive, evidence-informed text that addresses the needs of professionals who provide interdisciplinary, culturally sensitive, biopsychosocial-spiritual care for patients and families living with life-threatening illness. Social workers from diverse settings will benefit from its international scope and wealth of patient and family narratives. Unique to this scholarly text is its emphasis on the collaborative nature inherent in palliative care. This definitive resource is edited by two leading palliative social work pioneers who bring together an array of international authors who provide clinicians, researchers, policy-makers, and academics with a broad range of content to enrich the guidelines recommended by the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care.

As a region, the Pacific is changing rapidly. This edited collection, the first of its kind, centres Pacific-Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being in Pacific social work. In so doing, the authors decolonise the dominant western rhetoric that is evident in contemporary social work practice in the region and rejuvenate practice models with evolving Pacific perspectives. Pacific Social Work: • Incorporates Pacific epistemologies and ontologies in social and community work practice, social policy and research • Profiles contemporary Pacific needs – including health, education, environmental, justice and welfare • Demonstrates the application of Pacific-Indigenous knowledges in practice in diverse Pacific contexts • Examines Pacific-Indigenous research approaches to promote inform practice and positive outcomes • Reviews Pacific models of social and community work and their application • Fosters Pacific perspectives for social work and community work education and training in the Pacific region. Pacific Social Work demonstrates the role of social work within societies where social and cultural differences are evident, and practitioners, community groups, researchers, educators, and governments are encouraged to consider the integration between local indigenous and international knowledge and practice. Providing rigorously researched case studies, questions and exercises, this book will be a key learning resource for social work and human and community services students, practitioners, social services managers and policy makers in Australia, New Zealand and various Pacific Island states across the Pacific including Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.