Environmental Social Work

Description

Social work has been late to engage with the environmental movement. Often working with an exclusively social understanding of environment, much of the social work profession has overlooked the importance of environmental issues. However, recently, the impact of and worldwide attention to climate change, a string of natural disasters, and increased understanding of issues around environmental justice has put the environment, sustainability, and well-being in the spotlight. Divided into three parts, this field-defining work explores what environmental social work is, and how it can be put into practice. The first section focuses on theory, discussing ecological and social justice, as well as sustainability, spirituality and human rights. The second section comprises case studies of evolving environmental social work practice. The case studies derive from a range of areas from urban gardens and community organizing to practice with those affected by climate change. The final section – relevant to students and lecturers – looks at learning about environmental issues in social work. Environmental Social Work provides an integrated theoretical and practical overview of why and how social work might respond to environmental factors affecting the societies and people they work with at international, national, local and individual levels. Environmental Social Work Copyright Contents List of figures and tables List of contributors Preface Introduction: Overview of the last ten years and typology of ESW Part 1 Theory: Mapping the terrain of environmental social work 1 Radical equalitarian ecological justice:A social work call to action 2 Ecosocial work with marginalized populations:Time for action on climate change 3 Environmental sustainability, sustainable development,and social work 4 Social science research in ocean environments:A social worker's experience 5 Climate change as a human rights issue Part 2 Practice: Case studies of environmental social work practice 6 Community gardens, creative community organizing,and environmental activism 7 Social work practice with drought-affected families:An Austrilian case study 8 Social work, animals, and the natural world 9 Restoration not incarceration: An environmentally based pilot initiative for working with young offenders 10 Social work and the struggle for corporate social responsibility Part 3 Education: Challenging students to respond to environmental issues 11 Transforming the curriculum: Social work education and ecological consciousness 12 Emotion, ethics, and fostering committed environmental citizenship 13 Social work education on the environment in contemporary curricula in the USA 14 Environmental sustainability: Educating social workers for interdisciplinary practice 15 Social work education for disaster relief work Conclusion Glossary Index