• ISBN13: 9780202363806
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: N/A
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Publisher Imprint: Aldine
• Publication Date: February 15, 2010
• Pages: 240
• Original Price: GBP 145.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 463 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): Social Work and History

From its inception in the late nineteenth century, social work has struggled to carry out the complex, sometimes contradictory, functions associated with reducing suffering, enhancing social order, and social reform. Since then, social programs like the implementation of welfare and the expansion of the service economy-which should have augured well for American social work-instead led to a continued loss of credibility with the public and within the academy.

A Dream Deferred chronicles this decline of social work, attributing it to the poor quality of professional education during the past half-century. The incongruity between social work's promise and its performance warrants a critical review of professional education. For the past half-century, the fortunes of social work have been controlled by the Council of Social Work Education, which oversees accreditation of the nation's schools of social work. Stoesz, Karger, and Carrilio argue that the lack of scholarship of the Board of Directors compromises this accreditation policy. Similarly, the quality of professional literature suffers from the weak scholarship of editors and referees. The caliber of deans and directors of social work educational programs is low and graduate students are ill-prepared to commence studies in social work. Further complicating this debate, the substitution of ideology for academic rigor makes social work vulnerable to its critics.

The authors state that, since CSWE is unlikely to reform social work education, schools of social work should be free to obtain accreditation independently, and they propose criteria for independent accreditation. A Dream Deferred builds on the past, presents a bracing critique of the present, and proposes recommendations for a better future that cannot be ignored or dismissed.

Carrillo, Terry E.: -

Terry Carrilio is assistant professor emeritus of social work at San Diego State University. She is the author of Home-Visiting Strategies: A Case-Management Guide for Caregivers.

Karger, Howard Jacob: -

Howard Jacob Karger is head of the School of Social Work & Human Services at the University of Queensland. He is the author of numerous books, including Shortchanged: Life and Debt in the Fringe Economy and American Social Welfare Policy (Sixth Edition).