VCU School of Social Work

by Allison Sampson, LCSW, Doctoral Candidate

As a profession, social work pushes itself to being open and aware to fields of research that will empower our clients and enhance our ability to partner and advocate for them effectively. It is this professional value that fosters social worker's interest in exploring the explosion of neuroscientific research occurring over the last 30 years and its relevance to our work. But where do we begin? What journals and books do we read, how do we synthesize the information without becoming overloaded, and where do we make the time?

Valuing this dilemma faced by practitioners today, Dr. Rosemary Farmer offers Neuroscience and Social Work Practice: The Missing Link. This 185 page text offers both novice and seasoned social workers a reader-friendly resource dedicated to synthesizing the latest research in social neuroscience and its applicability to social work practice. Yet, the reader is not only offered this synthesis of current research but a transactional framework that supports practitioners in balancing their enhanced neurobiological perspective with the psychological, social, spiritual perspectives so important to effectively conceptualizing challenges in living. The author offers compelling arguments of the relevance of the neuroscience revolution to the social work profession, yet perhaps more compelling is her charge of the important role social work has in this revolution!

A Review by Monica Leisey, Ph.D.

It would not be unusual for an organization practice book to present numerous organizational theories, nor would it be unusual for such a book to assert that critical thinking is an important component of macro social work practice. What one would not expect to find in an organizational practice book, however, is a focus on self-awareness, complexity, and the acceptance of paradox. These three principles are exactly what the authors of Organization Practice: A Guide to Understanding Human Service Organizations assert is needed in order to practice effectively in human service organizations.

The most impressive aspect of this book is that the authors chose to present the complexity of social work organization practice over a more simplistic description. A practice guide, this is not a theory book intent on explicating and giving instructions about how to implement various theories. This book provides a framework useful for thinking about how to be a social worker at the organization level, moving towards the incorporation of difference and diversity as an avenue towards social justice both within the organization and in the organization's relationships with the greater community.

Using a heuristic borrowed from Burrell and Morgan (1979), the authors challenge (future) practitioners to consider the importance of their own understanding of the world, including their values, how they know the world, and their need for structure, and the influence of that self-awareness on their practice style. The heuristic, divided into four paradigms, warrants multiple types of organizational structures and processes, each uniquely situated and appropriate for the goal of the program, project, and/or organization. There is no inherent privilege asserted to any of the paradigms as each provides benefits and challenges. The goal is to be able to identify which paradigm is more fully expressed and to be able to use that knowledge efficiently and effectively.

Once the paradigm heuristic is described, each individual paradigm is explored from an organization practice perspective, including theoretical perspectives and practice standards. The combination of the conceptual with the practical will assist both the novice and experienced practitioner grapple with the day to day decisions and trials expected at the organization level. This combination also encourages strategic and tactical thinking in the planning and implementation of projects and programs.

While it is expected that each reader will find a paradigm within which she or he feels at home, the authors encourage readers to figure out how to operate from a multi-paradigmatic perspective, recognizing that within organizations it is possible to have numerous perspectives and paradigms in existence at one time. Developing the self-awareness and critical thinking necessary to navigate such paradoxical realities is the focus of this extraordinary book.

Organization Practice: A Guide to Understanding Human Service Organizations