Full Description
How can you make necessary professional judgments without being judgmental?Assessment and diagnostic skills are essential professional tools for the social worker, but all too often they are neglected or downplayed. Diagnosis in Social Work argues for the reinstatement of social diagnosis to its former place as an essential concept in social work. This courageous book demonstrates the detrimental impact of the loss of diagnostic skills on the quality of social work intervention.Combining meticulous history with insightful analysis, Diagnosis in Social Work shows how the concept of diagnosis in social work has been misunderstood. It examines the negative, narrow definition of diagnosis offered in commonly used texts. Diagnosis in Social Work includes the tools you need to use the power of correct, careful diagnosis, including:
case examples of social work diagnoses
a thorough profile of the judgments constituting a social work diagnosis
suggestions to enhance diagnostic acumen
an analysis of diagnosis as a process and a fact
ways to use computers in diagnosis
an assessment of the risks of diagnosis
Diagnosis in Social Work includes everything social work practitioners need to know about the process and meaning of this sorely neglected part of the field. It is an ideal textbook as well, and it offers suggestions for further research.
Contents
Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. The History of Diagnosis in Social Work
Chapter 3. What Led Us Astray?
Chapter 4. Diagnosis: What It Is Not!
Chapter 5. Diagnosis: What It Is
Chapter 6. Our Ethical Responsibility to Diagnose
Chapter 7. Our Ethical Responsibility to Label
Chapter 8. A Spectrum of Critical Judgments
Chapter 9. Diagnosis As a Process and a Record
Chapter 10. Diagnosis and Gut Reaction
Chapter 11. Diagnosis and Assessment
Chapter 12. Diagnosis and Theory
Chapter 13. Diagnosis and the Computer
Chapter 14. The Risks of Diagnosing
Chapter 15. Diagnosis and Research: A Contemporary Challenge
Chapter 16. Enhancing Diagnostic Skills
Chapter 17. Final Comments
Appendix: Some Examples of Social Work Diagnoses
Bibliography
Index
Reference Notes Included
