Customer Reviews

Social Work Practice in the Military

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Although this book was published as far back as 1999, it is still an outstanding resource today. I acquired an autographed copy of it while I was working as a Department of Army social worker for the Army Community Service in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is autographed by the editor, James G. Daley, PhD who at least in 1999 was an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Dr Daley is a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the Council on Social Work Education and the Academy of Social Workers (ACSW).

PART I:HISTORICAL CONTEXTS OF PRACTICE consists of Chapter 1: History of Army Social Work, Chapter 2: History of Navy Social Work and Chapter 3:History of Air Force Social Work. Chapter 2 was particularly meaningful to me for in 1980, as a young Navy Hospital Corpsman, I had the privilege of working with the very first commissioned Navy social worker, now retired, David Kennedy.

PART II:PRACTICE ARENAS addresses the various areas both military and civil service social workers can find themselves working in. From Chapter 4.Development and Evolution of the Family Advocacy Program in the Department of Defense, Chapter 6. Military Social Work Practice in Substance Abuse Programs, Chapter 7. Medical Social Work in the U.S. Armed Forces, Chapter 8. Military Social Work in Mental Health Programs to Chapter 9 The Role of the Social Work Officer in Support of Combat and Noncombat Operations the reader can learn of the various areas where military social work officers and Department of Defense federal social workers can make a contribution.

Social workers who have had little to no exposure to the military as far as a practice area might find PART III:UNIQUE ASPECTS OF MILITARY SOCIAL WORK particularly interesting. Chapter 11, for instance, looks at the Common and Unique Ethical Dilemmas Encountered by Military Social Workers. PART III also lends itself to such extremely relevant chapters as Chapter 13:Understanding Life in the Army:Military Life from a Service Member and Family Member Perspective, Chapter 14: Understanding LIfe in the Navy and Chapter 15:Understanding Life in the Air Force.

The final part of the book PART IV:FUTURE DIRECTIONS OF PRACTICE discusses the ever relevant issues of licensing/credentialing, "rightsizing" and "better understanding of international military social work". Chapter 19 was written about the Future of Army Social Work and Chapter 21, The Future of Air Force Social Work. Chapter 20, The Future of Navy Social Work. of course, was my favorite as it was written by David Kennedy.

This is a valuable book I only wish someone would write an updated version of as applicable to the most recent social work issues coming out our latest wars, notably in Iraq and Aghanistan.

This is a great book to help navigate and understand social work practice in the military for the lay person. If you're prior military you should know how most things work but this book is still invaluable to anyone thinking of working with this demographic which is in need of specialized social workers.

Here are two VA websites that are very helpful to veterans and their families:

Federal Benefits for Veterans, Dependents and Survivors, 2011 Edition

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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

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Social Work Practice in the Military has a copyright of 1999. I am using this book for a graduate social work electve class. I find it to be somewhat outdated. It does not cover the Iraq and Afghanistan wars which I feel are really important in order to gain the best knowledge of our soldiers. Perhaps the authors will publish a more updated version.