Craig Winston Lecroy, The Call to Social Work: Life Stories

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, June, 2004

Craig Winston Lecroy, The Call to Social Work: Life Stories. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2003. $19.95 papercover.

In his book, "The Call to Social Work" Lecroy attempts to capture the essence of "real life" social work practice through the narratives of seasoned professionals. As the title indicates, the reader is given a sense of the life experiences that drew these individuals to the field of social work, and the values that keep them committed to the profession after years of practice. There is an abundance of first-hand accounts of the need to serve clients in various practice settings and the interventions used to help them. For those undergraduate students unfamiliar with the diversity of settings where social workers can be found, this text will serve as a good introduction to this heterogeneous profession. It will also help new students clarify their motivation to work in the field.

The "Call to Social Work" is a valuable contribution to the literature because it provides a descriptive and qualitative context to a variety of practice issues which is typically missing in most introductory textbooks. East of the social worker's narratives contained in the book are three to four pages long and grouped into eight sections according to themes, such as "A Passion for Justice"; "A Healing Journey"; In Pursuit of Compassion. Those profiled in the book range from community organizers to protective service workers to psychiatric social workers. They explain the personal factors that led them to the field and describe particular episodes with clients that held special meaning or were particularly challenging. Of course, these were often one and the same. Most of all, the reader will be impressed by the realism of the accounts. Many, if not all, of the narratives could be used as starting points for student discussion groups about the dilemmas and difficulties that commonly arise for social workers, including what they do to avoid burnout and how function effectively in the face of the formidable challenges that characterize most practice settings.

Despite its obvious merits, The Call to Social Work in some respects falls short of its goal "to build a stronger bridge between the sterile academic discourse about social work and the day-to-day practice of social work." The author chose to omit personal details of the individuals, so as "to let the story represent their own self-descriptions." This was a mistake since many of the workers failed to provide details abut themselves and their practice, which would have given more depth to their stories. Often too much is left to reader's imagination. An author's introduction and summary for each profile would have been a nice addition, as would photos of the social workers and their practice settings. Despite these shortcomings, "The Call to Social Work" gives the reader a better understanding of the personal factors that propel individuals toward the vocation and keep them dedicated to a life of service, where, as one of the social workers summarized it: "We touch the triumph of the human spirit."