Social Work with Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals: A Strengths Perspective. - Review - book review

Adolescence, Spring, 2001

VAN WORMER, Katherine, WELLS, Joel, & BOES, Mary. Social Work with Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals: A Strengths Perspective. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000. 184pp. (p).

Social Work with Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals is divided into three parts. Part 1 concerns the social and cultural context of lesbian, gay, and bisexual experience. The chapters in this section follow the 1994 Council on Social Work Education mandate to include in the social work curriculum information about populations at risk, such as sexual minorities, and to emphasize the impact of discrimination, economic deprivation, and oppression on these groups. Part 2 takes us across the life span--from growing up to growing old--and reviews social scientific research pertinent to variations in sexual behavior, family forms and civil rights issues affecting living arrangements, and handling of predictable crises. Throughout this section, keen attention is paid to racial and ethnic diversity. Part 3 is practice focused. It provides first-hand case material to demonstrate effective strategies for intervention. The strengths model shapes intervention so that negative self-perceptions are challenged. Attention is paid to both individual and family therapy.