Social work and social workers have long been concerned with families. Historically, most approaches to social work with families have focused on individual pathology and problem solving or have considered problems of a family member to be symptoms of family dysfunction. In contrast, other approaches to social work have focused on growth, function, and healing. This article describes both problem-focused and growth-focused approaches to practice and presents a strengths approach to practice that values families and builds resilience. Assumptions of the strengths approach are discussed and applied to work with families through a case example.

The concept of empowerment has become popular within the human service professions, but little agreement about its meaning or dimensions has been displayed. The authors describe an effort to clarify this elusive concept by integrating theory with practitioner perspectives. A focused, multiple-case-study method was used to gather the perspectives of human services workers on empowerment practice in the field. The authors identify areas of convergence and divergence between empowerment theory and practice.

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This study explored the dynamics of collaborative, team-based efforts to provide child welfare services in the context of a public/private partnership model of service delivery. The major areas of exploration included interprofessional team processes, factors that contribute to team effectiveness, perceptions of family participation, and attitudes toward privatization in child welfare. The study used a survey design with a self-administered questionnaire delivered to a purposive sample of 165 child welfare and community professionals who were members of interprofessional child welfare teams in a Midwest, urban county. The findings indicate that respect and unity of purpose predict team satisfaction, and that agency type predicts attitudes toward public/private partnership and some aspects of family participation.