Responding To Drinking Problems

Responding to Drinking Problems

In the 1970s family doctors, social workers, researchers and administrators had been aware of the inadequacy of the response to drinking problems for some time. However, there had been no systematic examination of why such agents felt negatively about drinkers and disinclined to respond to them. Originally published in 1978, this book develops a radical new perspective on the prevalence and causes of drinking problems, combining reviews of historical and contemporary literature with the authors’ own research studies. This perspective is then linked to the need for an integrated response from both medical and social services, with a particular accent on the need for a community response. By focusing on the relationship between helper and helped a solution is sought to the question which has troubled the field for many years: why are agents like family doctors and social workers so inadequate in recognising and responding to people with drinking problems? The crucial aspects within the therapeutic relationship are pinpointed and experimental studies are described which show how training, casework, supervision and the redeployment of expertise can help improve recognition rates and responses to individual drinkers. This book thus expresses the need for major changes both in our attitudes and understanding of people with drinking problems and the difficulties of agents who try to help them. It should still be of historical interest to social scientists and those involved in helping people with drinking problems.

Responding to Drinking Problems

Responding to the Homeless

Responding to the Homeless: Policy and Practice is largely a product of a unique collaboration between Russell K. Schutt and Gerald R. Garrett and their Boston community. As such, it offers a rich perspective on the problem of homelessness that is derived from the authors' shared experience with researchers, academics, students, providers, policymakers, and homeless persons themselves. Schutt and Garrett take the reader into the shelters and acquaint him or her with the philosophical and practical dilemmas facing line workers as well as policymakers. They also take the reader into the community to better understand the housing market and the dysfunctional continuities among shelter, housing, treatment, and social supports. There are sensitive discussions of the salient health problems that too commonly touch the lives of homeless individuals, such as substance abuse and AIDS. The volume also includes clear descriptions of the sometimes elusive processes of counseling and case management for homeless individuals. The sidebars of "what to do" and "what not to do" contain useful information that will both inform and empower individuals who are working on the front lines, and inspire and prepare future caregivers. While the eminently readable organization and style of the book are sugges tive of a highly practical handbook on the basics of homelessness, the authors and their contributors have also produced a scholarly volume that is replete with current research findings, programs descriptions, case studies, and vignettes.