Social Work with Addictions

Drug addiction is a central component of some of the world's most intractable social problems. As professionals devoted to ameliorating these problems, social workers are in the front line of drug prevention efforts. Yet, social work education rarely equips practitioners to deal with the realities of addictive behavior.

Social Work with Addictions seeks to redress this problem by providing a clear account of addictions theory and a description of proven strategies for practice. Working from a social-ecological perspective, James G. Barber locates addictive behavior within a set of interacting systems that include, but also transcend, the individual with the problem. The methods described are particularly suited to social workers who confront drug addiction in the course of other, often more pressing, social problems such as domestic violence or homelessness.