Shulman book to be used in China social work training in Chinese university

The updated fourth edition of "The Skills of Helping Individuals, Families, Groups and Communities," a textbook authored by Lawrence Shulman, dean of the School of Social Work, has been chosen to educate the first generation of social workers in China at Beijing's College of Social Work.

Published in Fall 1998 by F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., and soon to be translated for use in China, the textbook has been revamped and expanded to reflect today's changing model of theory and practice of social work.

Selected portions of the book will be used by the Chinese students as their first text as they embark on their social-work education.

Traditionally, social workers have been taught to focus on their interaction with clients, whom they perceived as "victims" of birth, circumstance or society, Shulman says.

This model virtually ignored positive factors, such as a need for different types of supervision, availability and use of community resources, as well as clients' motivation, strengths and coping skills, he notes.

But the emergence within the past few years of managed health care, mandated welfare reform and other societal changes have demanded a readjustment in the way social work is practiced and is being taught, he points out.

Drawing on Shulman's rich experience and research as a social-work educator, the edition advances theory and practice models that acknowledge and incorporate recognition of, and building upon, clients' strengths and learned coping skills.

Shulman's text was selected for use at the Chinese university by Network Norway Council and faculty members at Norway's Oslo College in conjunction with College of Social Work faculty members and the Chinese Ministry of Civil Administration.

The textbook has been a staple in the classroom and in the field for more than 100,000 social-work students in the U.S. and Canada since it first was published two decades ago.

The third edition, published in 1992, was translated for use by social-work students in Bulgaria two years ago.