Social Work With Rural Peoples by Ken Collier

Social Work With Rural Peoples: Theory and Practice

 

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About Social Work With Rural Peoples

Social workers choosing to work in smaller towns or rural communities face a different set of conditions and concerns from their city colleagues. Ken Collier wrote his now–classic text, Social Work with Rural Peoples, for those social workers, whether they are just starting out or already in the field.

The gist of Collier's genuinely radical book is that for rural social workers to be effective, they must be able to identify with the struggles of the people they are trying to help –– that trying to maintain "professional", "objective" distance will merely ensure that the social worker becomes part of the problem rather than part of the solution. For the social worker in a smaller community, "Whose side are you on?" is the most important question to be answered before any effective work can be done.

It is an indictment of the slow pace of progress against the societal problems facing rural populations that a third edition of Social Work with Rural Peoples is necessary.

About Ken Collier

Ken Collier has worked as a rural social worker in northern British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Recently retired, he taught social work and community studies at the University of Regina and Athabasaca University.

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