An ever-more diverse America is getting older, but American policies are not growing with the needs of our ethnic and aging society. Age Through Ethnic Lenses explores the distinct characteristics and unique social, political, economic, and cultural situations of America's aged, while highlighting the common needs and objectives among all aging Americans. With portraits of Asians, Latinos, individuals of European and African origins, Native Americans, Socio-religious groups, women, gay men...

British social reformer Robert Owen once declared that "man is the creature of circumstances." A century and a half later, his famous words still ring true. While many adopt a fatalist approach, believing that their lot in life is inevitable, in fact a number of highly complex social factors determine the outcome of our socioeconomic status and integration into society. It may seem unfair, but the conditions into which we are born largely determine the various courses that our lives take. In...

Reflections from Common Ground . . . Cultural Awareness in Healthcare, showcases many of the opportunities and tools available for healthcare professionals to develop cultural awareness and competency. This unique book offers a way forward and easily lends itself to personal, group or institutional use. It is a tool to promote change, while also an interesting look into the origins of what we encounter in ourselves and others.

This widely used clinical reference and text provides a wealth of knowledge on culturally sensitive practice with families and individuals from over 40 different ethnic groups. Each chapter demonstrates how ethnocultural factors may influence the assumptions of both clients and therapists, the issues people bring to the clinical context, and their resources for coping and problem solving.

A "powerful and provocative" inquiry into the relationship between societies' inequality and their citizens' health, happiness and well-being (Lisa Berkman, Harvard School of Public Health).Comparing the United States with other market democracies, and one American state with another, this book presents irrefutable evidence that inequality is a driver of poor health, social conflict, and violence. Pioneering social scientist Richard Wilkinson addresses the growing ...

Social workers take pride in their commitment to social and economic justice, peace, and human rights, and in their responses to related inequalities and social problems. At a time when economic globalization, armed conflict, and ecological devastation continue to undermine human rights and the possibilities for social justice, the need for linking a structural analysis to social work practice is greater than ever.The second edition of this popular social work practice text more fu...

This book reviews, summarizes, and integrates a diverse literature on the topic of retirement and provides a coherent view to better inform researchers and practitioners. Organized around three phases of the retirement process--pre-retirement, retirement decision-making, and post-retirement--the chapters examine economic, sociological, gerontological, and psychological theory and research. Topics discussed include: types of retirement, retirement planning and preparation, early retirement ...

An international textbook designed as a quick introduction for students from around the world studying sociology of family, this text provides comprehensive coverage of the major topics in the sociology of family life.Written in an easy access style it opens with a chapter on defining family and family structures. It then moves on to discuss over a dozen major topics; from interaction and meaning in families to sexuality. David Cheal provides coverage of these topics by drawing on ...

This volume focuses on two questions: why do people from one social group oppress and discriminate against people from other groups? and why is this oppression so mind numbingly difficult to eliminate? The answers to these questions are framed using the conceptual framework of social dominance theory. Social dominance theory argues that the major forms of intergroup conflict, such as racism, classism and patriarchy, are all basically derived from the basic human predisposition to form and ...

Here is an informative overview of the causes and consequences of elder abuse in countries around the world. This book delves into the global problem of elder abuse and identifies similarities and differences that occur from country to country. Elder Abuse: International and Cross-Cultural Perspectives increases understanding of the problem of elder abuse, helping you recognize more easily the causes of elder abuse in your own country and find tactics to counter these causes. Strategies fr...

Many societal and cultural changes have taken place over the past several decades, almost all of which have had a significant effect on the mental health professions. Clinicians find themselves encountering clients from highly diverse backgrounds more and more often, increasing the need for a knowledge of cross-cultural competencies. Ellis and Carlson have brought together some of the leaders in the field of multicultural counseling to create a text for mental health professionals that not...

The most basic of human rights, the right to life, is the focus of this book.'Human rights' has increasingly come to be seen as a significant framework, both to aid understanding of the experiences of those who face oppression, and to underpin social, legal and political measures to counter it. Disabled People and the Right to Life uses this framework to explore how disabled people’s right to life is understood in different national contexts and the ways in which they are ...