Reconstructing Meaningful Life Worlds
A New Approach to Social Work Practice
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What is social work? In Japan, the answer is unclear, and because of this, there is great confusion in this field. For example, many of our graduate school students have reported on the disastrous situation which social workers in Japan face. They have reported that a lot of social workers experience burnout in Japan, because they have to help a wide variety of clients without the benefit of a consistently effective method. Their descriptions of the problems which social workers in Japan face was impressed us and motivated us to closely review academic publications of social work in recent years. We examined many academic journals and other publications of social work. We reached the conclusion that the theories and the skills of current social work is stuck in a blind alley. This conclusion is what motivated us ten years ago to embark on the theorization of a new social work approach. We began a re-construction of the social work approach with consideration of the basic social theory, skills, and empirical measurement. The foundation we developed is an elucidation of a concept of the social world and concept of social work which form the main components of an adequate social work theory.
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About the Book
The future of social work in Japan is confused, unclear, and stagnant. A lot of social workers experience burnout because they have to help a wide variety of clients without the benefit of a consistently effective method. In Reconstructing Meaningful Life Worlds: A New Approach to Social Work Practice, co-authors and practicing social workers Dr. Yumi Oshita and Kiyoshi Kamo present the fruitful results of ten years of researching social constructions and other related theories to develop a new paradigm of social work theory and practice.
Through identifying theoretical considerations, discussing levels of social structure, and providing skills and methods of measurement, Oshita and Kamo set the stage for their in-depth exploration of actual case studies in which their new social construction theory was used to develop effective intervention strategies. These strategies and principles, tested on a variety of clients in Japan, address a lack of vision in the theory and practice of social work in Japan today. Oshita and Kamo’s strategies can also help systematize methodology and increase the effectiveness of intervention in the field of social work around the globe. By striving to discover new theorization, we ensure the growth and survival of social work and open new worlds to those who need help most.About the Author
Dr. Yumi Oshita is an associate professor of social work at the Prefectural University of Hiroshima, a licensed social worker, and a clinical psychologist. She practices social work at Hiroshima University Hospital, with a specialty in counseling chronic pain patients and HIV patients.
Kiyoshi Kamo, MA, is a professor of social work and clinical sociology at the Prefectural University of Hiroshima, with a focus on family pathology. He has published numerous clinical books and articles about intervention in maladaptive families from the social constructionist point of view.