Back Home Opportunities and Challenges of Social Work with Rural Communities

Rural Americans comprise an estimated 18 per cent of the US population and represent roughly 59 million people. Counter to many popularly held beliefs, rural communities can be less than ideal places to live. While these areas may have great natural beauty, they tend to be older, poorer, face healthcare challenges, and have older housing, among other social problems. On top of that, small communities are also likely to face shortages in professional social workers.

Despite this, rural content has not been a required element of the social work curricula, even though education programs in social work often address the needs of the region they serve and many of the over 800 accredited programs in the country are located in or serve a rural area.

To support social work students and practitioners in a rural setting, Back Home brings together reader-friendly chapters from experts in the field. It extends the scope of rural social work to consider anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion; rural clinical practice; rural advanced generalist practice; and work with day laborers, the elderly, and children.

Michael R. Daley is Regents Professor and Chair in the Department of Social Work at Texas A&M University - Central Texas. He is a NASW Social Work Pioneer, a former President of NASW/Texas, and the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD). He is a former President of the Rural Social Work Caucus and received the Council on Social Work Education for Distinguished Recent Contributions to Social Work Education. His previous work includes Rural Social Work in the 21st Century.

Peggy Pittman-Munke is Social Work Program Director and Associate Professor at Murray State University. She is the current President of the Rural Social Work Caucus and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors.

Chapter 1: Appalachia: Facts, Fiction and Social Work Practice in the Region, Stacey Borasky
Chapter 2: Down a Rocky Road: Or How I Became a Rural Social Worker, Michael R. Daley
Chapter 3: Rural Social Work as a Field of Practice: The Role of the National Rural Social Work Caucus, Michael R. Daley
Chapter 4: Professional Boundaries and Dual Relationships in Rural Social Work: Challenges and Opportunities, Allan Barsky
Chapter 5: Ethical Challenges in Rural Child Welfare Practice, Suzie T. Cashwell and Mariah Moran
Chapter 6: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Centered in Rural Social Work Practice, Saundra H. Starks, Suzie T. Cashwell, and Saundra Curry Ardrey
Chapter 7: Rednecks, Hillbillies, and Hicks: Let's Stop Bashing Rural Folks, Michael R. Daley
Chapter 8: Going the Extra Mile: Advanced Generalist for Rural Practice, Michael R. Daley
Chapter 9: Rural Social Work Practice: Clinical Case Study Implications, Jose Carbajal and Wilma Cordova
Chapter 10: Affirmative Practice with Older Adults in Rural Settings, Deana F. Morrow
Chapter 11: Working With Latino Day Laborers in Rural Communities, Wilma Cordova
Chapter 12: Of Square Pegs and Round Holes: Rural Behavior in the Social Environment, Michael R. Daley
Chapter 13: "Listening to the voice of the community" "Escuchando la voz de la comunidad", Emmerentie Oliphant, Lenola Wyatt, and Freddie L. Avant
Chapter 14: Rural Housing and Homelessness the Need for Community Development, Michael R. Daley