Following an introduction by the co-editors, this collection of 27 contributed readings from academics, students and practitioners is presented in 5 parts, introduced by 'Lead Teachers.' This book presents a framework for asset building based on the strengths, assets, and capacities of people, all of which are critical for working with rural communities.

Table of Contents

Preface. Introduction: Asset Building to Sustain Rural Communities. I. INTRODUCTION TO RURAL SOCIAL WORK: FREDDIE L. AVANT. 1. Defining "Rural" for Social Work Practice and Research (Jackie Olaveson, Pat Conway, and Chad Shaver). 2. Social Welfare and Rural People: From the Colonial Era to the Present (Paul H. Stuart). 3. Rural Social Work: Reconceptualizing the Framework for Practice (Michael R. Daley and Freddie L. Avant). 4. Rural is Real: Supporting Professional Practice through the Rural Social Work Caucus and the NASW Professional Policy Statement for Rural Social Work. (Sam Hickman). II. HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND RURAL ENVIRONMENTS: JUDITH A. DAVENPORT. 5. Strategies of Cooperation and Delivery of Human Services in Rural Areas: Sharing Community Assets (Dario Menanteau-Horta). 6. Natural Helping Networks: Assets for Rural Communities (Ted Watkins). 7. African Americans in Rural Areas: Building on Assets from An Afrocentric Perspective. (Freddie L. Avant). 8. Life in A Colonia: Identifying Community Assets (Wilma Cordova). 9. Asset Building with Rural Haitian Immigrants: A Psycho-Educational Group Intervention (Liddell L. Madden, Jay Bishop, and Alan B. Kirk). III. PRACTICE ISSUES IN RURAL CONTEXTS: SUSAN A. MURTY. 10. A Strategy for Uncovering, Accessing and Maximizing Assets and Strengths in Rural Area Social Services (Shirley M. Haulotte and Suzanne Oliver). 11. Working with Mexican Immigrants in Rural East Texas (Ruben Rodriguez, H. Stephen Cooper, and Linda Morales). 12. Using Wraparound to Build Rural Communities of Care for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbance and Their Families (Tamara S. Davis). 13. The Use of Asset-Based Community Development to Increase Rural Youth Participation in Higher Education (Dennis L. Poole and Suzannah More). 14. An Asset-based Approach to Promoting Community Well-being in a Rural County: Obstacles and Opportunities (Robin L. Ersing and Melanie D. Otis). 15. Rural Community Development in an International Setting: The Role of Sustainable Agriculture in Social Work Practice (F. Matthew Schobert and Dale A. Barron). IV. POLICY ISSUES AFFECTING RURAL POPULATIONS: BARRY L. LOCKE. 16. Utilizing an Asset-Building Framework to Improve Policies for Rural Communities: One Size Does Not Fit All Families (Sharon B. Templeman and Lynda Mitchell). 17. The Complex Challenges of Building Assets in Rural Communities and Strategic Bridging Solutions (Kristen Nyman). 18. Charitable Choice, Social Workers, and Rural Congregations: Partnering to Build Community Assets (Roger Aker and T. Laine Scales). 19. Living in Limbo: Homeless Families in Rural America (Jim Winship). 20. Transportation to Work: Policy Implications for Welfare Reform in Rural Areas (Kenneth Wedel and Fran Butler). 21. Voices from the Mountains: Living on and Past Welfare Reform (Barry L. Locke and Lucinda A. Potter). V. USING RESEARCH TO EVALUATE PRACTICE IN RURAL SETTINGS: DENNIS L. POOLE. 22. Mapping Community Assets: The Key to Effective Rural Social Work (Susan Murty). 23. Asset Building in Rural Communities through Participatory Research (Leela Thomas, Patricia Albaugh, and Bernard Albaugh). 24. Adults Who Lived in Out-of-Home-Care as Adolescents: A Qualitative Study (Pat Conway, Rick Robb, Tosha Apodaca, Sean M. Borzea, Chad Shaver, and Nancy Todd). 25. Evaluating Media Strategies In Rural Communities: The Appalachian Domestic Violence Project (Glenn Sheilds, William King, Marian Williams, Sarah Chard, Steven Lab). 26. Individual Development Accounts in Rural Communities: Implications for Research (Michal Grinstein-Weiss and Jami Curley). 27. If We Build It, Will They Come? A Case for Practice Based Research (H. Stephen Cooper and Linda Morales).

Author Biography

Dr. Calvin L. Streeter is the Meadows Foundation Centennial Professor in the Quality of Life in the Rural Environment and Director of the Ph.D. Program in Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. T. Laine Scales is Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Professional Development and Professor of Higher Education at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. She served for 12 years as a faculty member in social work at Baylor University and Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, where she taught human behavior with individuals, groups, communities, and organizations. Dr. Scales has published in the areas of social welfare history, spirituality and religion in social work, and rural social work. She has authored, edited, or co-edited seven books, including ALL THAT FITS A WOMAN: TRAINING SOUTHERN BAPTIST WOMEN FOR CHARITY AND MISSION, 1907-1926 (Mercer University Press, 2000), SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION IN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE: DECISION CASES WITH TEACHING NOTES (Council on Social Work Education, 2002), RURAL SOCIAL WORK: ASSET-BUILDING TO SUSTAIN RURAL COMMUNITIES (Brooks/Cole, 2004), and DECISION CASES FOR GENERALIST PRACTICE: THINKING LIKE A SOCIAL WORKER (Thomson, 2006). Dr. Scales earned her BA at the University of North Carolina, her MSW at the Carver School of Church Social Work, Louisville, KY, and her PhD at the University of Kentucky.