Social Work

In Social Work with Indigenous Communities – A human rights approach, Linda Briskman, social worker, academic and author of the acclaimed book The Black Grapevine – Aboriginal Activism and the Stolen Generations,
throws down the gauntlet to practitioners and students of social work,
challenging them to pursue a better, more informed way of meeting the
unique needs of this community.

The realisation of the human rights of Australia’s Indigenous
population has been marred by recurring and seemingly intractable issues
such as poor health and over-representation in child welfare and
juvenile justice systems. In this second edition, Briskman adopts a
discursive human rights approach which offers the potential to center
Indigenous rights and Indigenous voice.

Fully updated, the book includes new chapters and references to
literature and research which have been published since the first
edition. There are specific chapters devoted to the areas of youth,
health, criminal justice, children and families and an interrogation of
different forms of social work practice such as casework, advocacy,
research and community development.

This book provides practitioners and students with a good
understanding of the circumstances they will be presented with when
working with Indigenous communities, and an opportunity to reframe their
practice so that they can provide services that are the best fit for
Indigenous aspirations and rights. Good practice is marked by
recognition of the strengths of Indigenous communities and an
understanding of how to acknowledge and facilitate these. A human rights
framework offers the potential for this to be achieved.