Just Practice: Social Justice Approach To Social Work

by Janet L. Finn, Maxine Jacobson

Just Practice

Genres: Social Work, Academic, Nonfiction

452 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2003

Reviews

[Jinglei Mao · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book mentions concepts like social justice, human rights, anti-oppressive, empowerment, which to me feel very similar and rather abstract. On the one hand, yes, they are correct and just, and the book covers everything thoroughly—but if social workers were really expected to achieve every one of these ideals, they would have to be superhuman, almost saint-like. At the end, it even claims that love is the foundation of justice work—hey… it’s not about love. I don’t even need to love someone to believe they have the right to live with dignity. I forced myself to read through it, but there are just too many terms, many overlapping in meaning, so why do we need so many polished phrases? Take “empowerment,” for example: it calls for granting power—but what kind of power? Why is it lost? How is it taken away? By whom? Honestly, I doubt whether social work as a profession can ever truly be just.

[Glenna McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is a great example of what needs to be addressed by society

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better-than-average textbook utilizing critical theory analysis. Five stars if some of the diagrams made more sense to me.

[Linda Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best textbooks I've ever read. Truly thought provoking. Very thankful for the history lessons included in it as well.

[Deepti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counting my textbook bc I read the whole thing and it’s not looking like I’ll hit 30 books read by the end of the month…….

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent textbook

[Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was assigned this book as part of my Master of Social Work coursework ("Promoting Social Justice with Diverse Populations"). I feel like this book could have been 1/4 of the size and consisted entirely of bullet points. Very boring read. Even though this book/edition was published in 2020, it already lacked relevancy by 2024.