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to dig deeper, be more self-aware, and develop the professional self while
engaging in the more familiar tasks of deconstructing societies and systems.
The structure of part II of the book (chapters 4 through 9) presents a
largely micro- to macroflow of ideas to encourage sociologists to first become
familiar with interpersonal models of working with people and to then
become aware of issues that affect families, groups, and communities. This
micro to macro orientation of part II is grounded in the broadly conceived
ecological approach explained in chapter 2.
Part II of the book provides readers with opportunities to consider the
application of the social work imagination, notably by presenting frameworks
that help readers to move beyond theorizing. Chapter 4, for example, draws
on sociological understandings of risk but utilizes social work frameworks
of strengths and safety to develop models of practice that can have positive
application to clients and can build up clients’ strengths, rather than coerce
or control them. Chapter 7 links intervention for social problems directly
back to explanations for social problems but also anticipates that interven-
tions will help change theory. Larrison and Korr (2013, 205) noted, “We
cannot separate knowledge from action, research from practice, or theory
from wisdom”; the social work imagination joins these forms of knowledge
and action and employs them in an effort to achieve empowerment and social
justice. Chapter 8 also neatly connects micro- to macrolevel considerations
by exploring how workplace stress overload can be ameliorated from a socio-
ecological and strengths perspective. The chapter considers explicit strategies,
both individual and systemic, to reduce stress from bullying and mobbing
at work. Chapter 5 offers additional insights into how, at the organizational
level, sociologists might begin to work with groups and communities. All of
the chapters in part II attempt to apply social work knowledge and concepts
to situations and people groups that sociologists will come across in their
careers.
In today’s multicultural world, where one does not have to travel to meet
different cultures or ethnicities, having the appropriate knowledge, skills, and
values for bicultural and multicultural communication becomes critical for
sociologists. Chapters 5 and 6, with their focus on work with indigenous
communities and Pacific Islands groups, offer readers some useful insights
into emerging bicultural, multicultural, and group work skills of use to soci-
ologists. Social workers have developed many insights from working with
different cultural groups, and these two chapters have been written with
an international audience in mind. Many of the issues and myths explored
in these chapters will be familiar to readers from countries where there are
indigenous populations or marginalized ethnic communities. Sociologists
of the future will increasingly work with multiple-identity or multiethnic