This guide lists core resources for Social Work. Because Social Work is interdisciplinary, you may need to consult a related guide from the Research Guides site.
A web-based research methods tool created to support researchers and students as they explore relevant content across the social and behavioral sciences, covering quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods
Reference Materials
Why should I start my research with reference books?
Use reference materials to find background information. Reference books such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks and bibliographies can help you:
Explore a topic: find out what has been said about this subject, trends, issues, etc.
Identify and define unfamiliar terms or people in your reading
Find references to other books and articles on the subject
Over five hundred topics important to Canadian social work are covered, written by a highly diverse group of social workers covering all aspects of the field and all areas of the country.
This encyclopedia represents the first attempt to bring an authoritative reference resource to the many faces of disability. More than 500 world-renowned scholars have written over 1,000 entries...
More than 700 articles intended for the student and layperson cover the social, medical and political issues related to drugs and alcohol, as well as types of addiction.
The Encyclopedia of Homelessness is the first systematic effort to organize and summarize what we know about this complex topic which impacts not only the homeless but all of society. The Encyclopedia focuses on the current situation in the United States, with a comparative sampling of homelessness around the world.
This new edition of the Encylcopedia includes coverage of areas that have come to the fore since the 1995 publication of the 19th edition, including demographic changes from immigration, technology, the implications of managed care, faith-based assistance, evidence-based practice, gerontology, and trauma and disaster.
The Encyclopedia of World Poverty provides extensive and current information, as well as insight into the contemporary debate on poverty. The three volumes contain over 800 original articles written by more than 125 renowned scholars. The entries contributing to this work explore poverty in various regions of the world, and examine the difficulties associated with the definition and measurement of poverty, along with its causes and effects.
Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Social Work introduces the key ideas of evidence-based clinical social work practice and their thoughtful application. Ethical issues in assessment/diagnosis, working with diverse families to make treatment decisions, and delivering complex treatments requiring specific skill sets are also included.
Handbook of Research with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations provides a detailed examination of the current methods and theoretical frameworks for conducting research with LGBT populations.
This Handbook is the world's first generic major reference work to provide an authoritative guide to the theory, method, and values of social work in one volume. Drawn from an international field of excellence, the contributors each offer a critical analysis of their individual area of expertise.