Confronting Oppression, Restoring Justice: From Policy Analysis to Social Action (Advancing Social Work Education)
van Wormer offers, with uncommon inclusiveness, an innovative guide to the global social justice concepts that naturally link policy and clinical practice folk.  Perhaps her volume engineers the span so deftly because it so beautifully emulates our true intellectual heritage. Progressive social work educators will discover in van Wormer's book a series of effective interventions and teaching methods that have been gleaned from the best educators. Therefore, students of social policy, past and present, may experience a deep healing in these pages because van Wormer does not make the paternalistic mistakes that thwart collaboration and scholarly interest. van Wormer is as accessible to clinicians as she is to community organizers, with a presence of voice and logic that serves to demonstrate the imperative of activism and the consequences of silence. --Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, Fall, 2006, 21(3)The book makes three very important contributions to social work literature. … directly sets the context of social work practice in a world that is rooted in oppressive structures that have existed for hundreds of years, something few social work thinkers write about with such candor and forthrightness. … inspires the reader to revisit important thinkers in anti-oppressive and empowerment practice. …advocates for bringing a human rights focus to social work practice, a fresh perspective for social work that evokes a clear vision of justice welling up from the grassroots and seeking radical systemic reform. Social work educators who teach in the areas of human behavior, diversity, policy analysis, and macro practice will value the book as a resource for understanding oppression. --Social Thought: Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work, 25(1)The wide-ranging review of issues relating to oppression is not restricted to illustrations from developed countries such as Canada, the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. as one often finds in books of this nature. Comparative material from Middle Eastern, Far Eastern, and African countries is also included. --Canadian Social Work Review, Volume 22, Number 2