Human Services and the Afrocentric Paradigm

by Schiele; Jerome H

• ISBN13: 9780789005656
• ISBN10: 0789005654
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-05-04
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Human Services and the Afrocentric Paradigm presents a new way of understanding human behavior, attacking social problems, and exploring social issues. This excellent guide shows that understanding the simultaneous forces of oppression and spiritual alienation in American society serves as a foundation for understanding the societal problems here. The first book to offer a comprehensive exposition of how the Afrocentric paradigm can be used by human service professionals and community advocates, Human Services and the Afrocentric Paradigm discusses why and how human service work is hampered by Eurocentric cultural values and will help you to offer fair and effective services to your clients.

Author Biography

Jerome H. Schiele, DSW, is Associate Professor and Director of the Ph.D. program at Clark Atlanta University School of Social Work in Atlanta, Georgia, and Research Associate-at-Large for the Institute of Africana Social Work at Temple University's School of Social Administration in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Na'im Akbar
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction	1	(16)
Woldviews and Cultural Oppression	1	(1)
Cultural Oppression and Social Science	2	(3)
Toward an Afrocentric Human Service Paradigm	5	(9)
Overview of the Book	14	(3)
The Afrocentric Worldview	17	(20)
Historic Overview	17	(3)
Criticisms of Afrocentric Worldview	20	(5)
Characteristics of This Worldview	25	(4)
Afrocentricity, Equality, and Human Liberation	29	(8)
The Evolution of Black Social Work and Its Pitfalls	37	(20)
Social Welfare in Traditional Africa	37	(6)
Black Social Welfare in America	43	(14)
Oppression and Spiritual Alienation	57	(16)
The Relationship Between Oppression and Spiritual Alienation	57	(1)
Spiritual Alienation As Philosophical Foundation of Oppression	58	(4)
Spiritual Alienation As Outcome of Oppression	62	(11)
Youth Violence and the Afrocentric Paradigm	73	(24)
Overview of Youth Violence	73	(2)
Political Economic Oppression and Youth Violence	75	(6)
Spiritual Alienation and Youth Violence	81	(6)
Cultural Misorientation and Youth Violence	87	(10)
Substance Abuse and the Afrocentric Paradigm	97	(40)
Political Economic Oppression and Substance Abuse	98	(15)
Spiritual Alienation and Substance Abuse	113	(10)
Cultural Misorientation and Substance Abuse	123	(7)
Afrocentric Drug Treatment Programs	130	(7)
The Afrocentric Paradigm and Social Welfare Philosophy, Ideology, and Policy	137	(34)
An Afrocentric Critique of American Social Welfare Philosophy	137	(6)
Foundations of an Afrocentric Political Ideology	143	(5)
Afrocentric Social Welfare Policy Recommendations	148	(23)
The Afrocentric Framework of Social Welfare Policy Analysis	171	(28)
Overview of the Afrocentric Policy Analytic Framework	171	(2)
Features of the Afrocentric Framework of Policy Analysis	173	(26)
The Afrocentric Paradigm and Human Service Organizations	199	(16)
Distinctions Between Afrocentric and Eurocentric Organizational Theories	199	(3)
The Afrocentric Paradigm and Positive Potentiality in Organizations	202	(7)
Empowerment Through Organizational Autonomy	209	(3)
Additional Considerations	212	(3)
Social Work Research and the Afrocentric Paradigm	215	(20)
Rationale for Afrocentric Social Work Research	215	(1)
Definition of Afrocentric Social Work Research	216	(1)
Attributes of Afrocentric Social Work Research	217	(18)
Conclusion: Threats to the Survival and Continuation of the Afrocentric Paradigm	235	(12)
The Trend Toward Privatization	235	(3)
The Dominance of Postpositivist Epistemology in Academia	238	(2)
Continued Uneasiness with Spirituality	240	(1)
The Ascendancy of Postmodernism	240	(2)
Continued Cultural Misorientation	242	(1)
The African Oral Tradition	243	(2)
The Afrocentric Paradigm's Association with Black People	245	(1)
Final Thoughts	245	(2)
References	247
Index	295