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Suicide and Black American Males: Interview with Sean Joe, Ph.D.

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Today�s Social Work Podcast is on Suicide and Black American Males. Why suicide and Black Americans? Well, there is a belief among most Americans, and particularly among African American adults, that Black Americans do not kill themselves (Joe, 2006). When we think of violent death among Black Americans we think of homicide. Suicide is thought of as a �White� problem. While it is true that suicide was not a leading cause of death for African Americans 40 years ago, today it is the third leading cause of deaths among African Americans 15 � 24 years of age. So why Black American Males specifically? Well, among all racial and ethnic groups, the suicide rate is lowest among Black American females. Given that Black American males, particularly youth, are over-represented in social services, social workers need to be aware of the risk for suicide, and prepared to provide potentially life-saving services. One thing that makes social workers professionals is that we are trained to see things t...

Pediatric Oncology Social Work: Interview with Barbara Jones, Ph.D., MSW

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[Episode 55] Today�s Social Work Podcast is about social work with children who have cancer, also referred to as pediatric oncology social work. Although pediatric cancer is relatively rare event, making up less than 1% of the cases diagnosed annually, that single case affects the lives of countless others. From a treatment perspective, when a child is diagnosed with cancer, the whole family is diagnosed with cancer. Children are most likely to get cancer in their first year of life, and least likely between the ages of 5 and 14. If you are white kid in the United States you are nearly two times more likely to get cancer than if you are black. One in 300 boys and one in 330 girls will develop cancer before the age of 20. Every year 2500 children die from cancers with names like Acute Lymphoblastic Lukemia (cancer of the bone marrow - the most common childhood cancer), Hepatoblastoma (cancer of the kidney), neuroblastoma (cancer of the central nervous system), Ewings sarcoma (bone cance...

Psychoanalytic Treatment in Contemporary Social Work Practice: An Interview with Dr. Carol Tosone

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[Episode 54] Today's Social Work Podcast,  Psychoanalytic Treatment in Contemporary Social Work Practice: An Interview with Dr. Carol Tosone , addresses two questions: First, is psychodynamic treatment relevant in contemporary social work practice? In other words, does it meet the needs of the clients, the agencies, and the funding sources? Second, has clinical social work abandoned social work's historical commitment to advocating for social change? I think they are questions worth thinking about. Well, in order to answer some of these questions, I spoke with  Dr. Carol Tosone  about contemporary psychoanalytic treatment. Dr. Tosone completed her psychoanalytic training at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, where she was the recipient of the Postgraduate Memorial Award. She is an Associate Professor at the  Silver School of Social Work at New York University , the recipient of the NYU Distinguished Teaching Award and is a Distinguished Scholar in Social Work...