Social Work in the News – January 8, 2008

Don’t stereotype social workers
Newsday, NY
She’s not a social worker, but an administrator.” This phrase serves to perpetuate stereotypes about this important profession. …

Ottawa social worker fights for homeless
Vancouver Sun,  Canada
Mary-Martha Hale is a 53-year-old social worker for the Anglican Diocese’s Centre 454 — a drop-in centre in the toughest part of the nation’s capital where …

CW Post Professor Elissa Giffords Named Social Worker of the Year
C.W. Post Campus, NY
Brookville, NY – Elissa Giffords, DSW, LCSW, associate professor of social work at the CW Post Campus of Long Island University, has been named Social …

Skid row’s neediest may get housing and care
Los Angeles Times, CA
If the board approves the next phase, beginning next week a county social service team of seven — including a social worker, mental health employees, …

Learn to negotiate to nurture your own needs this year
The Southern, IL
She has worked as a registered clinical social worker with people who have disabilities, mental health concerns and older adults, and she is a member of the …

Justices to Consider Death Penalty Issue

The Supreme Court has decided to take on the case that will decide whether the death penalty may be imposed on someone who rapes a child.

Patrick Kennedy was sentenced to death for the rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter in 1998. Until December 2007, Kennedy was the only person on death row for a crime other than murder.

NASW, along with other victims’ rights organizations, have come out against the higher penalty, asking the court to not allow those convicted of child rape be placed on death row. Read the story that covers this from The Washington Post. NASW maintains that the statute will have a negative effect, making the perpetrator more inclined to kill the victim and the healing process more difficult for the victim.

To read the entire brief, visit the NASW Legal Defense Fund and search the Amicus Brief Database.