Slightly more than a decade ago, our text, Clinical Sociology: An Agenda
For Action, was published by Plenum Academic Publishers. Since that time
(1996), the Clinical Sociology Association has changed its name to the
Sociological Pr- tice Association and has merged with the Society for
Applied Sociology. This new organization and its joint journal became
effective in 2005. Therefore, as we began planning a second edition to
our text, we decided it would be only app- priate to change its original
title to Sociological Practice: Intervention and Social Change.
Intervention to bring about beneficial social change is the theme of
this new edition of our text. We have attempted to write a "how to do
it" type of book for students who are interested in careers in
sociological practice. We emphasize the importance of establishing a
theoretical foundation for planning an intervention for each client,
followed by an extensive assessment, fact-finding, and dialogue with the
client in selecting an appropriate intervention(s), establishing an
ethical practitioner-client relationship, and a timetable of
expectations and financial costs detailed in a written contract. Every
intervention also involves an evaluation in order to determine its
effectiveness and feedback for improvement with future clients. We
emphasize how critical it is for practitioners to be ethical in all of
their interactions as these impact referrals and the reputations of both
the practitioner and the profession.
