Book excerpt: Social Work Practice in the Military provides military social workers, military scholars, and civilian social workers with an overview of diverse practice settings as well as the history and future of military social work practice to give you an understanding of the military persona as an ethnic identity. This unique book provides in-depth coverage of issues such as family violence, substance abuse, medical social work, combat settings, ethical dilemmas, managed care's impact on the military, and much more. Social Work Practice in the Military is an essential guide for anyone working with military clients, families of military personnel, or near a military installation. This valuable book contains input from top current and past leaders within the ranks of military social workers to bring you a wide spectrum of firsthand ideas and input to help you better assist your military clients. Social Work Practice in the Military will help you better understand the diversity of social work practice within the military and the many unique situations a military social worker must face. This informative book will provide you with specific ways of improving the lives of your military clients and their families, such as: understanding how the most rapidly expanding arena of practice, family advocacy, which includes a broad array of family violence prevention and intervention services, can help military clients learning how TRICARE, the military managed health care program, impacts military families and social workers in order to provide your clients with the best care while working within the limited budget of a managed care program analyzing the historical discussions of the changing view of substance abuse treatment within the military and how you can best provide effective, multilevel services to your clients examining the extensive involvement of military social workers in a myriad of medical social work programs serving patients and families to help you offer the best patient care in situations involving domestic violence and drug abuse discovering essential skills for military social workers, such as, effective involvement in combat or deployed situations Through Social Work Practice in the Military, you will better understand the importance of your many roles as clinician, advocate, policymaker, resource liaison, and organizational consultant and learn how to successfully accomplish every one of these roles. Containing insight into the future directions of practice, this valuable book will help you effectively assist military clients and their families with the various challenges they face.