Frederic G Reamer

Should a therapist disclose personal information to a client, accept a client's gift, or provide a former client with a job? Is it appropriate to exchange email or text messages with clients or correspond with them on social networking websites? Some acts, such as initiating a sexual relationship with a client, are clearly prohibited, yet what about more subtle interactions, such as hugging or accepting invitations to a social event or joining a client's...

Social work rests on complex philosophical assumptions that should be central to practice, education, and training. In this book, Frederic G. Reamer explores how these issues bear on the purpose, methods, and perspectives of social work and their far-reaching implications for practice and scholarship. Reamer examines major themes across the domains of moral and political philosophy, logic, epistemology, and aesthetics. He raises questions such as:...

Few people experience life inside of prison. Even fewer are charged with the formidable responsibility of deciding whether inmates should be released. In his twenty-four years on the Rhode Island Parole Board, Frederic G. Reamer has judged the fates of thousands of inmates, deciding which are ready to reenter society and which are not. It is a complicated choice that balances injury to victims and their families against an offender's capacity for...

What circumstances lead someone to commit murder, rape, or acts of child molestation? Why does society have such a deep-seated wish for vengeance against perpetrators of heinous crimes? Can those found guilty of such crimes ever be rehabilitated? What are the long-term consequences of incarceration, for inmates and society? Officials of the criminal justice system, politicians, and ordinary citizens argue about possible answers to these controversial...