Book Review: Caught In The Storm

The strengths I found with Caught in the Storm is that it gives an insight perspective of the social work field through the eyes of a non-profit organization. Ferguson, Neuroth-Gatlin, and Borasky wrote this book in narrative to make it more relatable and straightforward for students to understand how a non-profit works to get services for their clients. They made reading about how to professional help clients in an urban area enjoyable and it was interesting to see how social workers mentally handle the stresses of helping their clients overcome obstacles. The book had a clear focus on how to acquire grants to formulate programs and how to go through the proper steps to obtain what is require. I also that it was clever how the authors thrown

Margolin statically used case records and professional writings to support and clarify his ideas about the wrongdoings of social workers. However, I did feel that with the excerpts of the writings at times did explain and support his ideas, but then at times it would make the book choppy and hard to read. Furthermore, there were sections in his book where he would critique practice that social workers were involved in, but had no way to back or support his information. To me one of Margolin’s greatest weakness with the book was the tone he used which made him came off as being righteous and arrogant. His style of writing was slightly dull and stodgy and although he did have insightful concepts, I had trouble getting through the book, because he seems to make all social workers appear that they are all the same and have alternative motives. I agree how Jerome C. Wakefield (1998) describes that Margolin book is both a good and bad piece of literature and is intellectual failure (p. 546). Another weakness I found is that he concludes that social workers have only one intention and claims that motives of kindness and caring are not honest feelings towards others. In my opinion, I feel that Margolin is focusing

Ferguson, Neuroth-Gatlin, and Borasky highlighted the social work profession in an idealistic and positive light while Margolin focused on showcasing the field in a negative light. Both books have good and bad factors and important lessons to take away. With Caught in the Storm, I learned that although working for a non-profit can hold challenges for getting grants for programs or when unexpected barriers, it can be rewarding to contact clients to services and seeing them improve along the way. I also learned that it is important for social workers to form honest relationships with clients so they can better assist them to get the appropriate services. Lastly, I learned that social workers cannot always guide their clients into the right direction and there are times where they have to step away and expect their decisions. One thing that Martha said, “One of the lessons I learned early on is that I will only be involved with clients for brief parts of their lives, and my impact will most likely be limited. We don’t control people’s choices either, so all we can do is offer them our best professional help and hope that they use it well. When they don’t do that, at least we know we did our best” (p. 72). That left a significate impression on me and I feel that it is one of the most important lessons I learned from reading this