ABSTRACT
The prevalence of sexual trauma in our society almost guarantees that social work practitioners in every setting will encounter individuals who have been victims of sexual trauma at some point over the course of their careers. As such, conceptions of trauma must be flexible and complex enough to account for the many nuances of people’s experiences of sexual trauma and the varied environments in which social workers will encounter traumatized individuals. This chapter aims to articulate the central themes that inform the book as a whole—a phenomenological approach to the nuanced nature of sexual trauma. Additionally, this chapter identifies the various uses of the case study method as a teaching tool, making this text an integral part of any trauma curriculum. Namely, the writers contend that the case study method is uniquely suited to speak to the nuanced nature of sexual trauma and, as such, the Social Work and Sexual Trauma Casebook serves to challenge and encourage readers to think beyond baseline diagnoses and manualized treatments toward a deeper appreciation of human experience. Ultimately, the authors briefly describe each chapter of the book to give the reader an understanding of the arc of the contributions.
