Social Work

 

Holloway Hall

James A. Forte, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Office:   TETC 254-P

Phone:  410-677-5428

Email:  jaforte@salisbury.edu

Web Page:  www.webmac.com/jamesforte/

 

Scholarship and Creative Work (Selective)

Forte, J.A. (2006)  Human Behavior and the Social Environment: Models, Metaphors, and Maps for Applying Theoretical Perspectives to Practice. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.

Forte, J.A. (2001) Theories for Practice: Symbolic Interactionist Translations. University Press of America, Lanham, Maryland.

Scholarship and Creative Works:

Forte, J.A. (2005) E-mail as the modern SOS: Enlisting cyber allies in a "Save Our Undergraduate Program" campaign.  Reflections, 11(2), 32-46.

Forte, J.A. (2004) Symbolic interactionism and social work: A forgotten legacy, Part 2, Families in Society. 85(4), 521-530.

Forte, J.A. (2004) Symbolic interactionism and social work: A forgotten legacy, Part 1, Families in Society. 85(3), 391-400.

Forte, J.A. (2003) Applied symbolic interactionism: Meanings, memberships, and social work.  In L.T. Reynolds & N.J. Herman (Eds.), Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism (pp. 915-936). Altamira Press: Walnut Creek: California.

Forte, J.A. (2002) Not in my social world: A cultural analysis of media representations, contested spaces, and sympathy for the homeless, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 29(4), 131-157.

Forte, J.A. (2002) Mead, contemporary metatheory, and twenty-first century interdisciplinary team work, Sociological Practice: A Journal of Clinical and Applied Sociology, 4(4) 315-334.

 

Specialties:

Professor Forte has a special interest in symbolic interactionism and has written on the history of partnerships between interactionists and social workers, on interactionist metatheory, and on applied symbolic interactionism (a chapter in the Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism).  His other interests include the use of social and behavioral theories; the history of collaboration between pragmatists, interactionists, and social workers; policy advocacy and community service; and constructionist models of personal and public problem solving.

 

Appointment Year:

2003

 

Institutions Attended:

1990     Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia  (GPA 3.8)
1978     M.S.W., Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
1973     B.S., Fordham University, New York, New York (Psychology)

Other Credentials:

Professor Forte has been a full-time social work educator since 1990.  He was recipient of the Outstanding Virginia Social Work Educator Award, Virginia Social Work Education Consortium, October 14, 1994.  He received the President's Award for Outstanding Teaching at Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia in 1996.  Professor Forte is a member of:

Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups
Association of Baccalaureate Program Directors
Council on Social Work Education
National Association of Social Workers
Social Welfare Alliance (Bertha Capen Reynolds Society)
Society for Social Work and Research
Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction

Recent Experience:

Interim Graduate Program Coordinator, SU, Department of Social Work, Master of Social Work Program.

Presenter, "Models, metaphors, and maps: An introduction to tools for multi theory practice," presented at Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers Workshops, Cambridge, MD, October 20, 2006.

Presenter with Dr. Marvin G. Tossey, Standard 8: Phase III - implementation: Bridging assessment and program change, presented at the 24th Annual Conference of the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors, Inc., (BPD), Bridging Borders: Building Ties - Transforming Relationships, Los Angeles, CA, October 24, 2006.

Presenter, "Teaching policy theory: Models, metaphors, and maps for making sense of the interactionist perspective," presented at Shifting the Tide: Challenges for Policy Practice: The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work and Influencing State Policy Conference, Washington, D.C., June 17, 2006.

Presenter, "Models, metaphors, and maps: An introduction to tools for multi theory practice," presented at the 2006 Social Work Month Annual Conference, Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, Baltimore, MD, March 30, 2006.

Research/Practice Interests:

HBSE Education, Homelessness, Group Work, Mental Health and Illness


Press Releases:

SALISBURY, MD - Salisbury University's Dr. James Forte, professor and Graduate Program Coordinator for the Social Work Department, recently published the first edition of a new textbook titled "Human Behavior and the Social Environment: Models, Metaphors, and Maps for Applying Theoretical Perspectives to Practice."

The 512-page theory-based book provides students with tools for comprehension to help them easily compare and contrast theories.  His book also helps students understand the relevance of theory to social work practice.  Forte has written Theories for Practice: Symbolic Interactionist Translations, as well as more than 30 articles on subjects including the application of theory to areas like homelessness, domestic violence and multicultural practice.

Forte has been a full-time social work educator for the past 17 years.   He joined the Social Work Department in SU's Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies in 2003, after leaving Christopher Newport University in Virginia.  There, he received the President's Award for Outstanding Teaching in 1996.  He earned his Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University.

For more information, call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu./eof.
(December 2006).

Return to Faculty Page