′Comprehensive and user-friendly. The book is helpfully constructed around a number of key themes, starting with a good attempt to define social work from historical and international perspectives and moving on to address key issues concerning the practice, knowledge, values and skills required from contemporary social work in the UK. I believe social work students, newly qualified and experienced social workers will find ths a valuable resource, especially when one is confronted by challenges in practice′ - Professional Social Work ′Social Work is a good overview that should refresh learner and tutor alike. Pratice assessors may find this book a useful update for their work with students and also a neat refresher. It is a well-written and up-to-date text, with a good sense of where future challenges lie for the social work profession in the UK. Higham is confident enough to voice the profession′s uncertainties as well as mapping the changing organisational landscape that social workers might populate. [This book] is likely to appear on many social work reading lists. [It has] the potential to provide good learning opportunities for post-qualifying as well as pre-qualifying training′ - Health and Social Care in the Community `The unique aspect of this book which distinguishes it from other competitors is that it is constructed explicitly around the key roles and benchmark statements... this book will offer something new and interesting to the growing field of social work education literature and is likely to be relevant to both students and practitioners in the UK and elsewhere′ - Dr Caroline Skehill, Queens University Belfast What is the role of social work? What does it mean to be a social worker? What are the changes affecting social work training? Social Work: Introducing Professional Practice addresses these questions and provides an understanding of the knowledge, values, and skills requirements of professional social work. The author has played a key role in constructing the subject benchmarks for the social work degree and offers a reflective and thoughtful commentary upon training, education and practice. Written in a lively and readable style, the book captures the essence of the changes sweeping through social work and engages the reader in these debates. Key features of this book include: - Comprehensive content structured around the guidelines for training and practice - Bridges the gap between theory and real-life practice - Student-friendly features such as case-studies, discussion questions, further reading and a glossary This exciting publication will be a core textbook for trainee social workers as they progress through the qualifying social work degree, or as they begin their practice as newly qualified workers seeking to consolidate their learning.

Social Work: From Theory to Practice uses an integrated approach to explore a variety of social theories through social work's unique interpretative lens. Systems, psychodynamic and person-centred theories, and cognitive-behavioural, narrative and strengths-based practices are specifically addressed, and students are shown how to apply these in human service settings. These theories are supported by case studies written by experienced practitioners, providing an in-depth exploration of the use of theory in practice. This second edition includes new material on mindfulness, and mind, body and spirit social work, as well as enhanced content relating to Indigenous social work. Social Work: From Theory to Practice is an accessible and engaging text that clearly explains the theories that underpin social work in practice.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the seminal text Radical Social Work (1975), this volume has been compiled to explore the radical tradition within social work and assess its legacy, relevance and prospects. It is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduates studying social work, as well as social work academics and researchers.

Everything you need to succeed in your social work degree! Written by subject experts, this essential guide will introduce you to all the core areas of your course, helping you develop the knowledge and skills you need to practice with confidence. Since launching in 2003, Transforming Social Work Practice has become the market-leading series for social work students. These books use activities and case studies to build critical thinking and reflection skills and will help social work students to develop good practice through learning. These books are: · Affordable · Written to the Professional Capabilities Framework · Mapped to the social work curriculum · Practical with clear links between theory and practice

This book equips readers with the essential knowledge and skills to undertake effective assessments and appropriate interventions with confidence. In part one the authors unpick exactly what assessment is, outline the assessment toolkit, apply this to practice and discuss the ins and outs of the development of a clear care plan. Drawing on activities, case studies and service user perspectives part two guides readers through the application of different intervention methods in varied contexts with diverse service user groups. This book focuses on key issues such as resilience, professional values and ethics, complexity and reflective practice, helping students not only get to grips with all the essential theory but also to develop to emotional and professional intelligence.

Published in 1998. The industrial model of the labour process developed by Braverman was applied to social work in the radical social work literature. The book engages in a more critical examination of the application of the labour process perspective to social work, with particular reference to front-line management in a local authority context. It begins with a review of the labour process literature which demonstrates the extent to which the independence of Braverman’s model on scientific management was undermined in the post-Braverman debate. The radical texts' orthodox Bravermanian approach to the social work labour process is considered. In those texts, the social work labour process is represented as having moved towards an industrial model which steadily encroached on the autonomy of front-line field social workers, through managers’ wresting of control over their work. The book advances an alternative model of the social work labour process which takes account of the distinctive features of social work, as a state-mediated, bureau-professional labour process. Findings from a small-scale case study of a social services department are presented. Data from the study are used to test the bureau-professional model of the social work labour process against the orthodox Bravermanian model. Developments in the social services department’s organizational structure are set out and the position of front-line managers is considered through an exploration of their identifications and commitments in relation to management and trade unionism. The data from their accounts support the bureau-professional model of the labour process and the position of front-line managers emerges as more ambiguous than the radical social work literature indicated. Front-line managers did not share global goals with senior management, nor were their interests merged straightforwardly with those of social workers.

A comprehensive overview of domestic and global social welfare policy Written by a team of renowned social policy experts sharing their unique perspectives on global and U.S. social welfare policy issues, Social Work and Social Policy helps social workers consider key issues that face policymakers, elected officials, and agency administrators in order to develop policies that are both fair and just. Designed as a foundational social welfare policy text, this important book meets the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). Encouraging readers' critical thinking on various issues, each chapter begins with an overarching question and "what if" scenarios, and ends with a set of suggested key terms, online resources, and discussion questions. Recognizing that policy work requires practitioners to be as fully versed as possible with the issue at hand, Social Work and Social Policy thoroughly explores: Social welfare policy as a form of social justice The evolution of the American welfare state Human security and the welfare of societies Social policy from a global perspective Challenges for social policies in Asia Welfare reform and the need for social empathy The U.S. Patriot Act and its implications for the social work profession Human rights and emerging social media Compelling and broad in scope, Social Work and Social Policy is an indispensable text for students and a valuable resource for practitioners concerned with creating social policy and governmental action guided by justice for all.

In the late 1970s the idea of volunteer ‘helping’ in social work had recently been brought to the forefront of public attention again as society had come to depend more and more on volunteer commitment to supplement, support or even replace the professional social worker. Originally published in 1977, the three self-contained essays presented in this book are all concerned with the concept of ‘helping’, and are linked by the author’s experience of an experiment in voluntary service carried out in Manchester’s special schools. Through his personal involvement in the project, Martin Davies is able to give a detailed account of its aims, and to discuss it critically. The first essay monitors the project, and the second uses material gained during interviews with the families and volunteers to analyse their attitudes towards the helping relationship. The conclusions the author reaches had major significance for the practice and organization of the personal social services in Britain. The final essay presents a lucid account of systems theory and its applicability to social work, and raises fundamental questions about the nature of support systems in an urban society.