This social work book is the first of its kind, describing practical steps that social workers can take to shape and influence both policy and politics. It prepares social workers and social work students to impact political action and subsequent policy, with a detailed real-world framework for turning ideas into concrete goals and strategies for effecting change. Tracing the roots of social work in response to systemic social inequality, it clearly relates the tenets of social work to the challenges and opportunities of modern social change. The book identifies the core domains of political social work, including engaging individuals and communities in voting, influencing policy agendas, and seeking and holding elected office. Chapters elaborate on the necessary skills for political social work, featuring discussion, examples, and critical thinking exercises in such vital areas as: Power, empowerment, and conflict: engaging effectively with power in political settings. Getting on the agenda: assessing the political context and developing political strategy. Planning the political intervention: advocacy and electoral campaigns. Empowering voters Persuasive political communication. Budgeting and allocating resources. Evaluating political social work efforts. Making ethical decisions in political social work. Political Social Work is a potent reference for social work professionals, practitioners, and students seeking core political knowledge and skills to practically advance their work. For specialists and generalists alike, it solidifies political action as vital for the evolution of the field.

Social workers encounter a number of unique forms of occupational stress on a daily basis. The more thoroughly they understand the stressors they face, the better-prepared social workers will be able to manage them successfully. Self-Care in Social Work is a guide to promote effective self-care tailored to the needs of social workers, including both individual and organizational approaches. On a personal level, it goes beyond the typical prescriptions to exercise, eat well, sleep more, and get a massage or meditate. In fact, the book is based on the premise that self-care should not be an add-on activity only happening in the rare instance there is some free time. Instead, it is conceptualized as a state of mind and considered an integral part of a social worker's training. In Self-Care in Social Work, the reader is taught how to approach individually oriented self-care through the development of self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-efficacy. At the organizational level, readers are guided through a process of learning about areas of match and mismatch between themselves and their agency structure and culture. The book is timely in that the economic downturn has put pressure on agencies to do more with less, which ultimately leads to stress. Burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma are topics that students, instructors, practitioners, and administrators are concerned about. A practical guide to stress management and approaches to self-care, this book includes narratives gathered from both students and practitioners in the field. It is an excellent resource for social workers, counselors, and mental health professionals in education.--Back cover.

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.

First published in 1982, Risk and Social Work provides a useful framework for analysing risk in the social welfare context. Surprisingly, social work and other helping professions have hitherto given little attention to the use and meaning of ‘risk’, although the term is frequently employed, with clients and helpers being described as ‘at risk’, or ‘in danger’. The media have taken up these terms, noticeably in cases involving child abuse, the elderly and conditions in psychiatric institutions, often at the expense of our image of the social services. Paul Brearley’s discussion of the analysis and management of risk in social work will therefore be of value to people working in the helping professions. Mr. Brearley begins by establishing a series of definitions, drawing primarily from the commercial insurance field, and from the literature on scientific and workplace hazards. These definitions form the base for a framework of risk analysis which stresses the importance of values and the chance element in decision making about risk. He shows how this framework can be used in practice in emergency and risky situations, and looks at the management of hazards and uncertainty with particular reference to social work practice.

In the 1970s, social work in Britain was in crisis. A process of self-searching had begun, stimulated by changes in the organization of social services departments, by the growth of the radical movement in social work, and by the emergence of new techniques in social work. All this might have seemed a confusing and depressing prospect, but Professor Howard Jones, the editor of this collection of essays, originally published in 1975, felt on the contrary that this new situation in social work presented an opportunity for a potentially rewarding debate. He believed that the old unsatisfactory mould had been broken, and that it was now possible for the first time for many years to look at the basic issues in social work without preconceptions. The contributors to this book were all actively involved in the teaching and practice of social work at the time, and they came together to initiate a debate on the leading issues of the day. They were all concerned to find a right course for social work in this crucial period, and among the topics they cover are social work training, social workers and political action, community participation, and making use of research.

The first new social work history to be written in over twenty years, Social Work Practice and Social Welfare Policy in the United States presents a history of the field from the perspective of elites, service providers, and recipients. This book uniquely chronicles and analyzes the development of social work practice theory on two levels: from the top down, looking at the writings, conference presentations, and training course material developed by leaders of the profession; and from the bottom up, looking at case records for evidence of techniques that were actually applied by social workers in the field. Additionally, the author takes a careful and critical look at the development of social work methods, setting it apart from existing histories that generally accept the effectiveness of the field's work. Addressing CSWE EPAS standards at both the BSW and MSW levels, Social Work Practice and Social Welfare Policy in the United States is ideal both as a primary text for history of social work/social welfare classes and a supplementary text for introduction to social work/social welfare or social welfare policy and services classes.

School Social Work: Practice, Policy, and Research has been a foundational guide to the profession for over 40 years. Featuring 30 readings divided into five parts, this best-selling text reflects the many ways that school social work practice impacts academic, behavioral, and social outcomes for both youths and the broader school community. The essays include selections from both pioneers in the field and newcomers who address the remarkable changes and growing complexities of the profession. The ninth edition of School Social Work features a stronger focus on evidence informed practice and adds substantial new content related to antiracist practice and trauma-informed care. It retains the holistic model of school social work practice that has informed all previous editions of this cornerstone text, making it a relevant and vital resource for today's practitioners and students as schools grapple with how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.

A definitive textbook on adult services, bringing the topic alive for students with a perspective and depth of understanding.