Reclaiming Social Work (RSW) is a radical new system for delivering child and family social work in the UK. The system was first piloted in the London Borough of Hackney and the model has gained national recognition. At the heart of this innovative system is the endeavour to keep children together with their families. This book sets out what the Reclaiming Social Work model is, how it was implemented, and how it works. It explains the RSW system of social work 'units' made up of clinicians and therapists and headed by a consultant social worker, and demonstrates how it has worked in practice. The evidence base and theories underlying the model are also explained. Several chapters are written by consultant social workers with extensive experience of working within RSW, which outline the methodological approaches used. This book on a pioneering new social work model will be of great interest to social work managers, policymakers and academics.

This book is a timely review of scholarship in social work supervision; re-examining the state of knowledge, research and practice; and asking if it is time for a new paradigm for the field. The contributors present a universal paradigm in social work around what we understand social work to be, not only through its practice of supervision but also what this contributes to the challenge of any dominant ideas or ideals about the supervision agenda in an increasingly globalised social work context. Capturing new developments from different regions of the world, the book shows how these can inform critical practice, professional development and well-being, and have a wider impact on accountability, effectiveness and work performance. The book will be appreciated by people needing or using services, novice or learner social workers, and those responsible for training or educating in supervision knowledge and skills or preparing to take up this important role. With applications for both academic research and practitioner-based learning, this book will help to ensure the best quality and supportive practice within the workforce and community it serves. This book was originally published as a special issue of the European Journal of Social Work.

Professional social work has changed considerably over the last forty years coinciding with the demise of the social democratic consensus of the post-war years and the emergence and now domination of neoliberalism. Rather than the state through the government of the day ensuring citizens' basic needs were met via the welfare state, the belief in free market economics entails people having to be self-reliant and self-responsible. This has involved social work with children and families moving from a helping and supportive role to one that is more authoritarian, this often involving telling parents to change their behaviour and lifestyle or face the consequences. This book outlines the development of social work with children and families over the period in question, drawing on the author's unique practice experience and his extensive writings. It charts the highs and lows of social work, the latter including the dominance of managerialism which emphasises speedy completion of bureaucracy so as to ration resources and assess/manage risk. Despite this, the argument is for a critical practice which addresses service users immediate needs while simultaneously aiming towards a more socially just and equal society. This book is essential reading for everyone interested in social work including academics, students, practitioners and managers both in the UK and overseas. Social care and allied professionals more generally will also find it insightful, as will academics, students and educators of social policy and related disciplines.

Medical social work in Singapore traces its roots to the post-war period. This textbook documents the historical development and evolution of the medical social work profession in Singapore, as well as the specialist work done in the profession.The first part of the book gives an overview to the field in Singapore. It provides information which is considered as fundamental and core to medical social workers across the various medical or healthcare settings. The second part focuses on the selected practice areas and adopts an integral approach to discuss theory and practice.This book is essential for social work students who wish to learn from a range of examples of good social work practice, presented from human developmental perspectives and in sufficient breadth to provide a reasonable overview of social work practice in health care. This book also provides added lens for medical, nursing and other allied health students and practitioners who wish to better understand their patients and families.

In Self-Leadership in Social Work, Bill McKitterick calls for change in the practice of the profession. Arguing that the current approaches have minimized the social justice focus and therapeutic and change-oriented interventions, McKitterick explores the ways that strong self-leadership can help social workers refocus their attention on efforts that can achieve positive change. He identifies tactics and strategies for providing leadership within a team and in senior positions. Offering a fresh and innovative view of the field, this book will inspire social workers, managers of social services, and social work students to exercise leadership in their own practice.

The Routledge Handbook of International Critical Social Work is a companion volume to the Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work. It brings together world-leading scholars in the field to provide additional, in-depth and provocative consideration of alternative and progressive ways of thinking about social work. Critical social work is increasingly involved in a global conversation, and as a subfield of social work it is rapidly becoming an interdisciplinary field in its own right and promoting novel forms of political activism. The Handbook showcases the global influences and path-breaking ideas of critical social work and examines the different stances taken on important political and ethical issues. It provides the first complete survey of the vibrant field of critical social work in a rich international context. This definitive volume is one of the most comprehensive source books on crucial social work that is available on the international stage and an essential guide for anyone interested in the politics of social work. The Handbook is divided into sever sections • Thinking the Political • Politics and the Ruins of Neoliberalism • Negotiating the State: Resistance, Protest and Dissent • Race, Bordering Practices and Migrants • Post Colonialism, Subaltern and the Global South • Critical Feminism, Sexuality and Gender Politics • Posthumanism, Pandemics and Environment The Handbook is comprised of 46 newly written chapters (and one reprint) which concentrate on differences between European and American contributions in this field as well as explicitly identifying the significance of critical social work in the context of Latin America. It provides a further vital trajectory of intellectual practice theory via interdisciplinary discussion of areas such as biopolitics, critical race theory, boundaries of gender and sexuality, queer studies, new conceptions of community, issues of public engagement, racism and Roma people, ecological feminism, environmental humanities and critical animal studies. The Handbook is an innovative and authoritative guide to theory and method as they relate to policy issues and practice and focus on the primary debates of today in social work from a critical perspective, and will be required reading for all students, academics and practitioners of social work and related professions.

Reclaiming Chinese Society analyses the mechanisms, processes and actors producing a wide spectrum of social and cultural changes in reform China. Contrary to most literature that emphasizes economic and political processes at the expense of Chinese society, this volume argues for the centrality of the social in understanding Chinese development. Each of the eleven chapters addresses one type of grassroots activism, covering feminist activism, civic environmentalism, religious revival, violence, film, media, intellectuals, housing, citizenship and deprivation. The wide-range of research styles used in this collection, including ethnography, regional comparison, quantitative and statistical analysis, interviews, textual and content analysis, offers students a methodologically rich vista to China Studies. Written by subject experts and covering all aspects of Chinese Society, this book offers an authoritative overview of Chinese society. It is an invaluable resource for courses on Chinese Society and culture and will be of interest to students and scholars in Chinese and Asian studies.

Over the last decade there has been a series of Government policy initiatives in respect of children’s services and social work education in England, many of which aim to de-regulate or privatise aspects of these services. Critically considering the impact of the MacAlister Review, this book explores the past, present and future of children’s services in the UK from a range of perspectives – lived, professional and academic. This accessible guide provides a timely and incisive overview of the current children’s services reform agenda in the UK. It identifies current challenges, analyses both strengths and weaknesses in the current policy agenda and sets out alternative policy and practice directions for a system that can meet families’ needs.

'Another important contribution to the growing literature on critical social work. It is on the cutting edge of thinking about social work and its goal of social change.' - Kate van Heugten, Social Work Review Critical Social Work starts from the premise that a central goal of social work practice is social change to redress social inequality. Taking a critical theoretical approach, the authors explore the links between personal and social change. They confront the challenges for critical social work in the context of pressures to separate the personal from the political and in responding to the impact of changes in the socio-political, statutory and global contexts of practice. Critical Social Work has been thoroughly revised to take into account recent social, economic and political developments. Coverage of theoretical frameworks has been substantially expanded and reflects current concerns such as evidence based practice and human rights. The causes of people's marginalisation and oppression are examined in relation to class, race, ethnicity, gender and other forms of social inequality.Case study chapters in the earlier edition on working with immigrants, Indigenous people, women, men, families, people with psychiatric disabilities and those experiencing loss and grief have been updated and revised. The second edition includes new case study chapters on disability, older people, children, rurality, and violence and abuse. Critical Social Work is an essential resource to inform progressive social work practice.

This book challenges the current child protection culture and calls for family-minded humane practice where children are understood as relational beings, parents are recognized as people with needs and hopes and families as carrying extraordinary capacities for care and protection.