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It is essential that social work students understand the lasting impact political decision making can have on service users, yet little guidance exists on this subject. This valuable book provides a comprehensive introduction to politics in social work, unifying the themes of political ideology and social construction across several areas of social work practice, including emerging areas of practice. The book: • Introduces the dominant political ideologies in the UK; • Examines the impact of these ideological perspectives on different demographic groups; • Explores emerging areas of growing political interest such as radicalisation; • Employs case studies and examples from practice to aid student understanding. Including helpful key points to guide reading at the beginning of each chapter, as well as exercises for seminars and further reading recommendations, this text will be an invaluable resource to all students in social work.
This path-breaking text constructs a new way of thinking about social work based on contemporary social theory. Working in a counter-tradition that is suspicious of a number of governing ideas and practices in social work, it draws on themes from Beck, Giddens, Rose to explore the impact of risk society and neo liberalism on social work.
The social work profession calls on its members to strive for social justice. It asks aspiring and practicing social workers to advocate for political change and take part in political action on behalf of marginalized people and groups. Yet this macro goal is often left on the back burner as the day-to-day struggles of working directly with clients take precedence. And while most social workers have firsthand knowledge of how public policy neglects or outright harms society’s most vulnerable, too few have training in the political processes that created these policies. This book is a concise, accessible guide to help social workers understand how politics and policy making really work—and what they can do to help their clients and their communities. Helping readers develop sustainable strategies at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels, this book is a hands-on manual to contemporary American politics, showing social workers and social work students how to engage in effective activism. Stephen Pimpare, a political scientist with extensive experience as a social work practitioner and instructor, offers informed, practical grounding in the mechanics of policy making and the tools that activists and outsiders can use to take on an entrenched system. He distills key research and insights from political science and related disciplines into a practical resource for social work students, instructors, and practitioners looking to deepen their policy knowledge and capacity to achieve change.
Kenneth McLaughlin highlights the need for a new approach to social work that has a more optimistic view of both individuals and society, and of their capacity to overcome problems.
Global social work: crossing borders, blurring boundaries is a collection of ideas, debates and reflections on key issues concerning social work as a global profession, such as its theory, its curricula, its practice, its professional identity; its concern with human rights and social activism, and its future directions. Apart from emphasising the complexities of working and talking about social work across borders and cultures, the volume focuses on the curricula of social work programs from as many regions as possible to showcase what is being taught in various cultural, sociopolitical and regional contexts. Exploring the similarities and differences in social work education across many countries of the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Pacific, the book provides a reference point for moving the current social work discourse towards understanding the local and global context in its broader significance.
How is social work shaped by global issues and international problems and how should it address them? This book employs a radical perspective to examine international social work. Globalisation had opened up many issues for social work, including how to address global inequalities, the impact of global economic problems and trends towards neoliberalism. By examining the origins of modern social work, problematising its definition and addressing the care/control dichotomy the book reveals what we can learn from different approaches and projects across the globe. Case studies from the UK, the US, Canada, Spain, Latin America, Australia, Hungary and Greece bring the text to life and allow both students and practitioners to apply theory to practice.
"This book sheds a very bright light on poverty as a central experience of the people social workers work with. Research and theories of power, politics and values are thoroughly discussed and provide the basis for a sustained commitment to social justice. The book is a supportive read as it skilfully appreciates the personal challenges that critical and assertive practice entails. It is a book for students, professionals and service leads to keep, re-read and savour." Dr Tillie Curran, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of the West of England, UK "By identifying power, poverty, politics and values as core themes in social work, this text offers us a refreshing perspective which will challenge students and practitioners alike to re-evaluate their practice in the light of its wider social, political and philosophical contexts. Through an exploration of issues of power and an interrogation of the real meaning of social work ethics and values, Sheedy motivates and encourages us to reflect on our practice and to ensure that it is truly person-centred." Dr Sue Taplin, University of Nottingham, UK "This book offers a concise and coherent discussion of what should be core themes in thoughtful and careful social work practice. It offers a journey towards rethinking and embracing effective critical practice, which engages with human rights and social justice as much as with empowerment and with individual and interpersonal change. Occasional student accounts, coupled with use of key points and questions for discussion make for accessibility. The book synthesises, summarises and critiques ideas about how to understand and resolve social issues, enabling readers to question how they might work creatively alongside service users. It is a book which invites reflection on policy and practice." Professor Michael Preston-Shoot, Dean, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of Bedfordshire, UK "This excellent text is essential reading for all social workers and students, and a key resource for academics. It highlights - with concern and conviction - the importance of developing an effective critical practice that 'challenges, enhances and broadens the task of conventional social work' in ways that have 'the potential to improve outcomes for service users'. It calls for a social work practice based on an understanding of the issues of power, politics and ideology - and the values and 'world view' held by the worker - linked with concerns raised by the people that social workers regularly encounter and work with. The issues of 'poverty and disadvantage' and their structural causes run throughout this text - issues that have been too long neglected in social work. In this text, Martin Sheedy corrects that neglect by outlining in some detail the impact of poverty on people's lives and life chances whilst at the same time describing how critical practice can be used by social workers to promote social justice and empowerment practices." Dr Pamela Trevithick, Visiting Professor in Social Work, Buckinghamshire New University, UK This engaging book introduces the core themes in social work, and encourages students and practitioners to connect with the important debates surrounding these themes and challenges them to revisit the direction social work is and should be going in. The key contexts of social work are explored using knowledge from the disciplines of social theory, politics, sociology, psychology and ethics. The content is enlivened by: The voices of students, service users and practitioners Current and topical content on social work, poverty, politics, power and values A discussion style format to help readers engage with the topics An extensive range of sources of knowledge and theory Key summary points at the end of each chapter Group discussion questions at the end of each chapter This book will contribute to social work students' and practitioners' thinking about the world in which they live and operate as professionals.
"Grand challenges" represent a focused method of attacking the most deeply significant problems of a discipline, organization, or society itself. Since the concept was first introduced over a century ago, more than 600 governments, foundations, and professions subsequently adopted this language and approach, often to excellent effect. In 2012, the social work profession launched its own national initiative, with aim of using science, innovation, and new forms of collaboration to accelerate progress toward critically needed social solutions. There was also strong corollary interest in changing the profession itself, introducing new forms of practice and problem-solving. The American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare served as the first home of the Grand Challenges initiative in social work; in 2017, as the initiative grew more complex, it became an independent organization"--
How to deal with the relationship between the individual and society as it reveals itself through politics is the large theme of these erudite and stylish essays by a leading scholar whose lifelong concerns have included political behavior, decision-making by groups, and legislative deportment. Truly interdisciplinary in his approach, Heinz Eulau has drawn on all the social sciences in his thirty years of research into the political behavior of citizens in the mass and of legislative elites at the state and local levels of government. Utilizing a variety of social and political theories--theories of reference group behavior, social role, organization, conflict, exchange functions and purposive action--he enriches the methodology of political science while tackling substantive issues such as social class behavior in elections, public policies in American cities, the structures of city councils, and the convergence of politics and the legal system. Eulau is ranked among the few scholars who have shaped the agenda of political science, and his latest work should also prove valuable for sociologists, social psychologists, and theorists of the social sciences.
Social work is under unprecedented pressure as a result of funding cuts, political interventions, marketisation and welfare transformations which, combined, are dramatically reshaping the relationship between individuals and the welfare state. A wide-range of distinguished academics provide a comprehensive analysis of the evolving challenges facing contemporary social work, reflecting on both the existential and ideological threats to the profession. As well as the chief practice areas of child protection, adult care and mental health, contributors also examine practice issues surrounding older people, neo-liberalism, neo-eugenics and the refugee crisis This book offers concrete policy proposals for the future of the profession alongside valuable solutions which students and practitioners can action on the ground.