Understanding Social Work Preparing for Practice

by Thompson, Neil

• ISBN13: 9780230221802
• ISBN10: 0230221807
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Social work is a challenging yet rewarding career. It involves dealing with a range of people and situations and requires knowledge, skill and a commitment to important professional values.

Author Biography

NEIL THOMPSON has over thirty years experience in the helping professions as a practitioner, manager, educator, author, editor and consultant. He is now a sought-after independent trainer, consultant and conference speaker with Avenue Consulting Ltd (www.avenueconsulting.co.uk). His website address is: www.neilthompson.info.
 
He has several best-selling Palgrave Macmillan titles to his name and is the co-author of the recently published Social Work Companion in the Palgrave Companions series.
 

Table of Contents

The author	p. x
Preface to the third edition	p. xii
Acknowledgements	p. xiv
Introduction	p. xv
Making sense of social work	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Differences	p. 1
Commonalities	p. 10
What is social work?	p. 14
Conclusion	p. 27
Guide to further learning	p. 28
The legal and policy context	p. 31
Introduction	p. 31
The Constitution	p. 32
The process of law	p. 37
The status of legislation	p. 41
Social policy	p. 43
Agency policy	p. 49
Professional practice	p. 52
Conclusion	p. 56
Guide to further learning	p. 57
The knowledge base	p. 60
Introduction	p. 60
What do social workers need to know?	p. 61
Dialectical reason	p. 81
Using knowledge	p. 82
Thoughts and feelings	p. 84
'I prefer to stick to practice'	p. 85
Conclusion	p. 87
Guide to further learning	p. 88
The skills base	p. 92
Introduction	p. 92
Competent to practice	p. 92
Expectations of practice	p. 97
What is a skill?	p. 98
What skills do social workers need?	p. 100
How do we develop skills?	p. 121
Conclusion	p. 121
Guide to further learning	p. 122
The value base	p. 125
Introduction	p. 125
What are values?	p. 125
Traditional values	p. 127
Emancipatory values	p. 138
Conclusion	p. 147
Guide to further learning	p. 149
Achieving good practice	p. 152
Introduction	p. 152
Avoiding dangerous practice	p. 153
Working in partnership	p. 160
Being systematic	p. 162
Emancipatory practice	p. 165
Reflective practice	p. 168
Using supervision	p. 171
Conclusion	p. 174
Guide to further learning	p. 176
Facing the challenge	p. 180
Introduction	p. 180
Forget that college nonsense	p. 181
Bloody social workers!	p. 185
Political correctness	p. 190
Stress and burnout	p. 194
Workload management	p. 197
A dying breed?	p. 201
Conclusion	p. 204
Guide to further learning	p. 206
Conclusion	p. 209
Appendix: internet resources	p. 214
References	p. 217
Index	p. 226
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Rewards Program

Currently unavailable