Synopses & Reviews
This is an indispensable book for anyone who wants to make sense of the bewildering recent shifts in ideology and policy towards the welfare state, and to understand the broader political implications of civil society.The Politics of Civil Society offers a wide-ranging analysis of recent shifts in the ideas andparadigms that underpin social policy. Since the 1980s the renaissance of civil society has introduced new ideas about the nature of power, citizenship and human rights, which radically challenge the dominance of the state, the power of professionals andthe welfare system itself.Frederick Powell traces the historical roots of these apparent changes and movements, demonstrates in detail their often paradoxical results and speculates about the whole future of social policy. He has produced an entirely original synthesis, as well as a major guide to social policy, that goes well beyond traditional interpretations of civil society as the voluntary and community sector.This is not just a book for the specialist reader but raises a whole range of issues of much wider interest to the social sciences. A concluding chapter on the practical and policy implications of the analysis is of special relevance to welfare practitioners and policy-makers.
Review
Frederick Powell has written an original and important book which draws civil society from the margins into the centre of political and social theorising. The Politics of Civil Society will be essential reading for anyone concerned with the strengthening of market power and the erosion of democracy in contemporary society. Professor Peadar Kirby, Co-director, Centre for International Studies, Dublin City University
Synopsis
Continuing professional development (CPD) has become a defining issue in twenty-first century social work. There is widespread consensus in favour of CPD. But what is it? Are there discernible international trends? What are the barriers to participating in CPD? What do social workers think about and want from CPD? This book seeks to answer these questions. Based on a survey and interviews with social work practitioners, CPD in social work offers a unique insight into the possibilities and challenges of CPD and the issues it presents for newly qualified and experienced social workers in practice. Combining the perspectives of social workers and their managers with international research, assures its global appeal. It offers possible directions for the future of post qualifying social work education, making it essential reading for practitioners, educators, managers and policy-makers.
Synopsis
This book offers a unique insight into the possibilities of CPD and the issues it presents for newly qualified and experienced social workers in practice. It offers possible directions for the future of post qualifying social work education, making it essential reading for practitioners, educators, managers and policy-makers.
Synopsis
Continuing professional development has become an important and widespread practice in twenty-first-century social work. This volume traces its emergence and evolution, identifying the characteristics of continuing professional development, the barriers to undertaking it, and the way social workers view it. Drawing on an international survey of practitioners and interviews with social workers and their managers, the authors provide unique insight into the possibilities and challenges of continuing professional development for newly qualified and experienced social workers alike.
Synopsis
This book offers a wide-ranging analysis of recent shifts in ideas and paradigms that underpin social policy and provides an understanding of the broader political implications of civil society.
About the Author
Carmel Halton is director of practice and director of the Master of Social Work Programme at the University College Cork, National University of Ireland.Margaret Scanlon is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Applied Social Studies at the University College Cork, National University of Ireland.Fred Powell is dean of social science and professor of social policy at the University College Cork, National University of Ireland.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Preface
1. Continuing professional development: the international context
2. Contemporary debates in social work education
3. Continuing professional development: a national study
4. Barriers to participation
5. Supervision
6. Learning and reflection
7. Thinking and acting
8. Conclusion: challenges and futurescapes
References
Index