Synopses & Reviews
What is social work at its best? Social work has laboured too long under a 'deficit' model that focuses on failings and problems of practice. This ambitious book seeks to redress the balance, with its emphasis on best practice, strengths and collaborative partnership. Each of its 16 chapters provides a detailed account of practice, offering a series of vivid windows onto day-to-day social work at its best, framed by concepts and ideas drawn from critical theory. The resulting text combines theory, illustration, evidence and analysis in a way that promotes reflection on what makes good practice and why. Undergraduate and post-qualifying social work students alike will benefit from the insights offered by this rich, wide-ranging and multi-facetted text.
About the Author
HARRY FERGUSON is Professor of Social Work at the University of West of England. He previously held the Chair in Social Policy and Social Work at University College Dublin, and has worked at University College Cork and Trinity College, Dublin. He has a PhD from Cambridge and is author of Protecting Children in Time: Child Abuse, Child Protection and the Consequences of Modernity (Palgrave 2004). KAREN JONES is Senior Lecturer in Social Work in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of West of England. Her research interests lie in social work education, social work theory (particularly postmodern theory) and social work with older people. BARRY COOPER is also based in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of West of England.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Best Practice in Social Work: A Critical Perspective;
K.Jones, B.Cooper &
H.FergusonPART I: CRITICAL BEST PRACTICE: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES
The Theory and Practice of Critical Best Practice in Social Work; H.Ferguson
Beyond Anti-Oppressive Practice in Social Work: Best Practice and the Ethical Use of Power in Adult Care; A.Gardener
Situating Person and Place: Best Practice in Dementia Care; K.Jones with I.Powell
Emotional Engagement in Social Work: Best Practice and Relationships in Mental Health Work; C.Keeping
Constructive First Engagement: Best Practice in Social Work Interviewing - Keeping the Child in Mind; B.Cooper
PART II: CRITICAL BEST PRACTICE: INTERVENTIONS AND INTERACTIONS
Best Practice in Social Work Interviewing: Processes of Negotiation and Assessment; B.Cooper
Best Practice in Child Protection: Preventing and Healing Child Abuse; S.Leigh & A.Farmer
Best Practice in Child Protection and Family Support: Promoting Child Safety and Democratic Families H.Ferguson
Best Practice in Child Advocacy: Matty's Story; J.Dalrymple & H.Horan
Best Practice in Adult Protection: Safety, Choice and Inclusion; K.Jones & K.Spreadbury
Best Practice with People with Learning Difficulties: Being Seen and Heard; J.Coles & P.Connors
Best Practice in Emergency Mental Health Social Work: On Using Good Judgement; J.O'Gara
PART III: CRITICAL BEST PRACTICE: PRACTICE SETTINGS AND CULTURES
Partnership Working as Best Practice: Working Across Boundaries in Health and Social Care; P.Taylor, K.Jones with D.Gorman
Promoting Best Practice Through Supervision, Support and Communities of Practice; J.Thomas & K.Spreadbury
Best Practice as Skilled Organisational Work; B.Senior with E.Loades
Concluding Reflections on the Nature and Future of Critical Best Practice; K.Jones, B.Cooper & H.Ferguson