Social work

This book examines interprofessional work with families in which mothers have a mental health problem and where there are also concerns about child protection. Breakdowns in interprofessional collaboration, issues of risk and resources are all addressed. Mothers' views and experiences are contrasted with professional perspectives.

This report explores the ways in which schools serving two economically and socially disadvantaged urban areas have attempted to balance their educational aims with growing demands to engage in community life. It focuses on the relationship between the schools and their communities and on outcomes in terms of individual and community development.

Poverty street addresses one of the UK's major social policy concerns: the gap between the poorest neighbourhoods and the rest of the country. It is an account of neighbourhood decline, a portrait of conditions in the most disadvantaged areas and an up-to-date analysis of the impact of the government's neighbourhood renewal policies.

Many health, education and social service initiatives aim to implement better multi-agency working between agencies and professionals. But what difference does this sort of change make to those on the receiving end? This book explores the impact of multi-agency working on disabled children and the families and professionals who support them.

Drawing on interviews with older people, local authority care managers and direct payments support service workers, this topical report looks at how older people use direct payments and how they make them work.

With moves towards greater integration of health and social care services, there is a need for improved understanding of the importance of a person-centred, holistic approach to these fields. This accessible text provides readers across the health and social care professions with a guide to understanding the value of this approach.

This book considers how normative assumptions about the meanings, practices and relationships of care are embedded in our everyday lives. It explores ways in which these shape our sense of self and the nature of our relations. It also examines how social policy and welfare practices construct relations and give or deny them meaning and validity.

This report explores risk assessment and risk management for people being discharged from psychiatric hospital. It breaks new ground by asking service users about their views and experiences. It also includes information about the harm that service users experienced and explores the perspectives of mental health workers, relatives and friends.

Improving partnership working between health and social care agencies has recently gained increased impetus as a result of New Labour's commitment to joined-up government. This book provides a detailed but accessible introduction to policy and practice at the interface between health and social care.

Important reforms are taking place in children's services in the UK, with a move towards greater integration. In England, Scotland and Sweden, early childhood education and care, childcare for older children, and schools are now the responsibility of education departments. This book is the first to examine this major shift in policy.

Dominant social work and social care discourses on 'race' and ethnicity often fail to incorporate an Irish dimension. This book challenges this omission and provides new insights into how social work has engaged with Irish children and their families, historically and to the present day.

'Regeneration', 'mainstreaming', 'community involvement', 'evidence-based policy', 'public service reform' - terms central to the government's policy programme for tackling social deprivation. This report describes how an East London community organisation has worked to give these terms practical meaning through its Social Enterprise Zone project.