Social work

A critical examination of the contradictory ideas and practices that have shaped community development in the US and the UK. It exposes a problematic politics that have far-reaching consequences for those committed to working for social justice.

This book will inspire policy makers, practitioners, academics and journalists to rediscover courage in tackling child sexual abuse. Sarah Nelson proposes new models for child-centred, perpetrator-focussed child protection, for community prevention, and for work with survivor-offenders.

Draws on in-depth research with marginalised young people and the professionals who support them to explore the implications of a ‘vulnerability zeitgeist’, asking how far the rise of vulnerability in welfare and criminal justice processes serves the interests of those who are most disadvantaged.

Drawing on the popular Economic Social and Research Council (ESRC) seminar series, this book examines social issues and anxieties, and the solutions to them, through the concept of moral panic.

This timely book critically examines the capabilities and limitations of new areas of biology, especially epigenetics and neuroscience, that are used as powerful arguments for developing social policy in a particular direction, exploring their implications for policy and practice.

This edited collection examines ageing, gender, and sexualities from multidisciplinary and geographically diverse perspectives and looks at how these factors combine with other social divisions to affect experiences of ageing.

This book examines how interprofessional collaboration and service user participation are challenged in multi-agency meetings, demonstrating how collaborative and integrated welfare policy is contingent on the interactional practices of professionals and service users and providing examples of best practice.

From Margaret Thatcher’s first government to austerity politics, Ian Cummins traces changing attitudes to imprisonment and the social state. With fresh insights and critical thinking, he demonstrates how increasingly punitive approaches to crime and welfare have shaped the neoliberal economy and created stigma around those living in poverty.

This timely analysis sets out the full impacts of policy reform, austerity and marketisation on our country’s mental health services. Rooted in the experiences of service users and providers, it provides valuable perspectives on our evolving practical and organisational responses to mental distress.

A fresh approach to supporting children who experience parental separation and divorce. Murch argues for preventative intervention which responds to children's worries when they first present them, without waiting until things have gone badly wrong.

This book offers a unique analysis of the challenges facing contemporary social work that considers the multi-faceted threats to the profession. It provides in-depth reflections on the future of social care practice and solutions for students and practitioners.

Lessons from child protection errors and mistakes in 11 countries in Europe and North America are drawn together in a stimulating study from leading researchers in the field. By comparing and contrasting impacts, responses and responsibilities, it deepens understanding of how child protection systems fail and points to ideas for risk reduction.