Social Work and Community Development

Drawing upon extensive research amongst gang members, dealers and drug users, this timely book provides a comprehensive insight into the ‘County Lines’ phenomenon.

Shedding new light on this urgent topic on government agendas, this is an invaluable contribution to the literature on gangs, youth violence and organised crime.

This much-needed book calls for a return to mental health social work that has personal relationships and an emotional connection between workers and those experiencing distress at its core.

This inter-disciplinary study considers the past, present and future of mental health services and community care. From the origins of provision as we know it in the 1960s, it sets out the political, economic and bureaucratic factors behind recent crises and considers what the founding principles of community care tell us about the way forward.

This insightful book discusses the origins and theoretical underpinnings of family led decision making and brings together the current research on the efficacy and limitations of family group conferences into a single text.

What does it mean to age in an ageist society? Applying interdisciplinary perspectives about everyday life to vital issues in older people’s lives, this is a critical guide to inform thinking and planning our ageing futures.

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.

Drawing on access to prominent policy makers, Purcell examines the origins and impact of children’s services reform under recent Labour and Conservative-led governments, including Labour’s Every Child Matters programme and the Munro Review. He also reassesses the impact of high-profile child abuse cases, including Victoria Climbié and Baby P.

This edited collection critically explores the funding arrangements governing contemporary community development and how they shape its theory and practice.

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.

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.

Drawing on theory and a range of cross-disciplinary and international perspectives, this book examines the place of ethics and ethical practice in community and development across a global spectrum of political, ecological and economic contexts.

In this book, researcher Matthew Gibson reviews the role of shame and pride in social work, providing invaluable new insights from the first study undertaken into the role of these emotions within professional practice.