Social Work and Community Development

This is the first book to explore the application of complexity theory to difficult practice issues in criminal justice and social work and brings together experts in this emerging field to address complexity theory from a range of perspectives, providing a detailed but accessible discussion of the key issues to whole systems approaches.

A carefully crafted study of ageing in Ireland, one of the countries hardest hit by the Eurozone financial crisis, presenting a critical analysis of ageing and social policy in a country under tight austerity measures.

This collection of 12 new and revised essays on child care and children’s services gives a unique and lasting review of child care services explaining significant political, economic, legal and ideological aspects of this history from the mid-1850s.

Through the perspectives of young people themselves, this book reviews changes in policy and practices that affected the generation of young people who grew up in state care in China during the last 20 years.

This book presents the first collection of Robert Pinker’s influential essays in one edited volume, discussing the key concepts underpinning the study of social policy and the ways in which welfare theories and ideologies together with public expectations have shaped the political processes of policy making.

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.

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.

Understanding street-level bureaucracy gathers internationally acclaimed scholars to provide a state of the art account of theory and research on modern street-level bureaucracy, filling an important gap in the literature on public policy delivery.

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.

Paving the way for a government to fulfil its responsibility to families, this authoritative and critical account of the Troubled Families Programme reveals the inconsistencies and contradictions within it, and issues of deceit and malpractice in its operation.

A historical and contextual account of how social work education became widely adopted in different national and cultural environments.

This engaging and accessible text, now in its third edition, provides a comprehensive introduction to health and social care. This new edition has been updated to cover recent developments, including the integrated care agenda, potential regional devolution and austerity.