NCW Libraries

The only up-to-date, accessibly written short guide to community development, this third edition offers an invaluable and authoritative introduction. Fully updated to reflect changes in policy, practice, economics and culture, it will equip readers with an understanding of the history and theory of community development, as well as practical guidance on how to do it. This is a key text for all students and practitioners working with communities. It...

For decades, teachers and practitioners have turned to Frederic G. Reamer's Social Work Values and Ethics as the leading introduction to ethical decision making, dilemmas, and professional conduct in practice. A case-driven, concise, and comprehensive textbook for undergraduate and graduate social work programs, this book surveys the most critical issues for social work practitioners. The fifth edition incorporates significant updates to the National...

An understudied aspect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is the creation of hundreds of thousands of grandparent-headed households that have become home to children bereft of one or both of their parents. Such "skip-generation parenting" presents a host of challenges to the families involved and the social programs designed to assist them. Despite this unprecedented caregiving responsibility, older surrogate parents remain relatively invisible, hidden in the...

Drawing on unique access to prominent policy makers including ministers, senior civil servants, local authority directors, and the leaders of children's sector NGOs, Purcell re-examines two decades of children's services reform under both Labour and Conservative-led governments. By closely examining the origins of Labour's Every Child Matters programme, the Munro Review, and more recent Conservative reforms affecting child and family social workers,...

This collection charts the key developments in the social work field from 1970 to the present day and shows how by fully understanding social work's past, we can make better progress for practitioners and service users in the future. It brings together a broad collection of experts from across social work who trace how thinking and approaches to practice have changed over time, examine key legislative developments in the field, look at the impacts...

This is the third edition of this popular straightforward guide for social work students. Written by two experienced practice educators, the book is designed to address the anxieties that many social work students have about social work theory and the way it relates to practice. The guide provides a straightforward explanation of the major theories used in social work practice. Prompts for reflection about how each theory relates to practice are provided...

More urgent than ever, David G. Gil's guiding text gives social workers the knowledge and confidence they need to change unjust realities. Clarifying the meaning, sources, and dynamics of injustice, exploitation, and oppression, and certifying the place of the social worker in combating these conditions, Gil promotes social change strategies rooted in the nonviolent philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. He shares suggestions for transition...

Written by experienced practitioners and academics, this is a core text about the practice of residential child care. It takes as its starting point the fact that residential child care involves workers and children sharing a common lifespace, in which the quality of interpersonal relationships is key. Each chapter highlights relevant policy guidance and is developed around a practice scenario, discussing key knowledge skills and values relating to...

Personalisation has become the policy buzz-word of the twenty-first century. Supporters claim it offers service users choice and services attuned to meet their specific needs, moving away from 'one size fits all' state services. In this short form book, part of the Critical and Radical Debates in Social Work series, Peter Beresford, one of Britain's foremost social work academics, challenges the personalisation agenda and its consequences on service...

In much of the West the concerns of rural people are marginalised and rural issues neglected. This stimulating book draws upon a rich variety of material to show why rural social work is such a challenging field of practice. It incorporates research from different disciplines and places to provide an accessible and comprehensive introduction to rural practice. The first part of the book focuses upon the experience of rurality. The second part of the...