This textbook shows how any conversation directed towards change can become a solution-focused one, whether in a planned series of sessions with individuals, families, groups, or in the less structured contexts in which many helping professionals work.Full of real-life case examples and stimulating activities, this will be an invaluable guide to anyone wanting to develop their skills in this empowering approach. This textbook is a comprehensive and accessible guide for anyone who w...

This textbook offers students and practitioners an accessible introduction to strengths-based approaches in Social Work and Social Care practice. Covering the theory and research in support of these approaches, and packed full of case studies, the book will allow readers to develop a critical understanding of how strengths-based approaches work, and how they can be successfully applied in order to improve outcomes for people with lived experience.Covering the five main models of st...

Social work is often presented as a benevolent and politically neutral profession, avoiding discussion about its sometimes troubling political histories.This book rethinks social work’s legacy and history of both political resistance and complicity with oppressive and punitive practices. Using a comparative approach with international case studies, the book uncovers the role of social workers in politically tense episodes of recent history, including the anti-racist struggle in the...

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 of major inquiries and consider the...