CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE: A Handbook for Students

This exciting new book provides an overview of fifteen different contemporary social work practice settings, spanning across the statutory, voluntary, private and third sectors. It serves as the perfect introduction to the various roles social workers can have and the numerous places they can work, equipping students with the knowledge, skills and values required to work in areas ranging from mental health to fostering and adoption, and from alcohol and drug treatment services to youth offending.
Each chapter provides:
An overview of the setting, including the role of the social worker, how service users gain access to the service and key issues, definitions or terms specific to the setting
Legislation and policy guidance related to the specific setting
The key theories and methods related to the setting
Best practice approaches and the benefits and challenges of working within the setting
Case examples illustrating the application of the information to practice
Social work students will find this an invaluable handbook that they will refer to time and again throughout their education and into their assessed and supported year of employment

Barbra Teater teaches Theories and Methods for Social Work, Communication Skills and Community Practice at Bristol University, UK. She has experience working as a child and family therapist, a medical social worker and in tobacco cessation and prevention.