Social policy is central to social work practice. This textbook is designed to help students, practitioners and academics think critically about the relationship between policy and practice; particularly in how policy both structures and informs practice. Reflective questions help critical thinking and links to websites of substantive information across the UK and internationally help keep you up-to-date with policy developments.
The authors′ experience and skills in working with different service user groups combine to provide a constructive and critical approach to working with social policy in an era of welfare retrenchment.
Key topics include: discretion and practice; social work training and education; safeguarding children; responses to the needs of looked after children; personalization in adult care; ’race’ and welfare policy; domestic violence; mental health and capacity; and comparing social work and social care internationally.
Table of Content
Social Work and Policy Introduction
Discretion in the history and development of social work
Social Work Education and Training as a policy issue
Prevention and protection: the development of safeguarding in children′s services
Children like ours? Policy and practice responses to children looked after
Personalisation
Mental capacity and social policy
Social welfare policy in racialised contexts
International social work: understanding social work within social policy systems
Domestic Violence: UK and Australian developments
Local policy in a global context: regimes of risk in mental health policy and practice – the community treatment orders
Concluding thoughts: the interface between social policy and social work
About the author
Dr Frank Keating is a Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care in the Department of Social Work at Royal Holloway University of London where he is Director of Research and Graduate studies. His main research interests are ethnicity, gender and mental health, particularly focusing on African and Caribbean communities. He is a strong advocate for racial equality in mental health services through his writing, teaching and public speaking.