Table Of ContentSocial Work
Building on the successful 1st edition, this reader brings together some of the most
significant ideas that have informed social work practice over the last fifty years. At
the same time as presenting these foundational extracts, the book includes commen-
taries that allow the reader to understand the selected extracts on their own terms
as well as to be aware of their relations to each other and to the wider social work
context.
There is no settled view or easy consensus about what social work is and should be,
and the ideas reflected in this volume are themselves diverse and complex. The world
of social work has changed greatly over the last ten years, and this new edition reflects
that change with new material on the decolonisation of social work knowledges, the
greater emphasis on inter-disciplinarity and co-production and the new concern for
identities.
With an accessible introduction to contextualise the selections, the book is divided
into three main sections, each presenting key texts drawn from a wide range of per-
spectives: psychological, sociological, philosophical, educational and political, as well
as perspectives that are grounded in the experiences of practitioners and those who
use services, which have contributed to the development of:
• the profession of social work,
• knowledge and values for social work and
• practice in social work.
By providing students and practitioners with an easy way into reading first-hand some
of the most interesting, foundational texts of the subject, it will be required reading
for all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and professionals undertaking
post-qualifying training.
Viviene E. Cree (PhD) is Professor Emerita of Social Work Studies at the University of
Edinburgh. She is the author of Sociology for Social Workers and Probation Officers,
editor of Becoming a Social Worker and co-author of Social Work: Voices from the
Inside, all published by Routledge.
Trish McCulloch (PhD) is Professor of Social Work and Senior Associate Dean in the
School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law at the University of Dundee. She has
published widely on justice, social work and, more recently, on social work education
and professional learning.
Student Social Work
https://www.routledge.com/Student-Social-Work/book-series/SSW
This exciting new textbook series is ideal for all students studying to be qualified social
workers, whether at undergraduate or masters level. Covering key elements of the
social work curriculum, the books are accessible, interactive and thought-provoking.
New titles
Human Growth and Development
An Introduction for Social Workers, 2nd Edition
John Sudbery and Andrew Whittaker
Counselling Skills for Social Workers
Hilda Loughran
Social Work and Integrated Care
Robin Miller
Communication and Interviewing Skills for Practice in Social Work, Counselling
and the Health Professions
Patricia Higham
Using Advocacy in Social Work Practice
A Guide for Students and Professionals
Peter Scourfield
Becoming a Social Worker, 3rd ed.
Viviene E. Cree
Mental Health Social Work in Context, 3rd ed.
Nick Gould
Social Work Practice with People with Dementia
Peter Scourfield
Social Work
A Reader, 2nd edition
Viviene E. Cree and Trish McCulloch
Social Work
A Reader
SECOND EDITION
Edited by Viviene E. Cree and
Trish McCulloch
Cover image: A Taste of DCA Red by Chloe Alexander, 2018 (© the artist,
courtesy of University of Dundee Museums)
Second edition published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Viviene E. Cree and Trish McCulloch;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Viviene E. Cree and Trish McCulloch to be identified as the authors
of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2010
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-01455-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-01450-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-17869-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003178699
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
Contents
List of figures ix
List of table x
List of contributors xi
Acknowledgements xvii
Introduction 1
Reading social work
TRISH McCULLOCH AND VIVIENE E. CREE
PART I
The Profession of Social Work 9
Commentary One 10
1 Black history month: a provocation and a timeline 11
CHARLOTTE WILLIAMS AND CLAUDIA BERNARD
2 But is it social work? 31
RICHARD HUGMAN
3 The politics of social work 37
IAIN FERGUSON
4 Changes in the form of knowledge in social work: from the ‘social’ to
the ‘informational’? 44
NIGEL PARTON
5 The quest for a universal social work: some issues and implications 50
MEL GRAY AND JAN FOOK
6 The (r)evolution and decolonization of social work ethics: the global
social work statement of ethical principles 57
VISHANTHIE SEWPAUL AND MARK HENRICKSON
vi Contents
7 Human rights practice: possibilities and pitfalls for developing
emancipatory social work 61
SARAH CEMLYN
8 The impact of scandal and inquiries on social work and the personal
social services 68
RAY JONES
9 Social work in a risk society 74
STEPHEN A. WEBB
10 Am I my brother’s keeper? 79
ZYGMUNT BAUMAN
11 Research from the underside 84
BOB HOLMAN
12 What is professional social work? 90
MALCOLM PAYNE
13 The client speaks 94
MARTIN DAVIES
14 Service users and practitioners reunited: the key component for social
work reform 96
PETER BERESFORD AND SUZY CROFT
PART II
Knowledge and Values for Social Work 103
Commentary Two 104
15 The sociological imagination 105
C. WRIGHT MILLS
16 Reassessing attachment theory in child welfare 109
SUE WHITE, MATTHEW GIBSON, DAVID WASTELL AND PATRICIA WALSH
17 A critique of the adverse childhood experiences framework in
epidemiology and public health: uses and misuses 116
MICHELLE KELLY-IRVING AND CYRILLE DELPIERRE
18 Resilience: some conceptual considerations 122
MICHAEL RUTTER
Contents vii
19 A critical understanding of social work by Paolo Freire 128
MARILYNN MOCH
20 There is an alternative: homines curans and the limits of neoliberalism 132
JOAN TRONTO
21 The social model of disability 137
MIKE OLIVER
22 The relevance of Nancy Fraser for transformative social work education 141
DOROTHEE HÖLSCHER, VIVIENNE BOZALEK AND MEL GRAY
23 Feminism for the 99% 148
CINZIA ARRUZZA, TITHI BHATTACHARYA AND NANCY FRASER
24 Intersectionality’s definitional dilemmas 152
PATRICIA HILL COLLINS
25 Learning to deliver LGBT+ aged care 159
TRISH HAFFORD-LETCHFIELD, ALFONSO PEZZELLA, SANDRA CONNELL,
MOJCA UREK, ANŽE JURČEK, AGNES HIGGINS, BRIAN KEOGH,
NINA VAN DE VAART, IRMA RABELINK, GEORGE ROBOTHAM,
ELISA BUS, CHARLOTTE BUITENKAMP AND SARAH LEWIS-BROOKE
26 Towards practising social work law 165
SUZY BRAYE AND MICHAEL PRESTON-SHOOT
27 What are values and ethics? 170
CHRIS BECKETT, ANDREW MAYNARD AND PETER JORDAN
28 Green social work in theory and practice: a new environmental
paradigm for the profession 177
LENA DOMINELLI
PART III
Practice in Social Work 183
Commentary Three 184
29 On the nature of practice 185
MICHAEL WHAN
30 ‘Radical Social Work’ by Roy Bailey and Mike Brake: a classic text
revisited 190
STEVE ROGOWSKI
viii Contents
31 The critical role of street level bureaucrats 194
MICHAEL LIPSKY
32 Assessment in the twenty-first century 199
JUDITH MILNER, STEVE MYERS AND PATRICK O’BYRNE
33 The significance of African-centered social work for social work practice 205
TRICIA BENT-GOODLEY, COLITA NICHOLS FAIRFAX AND
IRIS CARLTON-LANEY
34 Bridging the past and present to the future of crisis intervention and
crisis management 210
KENNETH R. YEAGER AND ALBERT R. ROBERTS
35 The contemporary context of relationship-based practice 217
GILLIAN RUCH
36 The ecological systems metaphor in Australasia 223
KIERAN O’DONOGHUE AND JANE MAIDMENT
37 The strengths perspective in social work practice: extensions and cautions 230
DENNIS SALEEBEY
38 Personalisation through participation: a new script for public services 236
CHARLES LEADBEATER
39 Collaboration and partnership in context 240
COLIN WHITTINGTON
40 A review of Donald A. Schön’s, The Reflective Practitioner: How
Professionals Think in Action 247
MICHAEL EMSLIE AND ROB WATTS
41 Making things new: distant voices and unbound at Vox Liminis with
Padraig O’Tuama 253
PADRAIG O’TUAMA
Index 257
Figures
8.1 The blame tree 72
12.1 The three views of social work 91
27.1 Competing values 174
27.2 Competing values: the wider picture 175
28.1 The green social work model: a framework for practice 181
36.1 Ecomap of Matt’s current life 226
39.1 A continuum of service partnerships in social care and health 242
39.2 Organizational levels and areas of partnership and collaboration 243
39.3 A matrix of collaborative structures 243
