Relationship-Based Social Work: Getting to the Heart of Practice

Relationship-based practice is founded on the idea that human relationships are of paramount importance and should be at the heart of all good social work practice. This book provides a thorough guide to relationship-based practice in social work, communicating the theory using illustrative case studies and offering a model for practice. Case examples cover the different service user groups including children, families, older people, refugees, people with disabilities and people with mental health difficulties. The book explores the ranges of emotions that practitioners may encounter, and covers working in both short-term and long-term relationships. It also outlines key skills for the individual such as how to establish rapport with the client and using empathy to build a relationship, and explores systemic issues such as incorporating service user perspectives and building appropriate support systems for practice, management and leadership. This book will be an invaluable textbook for undergraduate and post-graduate social work students, practitioners on post-qualifying courses and all social work and allied professionals.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. Adrian Ward, The Tavistock Centre, UK, Gillian Ruch, University of Southampton, UK, and Danielle Turney, University of Bristol, UK. Section 1. Setting Out the Terrain: Historical Trends, Conceptual Models and Frameworks. 1. The Contemporary Context of Relationship-Based Practice. Gillian Ruch. 2. Theoretical Frameworks Informing Relationship-Based Practice. Gillian Ruch. 3. The Use of Self in Relationship-Based Practice. Adrian Ward. Section 2. Working with the Relationship in Practice. 4. Only Connect...Building Relationships with Hard-to-Reach People: Establishing Rapport with Drug Misusing Parents and Their Children. Brynna Kroll, ARTEC Enterprises Ltd, UK. 5. Brief Encounters: Working in Complex, Short-Term Relationships. Ravi KS Kohli, University of Bedfordshire, UK and Jane Dutton, NHS Trust, UK. 6. Sustaining Relationships: Working with Strong Feelings I: Anger, Aggression and Hostility. Martin Smith, Buckinghamshire Social Services, UK. 7. Sustaining Relationships: Working with Strong Feelings II: Hopelessness, Despair and Depression. Clare Parkinson, University of East London, UK. 8. Sustaining Relationships: Working with Strong Feelings III: Love and Positive Feelings. Danielle Turney. 9. Long-Term Complex Relationships. Linnet McMahon. 10. Working with Endings in Relationship-Based Practice. Robin Solomon, The Tavistock Centre, UK. Section 3. Sustaining, Supporting and Developing Relationship-Based Practice in a Reflective Context. 11. The Learning Relationship: Learning and Development for Relationship-Based Practice. Adrian Ward. 12. Service-User Perspectives on Relationships. Mark Doel, Sheffield Hallam University, UK. 13. Relating and Relationships in Supervision : Supportive and Companionable or Dominant and Submissive? John Simmonds, British Association for Adoption and Fostering, UK. 14. What Future? Organisational Forms, Relationship-Based Social Work Practice and the Changing World Order. Andrew Cooper, The Tavistock Centre, UK. Conclusion. Danielle Turney, Adrian Ward and Gillian Ruch. Bibliography. About the Contributors.

About the Author :
Adrian Ward works is the Programme Director of the qualifying MA in Social Work at the Tavistock Centre, London. His background is in residential child care and he has written extensively about residential care, group care and therapeutic approaches to social work, and co-edited several books in this field; he was editor of the journal Therapeutic Communities from 1999 to 2005.

Review :
I particularly liked those (chapters) which had an emphasis on working with strong feelings ranging from anger and aggression, through depression and despair, to love and positive feelings in general... The conclusion draws together the themes, including the important point that social work involves much more than a narrow concern with the current pre-occupation with technical competence; rather there must also be an interest in ability to work with human relationships. Throughout there are useful illustrative case studies... I particularly enjoyed the chapter by Ruch on the contemporary context of practice, including the section on "marketisation, managerialism and the commodification and bureaucratisation fo the individual"... She rightly refers to the colonisation of professional practice by bureaucracy and managerialism but, like many others, manages to retain a sense of hope... In short, I certainly recommend this book especially for those on undergraduate and postgraduate social work courses, as well as experienced social workers and allied professionals. Politicians and managers should also digest the arguments even though it is unlikely to be a welcome read for them. Relationship-Based Social Work is quite refreshing and unlike many of the theory and practice books I have read recently... This is very easy to read with minimal jargon and is a definite change of pace to more theoretical books... Is this a useful text I will keep beyond my academic career? Definitely yes! Relationship Based Social Work re-affirms the importance of the working relationship between social worker and service user within a contemporary perspective. This is a timely and thought provoking work which provides a well argued counterpoint to the increasing dominance of managerial and outcomes-based approaches to social work practice. As such it will be of great value to students and practitioners alike.