This book gives a unique analysis of the challenges facing contemporary social work that considers both the existential and ideological threats to the profession.
Providing a wide range of in-depth reflections on the future of social care practice in the UK, it offers concrete policy proposals for the future of the profession alongside solutions which students and practitioners can action on the ground.
Table of Contents:
Foreword ~ Peter Dowd
Introduction: what is the future of social work? ~ Michael Lavalette
Austerity and the context of social work today ~ Michael Lavalette
Contemporary developments in child protection in England: reform or reaction? ~ Brid Featherstone
The slow death of social work with older people? ~ Mark Lymbery
Mental health social work: the dog that hasn’t barked ~ Iain Ferguson
Learning disabilities and social work ~ Jan Walmsley
Social work by and for all ~ Peter Beresford
Anti-oppressive social work, neoliberalism and neo-eugenics ~ Gurnam Singh
From Seebohm factories to neoliberal production lines? The social work labour process ~ John Harris
Social work and the refugee crisis: reflections from Samos in Greece ~ Chris Jones
Conclusion: the road to an alternative future? ~ Michael Lavalette
About the Author :
Michael Lavalette is Professor in Social Work and Head of the School of Social Sciences at Liverpool Hope University. He has published widely on radical social work and contemporary social movements. He is co-editor of Critical and Radical Social Work journal.
