1,721,202 research outputs found
Schools with a religious character and community cohesion: a study of faith based approaches to educational environments and aims
No full textBeethoven's View of Scotland
No full textAlthough Beethoven never visited Scotland, he had three main connections with the country: his numerous settings of Scottish melodies; his reading of literature about Scotland, especially by Walter Scott; and his correspondence with George Thomson of Edinburgh. From these three sources he learned much about the country and its music
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Best practice in social work interviewing: processes of negotiation and assessment
No full textIn opening the second section of the book, this chapter continues with the interview between Sally and Adam from chapter 5 and, through a shift of focus, illustrates this continuity of practice and theory. The constructive perspectives of engagement and relationship building continue to be in evidence in this second part of the interview. In building upon these constructive ideas, the chapter has two broad aims. Firstly, to offer an illustration of how processes of negotiation and assessment can be seen to underpin skilled social work interventions. The second aim is to use this focus upon negotiative processes to explore key debates about how assessment in social work needs to be understood as part of complex interpersonal processes but has become increasingly characterised as ‘end product’ through frameworks and formats
Beethoven's View of Scotland
No full textAlthough Beethoven never visited Scotland, he had three main connections with the country: his numerous settings of Scottish melodies; his reading of literature about Scotland, especially by Walter Scott; and his correspondence with George Thomson of Edinburgh. From these three sources he learned much about the country and its music
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Constructive engagement: Best practice in social work interviewing – keeping the child in mind
No full textInterviews are increasingly common experiences for people in the world of work. In the world of social work the interview takes on an even greater significance. Few would disagree with Kadushin and Kadushin’s (1997: 3) assertion that ‘It is the most important, most frequently employed, social work skill’. The interview is often the central means by which social workers make person-to-person contact and a ‘constructive engagement’ with others in order to begin the process of working together. In this chapter I will be exploring a recorded interview between a social worker and a service user in order to illustrate the expertise involved in making a relationship and working to keep it going. The analysis draws upon ‘constructivist’ theoretical perspectives as a way of highlighting and understanding the everyday, but mostly unrecognised, critical best practice skills of interviewing in social work
Power and negotiation in practice: from problems to solutions
No full textThe stories of practice in this section of the book illustrate some of the shifting patterns of power and negotiation in social work. In many ways these can appear to be 'hidden concepts' in practice as they are often tacit or unspoken about. In talking to practitioners for this book it was noticeable that, although the use of power and the processes of negotiation were rarely named as such, they nonetheless influenced the courses of events that were being described in subtle and complex ways. These links between power and negotiation are placed into perspective by examining another ever-present and debatable pair of concepts, that of problems and solutions. The reset of this chapter introduces these three themes to further explore and explain why the use of power is an inescapable aspect of social work. I will argue that although the purposeful use of power and negotiation is under-recognised in social work, these are not ends in themselves. The constructive, ethical and expert use of professional power and negotiating skills are only the means through which social work addresses the reasons for its involvement: identifying problems and finding solutions to those problems. The three stories of practice in this section and the narrative comments that accompany each story will help to ground these ideas in three very different practice examples
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Negotiation and resistance: it's all about the child
No full text[About the book]
Social work practice with children, young people and families is complex, highly skilled - and fascinating. Writing about social work increasingly acknowledges the complexities and uncertainties of practice but rarely features the voice of the social worker themselves. This book takes a different approach, that of Critical Best Practice: a constructive, realistic and strengths-based approach that takes as its starting point the telling and analysing of in depth stories about 'live' practice.
The reader is encouraged to join the social work practitioner or manager as they engage with the everyday dilemmas and uncertainties of 21st century practice. Ten narratives, based round the themes of relationships, risk, and negotiation & problem solving provide varied opportunities for critical reflection and learning about social work in different contexts. Insights are offered into social work with children, from young babies to adolescents, and families with differing needs in different parts of the UK: England, Scotland and Wales
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Introducing critical best practice in social work
No full textThe aim of this book is to present examples of best practice in social work from a range of critical perspectives. There is a remarkable paucity of writing in social work which focuses in a systematic way on accounts of best practice and an almost complete absence of such work in the literature on ‘critical practice’. The best practice approach presented here is ‘critical’ in two senses. First, it is an urgently needed response to the deep negativity surrounding the profession. This often leads to the ‘best’ in social work remaining hidden from view. Second, it is an approach that proposes the adoption of a ‘critical’ sociological stance through which the best social work practices need to be understood and analysed
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Concluding reflections on the nature and future of critical best practice
No full textThe central approach of this book has been to produce accounts of theory and practice which focus in a sociologically critical way on what actually gets done well in social work, why and how it gets done, and with what consequences – a CBP perspective. We hope that the chapters can help to promote discussion and open up processes of critical reflection on best practice amongst groups of practitioners, managers, academics and students. The book has shown that CBP perspectives are concerned with the short and long-term processes of intervention, as well as with what makes up the components of practice at each stage of the intervention process, from referral, assessment, through to longterm work and the organisational structure, culture and processes which enable (best) practice to go on. In a variety of ways the book has demonstrated the practicalities of how the organisational context, inter-agency structures and rules and resources within which social work goes on are drawn upon by practitioners in their work. The chapters have been situated at the inter-face between organisations and service user’s lives and have sought to sensitise readers to the legal and procedural realities of social work while focusing on how they are turned into practice – on the detail of what can and needs to be said and done in particular situations; on how social work is performed
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Introduction
No full text[About the book]
A practice-based blueprint for all work with children and families, this title takes a bottom-up approach to a highly-contested field of social work. Based on the authors' interviews with practising social workers, it provides examples of best practice in this challenging area, encouraging professional development through reflection
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