Jean S. Heywood - A Introduction to Teaching Casework Skills

The International Library of Sociology

AN INTRODUCTION TO TEACHING CASEWORK SKILLS

Founded by KARL MANNHEIM

The International Library of Sociology

SOCIAL THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

In 22 Volumes

AN INTRODUCTION TO TEACHING CASEWORK SKILLS

by

JEAN S. HEYWOOD

First published in 1964

by Routledge

Reprinted in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Transferred to Digital Printing 2007

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

1964 Jean S. Heywood

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

An Introduction to Teaching Casework Skills

ISBN 0-415-17507-0

Social Theory and Methodology: 22 Volumes

ISBN 0-415-17818-5

The International Library of Sociology: 274 Volumes

ISBN 0-415-17838-X

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent

TO

CHARLOTTE TOWLE

a great and beloved teacher

by Kate Lewis

Adviser on Social Work Training National Institute for Social Work Training, London, W.C.I

A FURTHER book by Dr. Jean Hey wood is a welcome addition to our social work literature. Many readers will remember her earlier work, Children in Care: the Development of the Service for the Deprived Child. She has again put us in her debt by producing the first study on the teaching of casework skill to be published in this country. It is dedicated to Charlotte Towle, one of the greatest social work educators of her generation, whose classic book The Learner in Education for the Professions has long been the standard work on the subject.

In her book Dr. Heywood has used in a creative way much of the teaching of Charlotte Towle, Helen Perlman and others, adapting it to the needs of English social work teachers. Her writing is refreshingly free from jargon. It conveys vividly the accepted precepts and principles of casework practice and conveys them simply. Throughout she has drawn attention to the inter-related processes of study, diagnosis and treatment, and has laid stress on the importance of understanding the mechanisms of defence, which she rightly considers basic to casework skill. The classic principles of casework which are so ably re-stated in this book provide a disciplined way of looking at our work, which guards us against the dangers of prejudice, sentimentality or muddled thinking in our attitude to clients. Every social worker has need of this discipline. In good casework, intellectual understanding of the problem goes hand in hand with warmth of feeling, neither of which can be truly helpful without the other. It demands a difficult combination of detachment and empathy which does not come naturally to anyone, and must be learnt with patience. Learner and teacher alike need an ordered system of instruction. If this orderly method becomes second nature the social worker achieves a new freedom to use her own personality more effectively in the service of the client.

Dr. Heywoods book is focused on the needs of the student. She does not specifically mention the needs of new supervisors for whom her book will be of particular value. New supervisors, however experienced they may be as caseworkers, are generally beginners in the art of teaching. Like their students they are learning a new skill and must inevitably feel unsure of themselves at times and in need of guidance. Some of the best of them have learnt casework in the field and may find considerable difficulty in putting their knowledge into words for the benefit of students. Others were trained at a time when teaching methods were different and these may wish to know what is being taught in the schools now in order that they may help their students to integrate theory and practice. This book provides a simple guide to modern teaching method and an outline of what the student needs to know. It discusses some of the emotional difficulties of students, the way development takes place and what can be expected at different stages of training. The case history in will be found particularly helpful as it shows the work done by the student side by side with the record of supervisory sessions.