Social Work Theory in Practice
Social Work Theory in Practice
- Philip Heslop
- Cathryn Meredith
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Philip Heslop and Cathryn Meredith 2021
First published 2021
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020937812
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ISBN 978-1-5264-9237-1
ISBN 978-1-5264-9236-4 (pbk)
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This book is dedicated to our much-loved friend, colleague, and office roommate, Rosanne Cooper. Rosanne was full of warmth and humour, and truly passionate about social work practice and education. She had an unparalleled ability to come up with a pragmatic solution for absolutely any situation. We miss her terribly.
About the authors
Philip Heslop (Phil)I have been a social worker since 1992 and chose social work as a profession to challenge inequality and discrimination. I have worked mainly in childcare social work, and from 1995, specifically in fostering and adoption. I have worked in statutory, voluntary and independent social work and have worked in all four countries of the UK. I developed a specialism working with male carers, as well as caring for children on the autism spectrum. I have held a wide range of practice, training, reviewing and management roles. I am qualified to teach adults and children, have been an NVQ assessor and am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I joined Northumbria Universitys teaching team in 2013 where I teach across all social work programmes. I am particularly interested in why people need social work support, how practitioners engage people they work with and compassionate people-based practice.Cathryn Meredith (Cat)I qualified as a social worker in 2001, and went on to practise in a variety of mental health settings. I became an Approved Social Worker (ASW) and later an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP). I developed a special interest in working with people diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, although I dont subscribe to this label. I qualified as a Best Interests Assessor (BIA), and went on to become a local authority Mental Capacity Act lead. From 2013 until its closure, I was a College of Social Work accredited Expert Safeguarding Adults Practitioner. I began teaching and researching at Northumbria University in 2013, focusing particularly on social work with adults, human rights and mental health. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and I am currently completing a PhD, which explores the personalisation of safeguarding when people are experiencing dementia.
Acknowledgements
Philip ~ To Cath and my two granddaughters, Grace Binney and Lucy Heslop, along with Joe, Simon, Siobhan, Scott and Kayleigh. Thank you.
Cathryn ~ To my fantastic family, Stew, Mia and Jean, and all of my friends in the Rona Room. Thank you for getting me through!
Introduction
In our earlier book, Social Work: From Assessment to Intervention, we set out our view that social workers are concerned with working with people often during very difficult times to make sense of complex and difficult situations and understand how to navigate towards solutions. Whether we use it intentionally or instinctively, formally or informally, theory is what guides this sense making. The decisions that we reach about how to intervene with people who are in need or at risk are informed by our theoretical knowledge and how we theorise attempt to explain their situations. The decisions that we make as social workers can have an enormous impact on peoples lives, so it is crucial that they are informed by more than assumption and good intentions. In this book, we aim to introduce theoretical knowledge in an accessible way, demonstrating its relevance to social work and exploring its application in practice. Whether you are beginning your qualifying training, are in the early years of practice, or are a more experienced social worker attending to your continuing professional development (CPD), this book will equip you with the underpinning theoretical knowledge you need to practise with people communally and organisationally.
Social work: Theory in practice
Social works relationship with theory is undeniable yet contentious; debates have long persisted about where the balance between theory and practice lies. In the UK, the introduction of fast-track, practice-based models of social work education appears to have further polarised opinion. In 2013, the year that the first Frontline cohort began, two reviews of social work education were commissioned. Professor David Croisdale-Appleby was invited to review social work education from the perspective of adult social care, whilst Sir Martin Narey was invited to undertake a concurrent review considering the childrens workforce. The reports of the two reviews presented very different stances on the relationship between theory and social work practice. Martin Nareys Making the Education of Social Workers Consistently Effective (2014) suggested that theory had, perhaps, been overemphasised in social work education. He cited his conversation with a Director of Childrens Services who told him, Universities have been allowed to provide too much theory, too much sociology and not enough about spotting things in a family which are wrong (p. 30), and reported what the chair of the Victoria Climbi inquiry, Lord Laming, had said of social work education: I suspect it has been captured by academics more comfortable with theory than preparation to practice (p. 38). David Croisdale-Applebys report,
