Karen Jones - Best Practice in Social Work: Critical Perspectives

edited by
KAREN JONES,
BARRY COOPER
and
HARRY FERGUSON

Selection, editorial matter Ms Karen Jones, Dr Barry Cooper,
Prof Harry Ferguson 2008
Introduction and chapters (in order) K. Jones, B. Cooper, H. Ferguson; A. Gardener; K. Jones and I. Powell; C. Keeping; B. Cooper; S. Leigh and A. Farmer; H. Ferguson;
J. Dalrymple and H. Horan; K. Jones and K. Spreadbury; J. Coles and P. Connors; J. OGara; P. Taylor, K. Jones and D. Gorman; J. Thomas and K. Spreadbury; B. Senior and E. Loades; K. Jones, B. Cooper and H. Ferguson 2007

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2008 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world.

PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martins Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries.

ISBN-13: 9781403985019 paperback
ISBN-10: 1403985014 paperback

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

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

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08

Printed in China

Contents

Acknowledgements

The aim of this book is to profile social work at its best and producing it has been a very satisfying experience as we savoured the cumulative impact of bringing together so much of what is best about social work practice. As all the academic and practice contributors came from the same region, we were able to hold regular meetings where we discussed the meaning of critical thought and best practice, both in general and as it is applied to each chapter. We want to thank the contributors for their hard work, creativity and commitment to the project, and not just for their own chapters but their contribution to enhancing the quality of the book as a whole. We are grateful to our academic colleagues for their commitment to trying to use critical social theory in ways that attempt to expand understandings of best social work practice. A focus on practice, on what social workers actually do, is at the heart of the book and we owe a great debt to the practitioners who permitted their practice examples to be used and we thank them for sharing their experiences. We are also grateful to the senior managers in the organisations where the practice went on for so enthusiastically supporting the material being used in the book. Our editor at Palgrave, Catherine Gray, provided tremendous encouragement and intellectual support, for which we are very grateful. For their invaluable love and support we want to thank: Hannah Greenslade, Emily Greenslade and Oliver Bennett; Maggie Pickering; Clare Mackinnon and Ellen Ferguson. Ellens vision helped greatly with the cover.

The book is dedicated to the memory of our late colleague Andy Malinowski, whose tragically premature death prevented him from completing his chapter, but whose enthusiastic support for the project meant so much and was typical of him.

NOTE: All references to and identifying information about service users and other professionals in the book have been changed to protect their anonymity.

Notes on contributors

Jonathan Coles qualified as a special educational needs teacher in 1979 and works as a part-time lecturer at the University of the West of England. Much of his work has been with young people and adults who have been labelled as having learning difficulties and/or emotional and behavioural difficulties, in both education and social care settings. He has worked in Higher Education on a part-time basis since 1989, combining this employment with freelance consultancy, education and training. He has a particular commitment to self-advocacy and service user involvement in the development of services and professional practice.

Peter Connors is Learning and Development Manager for Aspects and Milestones Trust. He has been a senior operational manager and has led the commissioning of a number of community services for people with learning disability. His previous experience includes management within the NHS and running a housing organisation providing services for people with learning disabilities. He has a Management MA together with a Diploma in Management Studies, a Health Service Management qualification and is an experienced NVQ Assessor and Verifier. He set up Aspects and Milestones own City and Guilds accredited NVQ Assessment Centre in 2001 and also runs Q Training NVQ Assessment Centre.

Barry Cooper is Lecturer in Social Work at The Open University, having been a visiting lecturer at University of the West of England. He has previously worked as a child care and mental health social worker since 1980 and as a social services training officer for practice teaching and post-qualification award programmes in Bristol. His doctoral research studies at Bristol University focused upon constructivist assessment perspectives within social work practice and education, and he has published a number of journal articles exploring these themes.