Book Review Child and Family Assessment in Social Work Practice 2nd Edition

Output Type: Book Revie

Making Social Work Work: Improving social work for vulnerable families and children without parental care around the world: A literature review

This literature review calls for families and children in developing countries to be supported in ways that are appropriate to the conditions, culture and resources available rather than through approaches to social work that are common in the west. Children living without, or at risk of losing, parental care have wide and varied needs, this paper highlights the need for more thorough assessments of appropriate approaches, functions and support needs for social workers, and suggests elements of an assessment tool to explore these issues. This paper is the first part of a longer process for developing such an assessment tool, and plans are underway to further develop and test the tool in 2012.- See more at: http://www.everychild.org.uk/resources/reports-policies/making-social-work-work#sthash.4EF6qnzc.dpu

Media and Social Work

The media play an important role in constructing social work and social workers. These constructions are often linked to failings which have been highlighted in public inquiries. Social workers are multiply accountable and thus need to carefully align themselves in accordance with their professional regulatory body and their employers in matters concerning media reporting of cases. On certain issues the media are well situated to lead the public awareness campaigning element of social problems. Social work is challenged to engage with a wide range of evolving media

Practice placement in social work: Innovative approaches for effective teaching and learning

This chapter examines social media in social work practice contexts and settings and explores how agencies, organisations and practitioners can ensure it is used safely. In social work practice the barriers to engagement with social media and in particular the concerns about practitioner and service user/carer privacy and confidentiality are amplified and this chapter explores the opportunities which social media presents in practice contexts as well as the possible threats. New communication technologies have the potential to contribute a great deal to social work practice benefitting service users, and practitioners, adding novel dimensions to practice just as long as they are used ethically by practitioners who are aware of the importance of professional boundaries

Unearthing Melodrama: Moral Panic Theory and the Enduring Characterisation of Child Trafficking

The issue of child trafficking came to prominence in the early part of the twentieth century as international migrations of children became more visible attracting the attention of Non-Governmental Organisations, politicians, and the national news media. The trafficking of children however is not a new phenomenon, indeed in the late nineteenth century campaigners were successful in lobbying for an increase in the age of consent partially as a result of the media exposé of the ‘white slave trade trade’ orchestrated by the newspaper editor William Stead and the prominent social reformer Josephine Butler (Bristow 1978). The phenomenon of child trafficking has been previously characterised as a moral panic (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 1994: Cree, Clapton and Smith 2012). Moral panic theory goes some way towards explaining the conditions which provide fertile ground for the amplification of risk embedded in media representations, and policy discourses associated with child trafficking. This chapter will illustrate how the issue of child trafficking has been continues to be defined drawing on a model developed from the literary genre of melodrama. The chapter discusses the features of moral panic theory which are relevant to understanding the construction of child trafficking as a moral issue. In the concluding section of this chapter the implications of the construction of child trafficking are discussed

The social construction of risk in child trafficking discourses: A study of melodramatic tactics in child trafficking narratives

Child trafficking is a term used to define situations where children are forced, coerced or tricked to migrate for the purpose of their future exploitation. The issue of child trafficking is a well established UK policy concern initially emerging in the seventeenth century. The issue re-appeared in the late nineteenth century influenced by the social purity movement. This generated an infamous media exposé which led to parliamentary debates and legislative changes. Child trafficking resurfaced as a UK policy concern periodically in the twentieth century as children were once again forced to migrate. At the start of the twenty-first century child trafficking is back on the UK national policy agenda following pressure exerted by international anti-trafficking networks and Non Government Organisations. This study examines the social construction of risk in current and historical child trafficking UK policy discourses. Interviews with key informants in the ports safeguarding sector are discussed, together with an analysis of policy documents and primary historical sources. The construction of risk in these child trafficking discourses appear in a specific format which is explained by drawing on the conceptual lens of melodramatic tactics. This analysis reveals how narratives of child trafficking tend to have a stereotypical tragic child victim, who is forcibly separated from their family, and in need of protection from dangerous criminals who aim to deceive and exploit them. The employment of these melodramatic tactics is a central feature of current UK child trafficking policy discourses. Research studies which situate migrant children as competent social actors illuminate accounts of triumph, and these contrast with the outrage-driven protest drama which has current and enduring appeal in UK child trafficking policy discourses. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of current UK child trafficking policy and recommendations about future research with children on the move are also proposed

Ruchazie Family Centre - Evaluation, Year 1 Report 2015-2016

In 2014 the Quarriers were funded by the Big Lottery Fund (BLF) to extend their work at the Ruchazie family centre to engage more widely with parents/carers and their children. The University of Stirling was commissioned in 2015 to evaluate the programme between 2015-2019. This report is based on our initial findings from our work in the first year of the evaluation programme

Soci@l Media in Social Work Practice

Social media in social work practice The social work profession is underpinned by a value base which is philosophically rooted in social justice, reducing inequalities, empowerment, advocacy and enablement, promoting choice and personal development. The values of social work which rest on respect, dignity and strengthening individuals, families and communities are challenging to adhere to in a political and economic climate which sees social workers publicly blamed and castigated when errors are made, and yet still we try to uphold them and work towards the greater good. As this book illustrates social media technologies have opened up participatory ways of working, and facilitating ways of communicating our work and practice to wider public and global audiences. Social media provides a virtual environment where knowledge about the social work profession and practice is shared. The virtual environment has come to offer a space for social interaction which potentially extends our relationality, how we relate to and with others. The virtual environments we create on social media offers service users, carers and professionals’ spaces for engagement, relationship building, therapeutic or other formal interventions. Amidst this digitally mediated social environment, we are exposed to and interact with pain, distress and trauma, and simultaneously the minutiae and tedium of everyday life, this book discusses how and when we align our professional values in this environment