Suchergebnisse

Intro -- Contents -- List of figures and tables -- Notes on the contributors -- List of abbreviations used in this book -- Introduction -- Towards a critical understanding of social work -- Repositioning social work -- The changing nature of social work -- Values, ethics and social work -- Anti-oppressive practice: the challenges of the twenty-first century -- Reaffirming the value of social work -- Social policy, poverty and social work -- Social work and the law -- Social work and organisations -- Perspectives on the life course: childhood and adolescence -- Perspectives on the life course: later life -- Researching social work -- Understanding social work process -- Communication skills in social work -- Working with service users and carers -- Assessment -- Planning -- Understanding intervention -- Critical intervention and empowerment -- Alternative intervention: a Chinese body-mind-spirit perspective -- Monitoring, review and evaluation -- Working with children, young people and families -- Adult services and health-related social work -- Working in the voluntary and independent sectors -- Preparing for social work practice -- Personal and professional development -- Concluding comment -- Bibliography -- Author index -- Subject index.

This article reports on a case study of specialist social work education in Australia. In particular, the views of specialist forensic social workers are explored both about their needs for social work education to support them for practice in forensic social work and also about their experiences of a particular program. Whilst social work education focuses in varying degrees on mental health practice, social workers not only in mental health and corrections but also in child protection, disability, and drug and alcohol services are increasingly expected to understand linkages between offending behavior, psychological disorder and family systems, and balance community and individual needs. The social workers reported that their experience of postqualifying education led to adaptations in the nature of their practice, the development of generic skills, which enabled them to incorporate an awareness of the effects of the justice system on mental health and to balance what are often opposing needs and considerations when working in this contested area. The experiences of the study group of forensic social work practitioners can be used to inform the development of similar specialist programs elsewhere not only in forensic social work but more widely as part of debates about the nature of specialist social work practice.