Critical Social Work Praxis (Paperback)

What we think must inform what we do, argue the editors and authors of this cutting-edge social work textbook. In this innovative, expansive and wide-ranging collection, leading social work thinkers engage with social work traditions to bridge social work theory and practice and arrive at social work praxis: a uniting of critical thought and ethical action. Critical Social Work Praxis is organized into sixteen sections, each reflecting a critical social work tradition or approach. Each section has a theory chapter, which succinctly outlines the tradition’s main concepts or tenets, a praxis chapter, which shows how the theory informs social work practice, and a commentary chapter, which provides a critical analysis of the tensions and difficulties of the approach. The text helps students understand how to extend theory into praxis and gives instructors critical new tools and discussion ideas. This book is the result of decades of experience teaching social work theory and praxis and is a comprehensive teaching and learning tool for the critical social work classroom.

Sobia Shaheen Shaikh is a faculty member at the School of Social Work, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dr. Shaikh’s community-engaged scholarship works to redress racisms, Islamophobia, sexism, ableism, environmental degradation and other interlocking relations of oppression within universities, non-profit organizations and local communities. Dr. Shaikh brings a critical lens to a range of scholarship which explores the subjectivity and motherwork of women and girls who have experienced intimate partner violence; relocation in northern and rural communities; and the everyday work of parents vis-à-vis individualized education plans in K-12 schools.

Brenda LeFrançois is a university research professor in the School of Social Work, Memorial University of Newfoundland. With twenty-five years of experience as an academic, Dr. LeFrançois’ teaching has focused primarily on social work theory and praxis, critical mental health and qualitative research methodologies. Likewise, their activist scholarship is theory-infused and focuses on psychiatrization, sanism and anti-sanist praxis, from mad studies, anarchist and critical childhood studies perspectives. They have published widely on these and related topics.

Teresa Macías is an associate professor in the School of Social Work, York University. Her scholarly interests include transnational human rights regimes, poststructuralism, decolonial thought and social work education. She has done research and published on a diversity of topics, including human rights policies in Latin America, truth and reconciliation commissions, state compensation policies, nation-building, torture, issues of representation, critical pedagogy, neoliberalism in social work, research methodology and research ethics. Dr. Macías came to Canada from Chile as a political refugee.