Evaluation and Social Work Practice

Evaluation and Social Work Practice offers a comprehensive treatment of the central issues confronting evaluation in social work that links theory and method to practical applications.

Evaluation is an integral part of social work and social care provision, for both practice and service delivery. Evaluation can improve effectiveness and increase accountability and help develop new models of practice and service delivery. The authors argue that evaluation should not just be applied to practice but should be a direct dimension of practice.

Appealing to the student, researcher and practitioner, Evaluation and Social Work Practice will become the standard reference source on evaluation in social work.

Dr. Ian Shaw is S R Nathan Professor of Social Work at National University of Singapore and Professor Emeritus at the University of York, England. He was the first chair of the European Social Work Research Association (ESWRA) and a founder editor of the journal Qualitative Social Work. He has authored almost 100 peer-reviewed papers, more than 20 books, 60 book chapters, and various research reports. He has written extensively in the journals on issues arising from the relationship between social work and sociology over the last century. His more recent books include Social Work Science (2016) and Research and the Social Work Picture (2018). He is pursuing a graduate programme in creative writing, which sits alongside his interests in gardening, his local church, volunteering in his village shop, playing badminton (badly), and Bob Dylan.

Professor Joyce Lishman is now retired, and was previously Head of the School of Applied Social Studies, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. She was also General Editor of the Research Highlights in Social Work series for many years.