Experiencing Social Work: Learning from Service Users

In Experiencing Social Work: Learning from Service Users people tell their stories of positive social work and the difference it has made to their lives. The book was inspired by the knowledge of the many positive stories of social work practice and a belief that we can learn more from what goes right than what goes wrong. Follow these stories to understand good practice, reflect on the lessons learned, and to feel uplifted by social work′s potential for positive change, support, and social justice.

Each chapter is constructed around one or more case examples, emphasizing the importance of service users′ own knowledge in developing our learning about good practice.

Key Features

• Offers a wide range of service user groups, including people with mental health problems, disabilities, parenting difficulties, living in care, those experiencing loss, and other life transitions
• Presents editorial commentaries that unpack the core themes and issues from each practice example and open a dialogue to understand the experience and learn from it
• Provides a strong grounding in the ethical guidelines and skills-base required of all social work trainees and practitioners

This important book encourages readers to learn from examples of positive practice and underlines the significant role that social work plays in many people′s lives. It is an essential text for all undergraduate social work students and will also be useful for qualified social workers, service users, and careers.

Mark Doel, PhD, MA (Oxon), CQSW is Research Professor of Social Work at Sheffield Hallam University. He is a registered social worker and was in practice for almost twenty years, including two separate years living and working in the US. His research focuses on groupwork, social work practice and practice education and he has an international reputation in these fields.

Professor Doel is widely published. His fifteenth book, Social Work Placements: a traveller′s guide (Routledge) introduces readers to Socialworkland, a travel guide approach to practice learning. Other recent books include: Educating Professionals: practice learning in health and social care (Ashgate, with Shardlow) which explores how students learn their practice in nine different professions, using a virtual local community to bring the professions together; Experiencing Social Work: learning from service users (Sage, with Best) which tells the stories of service users who have had positive experiences of social work and reflects on what we can learn from this; Using Groupwork (Routledge) and The Task-Centred Book (Routledge, with Marsh). He is co-editor of the journal Groupwork and founding co-editor of the journal, Social Policy and Social Work in Transition, published in Republic of Georgia.

Mark directs a 3-year, EU-funded project to develop social work education and research in the republic of Georgia and the Ukraine and he is a consultant with UNICEF and EveryChild. He leads training workshops in practice education and groupwork.