Social Work: A Critical Approach to Practice

Social work is a human profession founded on social justice. It is difficult however to negotiate this in the constantly-changing context of the twenty-first century. Now in it′s Second Edition, this book considers the critical tradition of social work and updates it with postmodern thinking. Jan Fook draws on critical reflection to help social workers deliver flexible, responsible and responsive practice and to celebrate the ageless ideals of the profession. Jan Fook draws on her own experiences to relate theoretical ideas to real life. Summaries, exercises and further reading are also included in each chapter.

 

Jan Fook has social work degrees from the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney and PhD from the University of Southampton and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK). She has had a long career as a social work educator and a Professor of Education and has also worked in continuing education and the interprofessional field in Australia, the UK, Canada, Norway and the USA. She is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Social Work at the University of Vermont. She is best known for her work on critical social work, practice research and critical reflection and has published extensively in these areas. She has travelled widely delivering lectures and workshops on critical reflection.