Social Work: Past, Present and Future

This collection charts the key developments in the social work field from 1970 to the present day and shows how by fully understanding social work’s past, we can make better progress for practitioners and service users in the future.

It brings together a broad collection of experts from across social work who trace how thinking and approaches to practice have changed over time, examine key legislative developments in the field, look at the impacts of major inquiries and consider the re-emergence of certain specialisms.

Providing students and practitioners of social work and social policy with a full picture of the evolution of social work, it also shares important insights for its future directions.

Ray Jones is emeritus professor of social work at Kingston University and St George’s, University of London. He has more than 40 years experience as a social worker and has been a director of social services, chief executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence, and chair of the British Association of Social Workers. He is a frequent media columnist and commentator and the author of six books, including the best selling ‘The Story of Baby P: Setting the Record Straight’ (Policy Press 2014). In 2017 he received the Social Worker of the Year Award for Outstanding Contribution to Social Work.

June Thoburn is Emeritus Professor of Social Work at the University of East Anglia.

Peter Beresford OBE is Visiting Professor at the University of East Anglia and Co-Chair of Shaping Our Lives, the user led organisation and network as a long term user of mental health services. He has a longstanding track record of work in the field of participation and citizen involvement as academic, service user, researcher, educator and activist.

Chair, British Association of Social Workers, 2014-2018

Terry Bamford has been active in social work for five decades. He has chaired the British Association of Social Workers, been a Director of Social Services in Northern Ireland and a London borough. He was a founder member of the General Social Care Council. He has chaired a Primary Care Trust and is currently Chair of the Social Work History Network and of Healthwatch in Bexley.