Steve Rogowski

I have been interested in writing since my school/Leeds University days in the late 1960s/early 1970s. In that far off era it was letters/articles about Leeds United, rock bands at the uni. and my hero Lester Piggott. I well remember complaining about the entrance prices at Elland Rd., and the fact that the fantastic Stones concert of 1971 would never be beaten.Then there was an article about one of the best race horses ever, Nijinsky. It all seems a long way from what I am up to now!

After graduating in law, and a relatively short spell in the Civil Service with (the then) Department of Employment, I turned to social work as a career. The 1960s had come come to an end but the early/mid 1970s were still an optimistic period and I had more enjoyable student days at Lancaster University, qualifying as a social worker, before going on to be employed as such. Further social work studies took place at (the then) Sheffield City Polytechnic and later still Bristol and Manchester Metropolitan (where I obtained my PhD) universities. These studies may have been dominated by social work theory and practice, but I also had memorable times re-living many aspects of my earlier student days in Leeds - not least drinking, socialising and watching live music.

When not working/studying and having a good time, I have often written articles, book reviews etc. about social work. Then there is my passion for pike fishing, rekindled in the early 1990s, which has resulted in many articles and two edited book collections together with 'The 'Incompleat' Piker' which focusses on my (relatively lack of!) pike fishing success.

My first two social work books, 'Social Work: the rise and fall of a profession?' and 'Critical Social Work with Children and Families: theory, context and practice' were published by Policy Press in 2010 and 2013. The third, 'Social Work with Children and Families: reflections of a critical practitioner', was published by Routledge in 2016. Second editions of the first two were published in 2020 and 2024.