Finding Your Way Through Field Work: A Social Work Student’s Guide

Over 75 insightful illustrations highlight almost every common issue that students face in their field work and demonstrate how each situation can be handled. Clearly identified topics in each chapter guide social work students through the many pitfalls and relationships of field work, including how to enter an agency and what professional comportment looks like. A focus on key relationships (with field instructor, agency staff, faculty advisor, authority, and the all-important client relationship) helps prepare students for effective social work practice. Second and third person narration offers a personal approach to field work to keep readers engaged. Practice illustrations, examples from field programs, and guidelines help students review and master key skills. Useful strategies for dealing with the many conflicting demands of family and friends and ways of managing the effects of personal history on field work help students deal with the feelings and challenges they will encounter in the intricate relationships they must sustain with clients, field instructors, and faculty advisors.