Summary
Contents
This book is a quick and accessible reference guide to the key concepts that social work students and professionals need to understand to be effective. The authors place practice at the center of the text, and include a host of case examples to bring the concepts to life.
Examining the essential topics of the social work curriculum, the concepts covered relate to practice, theory, policy and personal challenges. Further reading is included in each entry, so that the reader can explore what they have learned in more detail.
This book will be an invaluable resource for social work students during their studies and on their practice placement. It will also be useful for qualified social workers, who want to continue their professional education.
Family Work
Family Work
Definition
Family work in social work terms means the working with a ‘family’ to promote the welfare and well-being of one or more family members. All social work activity will be associated with aspects of ‘family’. The family can be a source of support or of distress for its members. Family work is not the same as ‘family therapy’ which has its own theoretical framework and practitioners. It can be helpful to conceptualise the family as an interactive system, between at least two related generations who expect trust and loyalty from each other (Bell and Wilson, 2003). In seeking to work with families, social workers are required by policy and principle to work in partnership, that is, to identify the strengths of the ...
