Learning Matters What is Social Work?: Contexts and Perspectives (Transforming Social Work Practice Series)

Following the lives of four fictional time-travelling characters, it examines the changing functions of social work by unpicking the changing social and political responses to their needs.  From its historical roots to the modern and fast-moving profession it has become, this book looks in detail at how social work has evolved as a profession, what social work looks like in recent years and where it is heading. There are key chapters on working with different service user groups including vulnerable adults, children and families and those with learning difficulties or having to live with mental distress. There are also chapters that cover social work as a profession, including current services, practices, themes and debates.  About the Author Nigel Horner is Head of the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Lincoln, where he teaches social work history, theory and methods, residential child care and ageing and older people. He began working in a London Borough Children’s Home in 1972, before studying Sociology at Durham University. After a period as a Community Worker, he qualified in Social Work from Glasgow University in 1980, and thereafter worked in Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Fostering and Youth Offending settings. He is also a Senior Fellow in the Higher Education Academy.