The Problem of Assessment in Social Work: Practice, Education and Continuing Professional Development - Softcover

Cooper, Barry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3639119096 ISBN 13: 9783639119091

Publisher: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2009

Synopsis

Is social work ¿The Assessment Profession?¿ This book argues that assessment is a defining feature of professional social work and it analyses how the power of assessment pervades both individual and institutional practices. Social workers¿ roles and tasks are increasingly shaped by the need to carry out social assessments of people¿s lives in complex and contestable public welfare environments. At the same time, social workers themselves are subject to assessment of their competence and capability through occupational standards and continuing education requirements. In highlighting social work as uniquely positioned within this nexus of assessment processes, the author offers a historical and contemporary synthesis of ideas that combine the critical social theories of Habermas with the pioneering constructivism of George Kelly¿s Personal Construct Psychology. The book outlines an innovative research enquiry which is used to explore the dilemmas and opportunities of practice-based professional learning and offers a ¿conducive¿ alternative approach to assessment in social work. This book will be important reading for students, practitioners and social care educators.

About this title

About the Author

Dr Barry Cooper, PhD, is Lecturer in Social Work at The Open University in the UK. He is a qualified social worker and has practiced, taught, researched and published on social work for thirty years. He is a member of the Centre for Personal Construct Psychology and co-edited Best Practice in Social Work: Critical Perspectives (Palgrave 2008).

Edition details

• Publisher: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3639119096
• ISBN 13: 9783639119091
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 332