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Experiencing Social Work provides a refreshing change in the expanse of social work education texts. Its focus on learning from people who had received a good service from social workers drew out many of the foundation blocks of practice that can so easily be minimised in favour of ′deeper academic theories′. In short, it reminded me of my own passion for practice and the privilege it is to be part of the social work profession′ -
Kay Wall, Lecturer in Social Work In this book people tell their stories of positive social work and the difference it has made to their lives. The book was inspired by the belief that we can learn more from what goes right than what goes wrong. Follow the stories in each chapter to read about good practice, to reflect on the lessons learned, and to feel uplifted by social work′s potential for positive change and social justice. Other key features include:
" Case examples from a wide range of service user groups, including people with mental health problems, disabilities, parenting difficulties, those living in care, those experiencing loss and other life transitions.
" Commentaries that unpack the core themes and issues from each example in order to understand the experience and learn from it.
" Examples of how social work students have contributed to positive change in the lives of service users.
" A strong grounding in the ethical guidelines and skills base required of all social work practice.
This important book will be valuable reading for all undergraduate social work students and will also be useful for qualified social workers, service users and carers.
Mark Doel is based at the Centre for Health and Social Care Research, Sheffield Hallam University. Lesley Best is based at the School of Health, University of Northampton.
Mark Doel, PhD, MA (Oxon), CQSW is Research Professor of Social Work at Sheffield Hallam University. He is a registered social worker and was in practice for almost twenty years, including two separate years living and working in the US. His research focuses on groupwork, social work practice and practice education and he has an international reputation in these fields.
Professor Doel is widely published. His fifteenth book, Social Work Placements: a traveller′s guide (Routledge) introduces readers to Socialworkland, a travel guide approach to practice learning. Other recent books include: Educating Professionals: practice learning in health and social care (Ashgate, with Shardlow) which explores how students learn their practice in nine different professions, using a virtual local community to bring the professions together; Experiencing Social Work: learning from service users (Sage, with Best) which tells the stories of service users who have had positive experiences of social work and reflects on what we can learn from this; Using Groupwork (Routledge) and The Task-Centred Book (Routledge, with Marsh). He is co-editor of the journal Groupwork and founding co-editor of the journal, Social Policy and Social Work in Transition, published in Republic of Georgia.
Mark directs a 3-year, EU-funded project to develop social work education and research in the republic of Georgia and the Ukraine and he is a consultant with UNICEF and EveryChild. He leads training workshops in practice education and groupwork.
