Critical Thinking For Social Workers

Critical thinking as a process can appear formal and academic and far-removed from everyday practitioner experience. This second edition of enables post-qualifying students to develop their analytical skills in line with their everyday experiences. By placing emphasis on writing, communication and critical reflection, this book challenges the view that theory and critical awareness are the preserve of the classroom and instead gives the reader the confidence to better enhance their social work skills.

This highly practical guidebook will help you develop the critical and analytical skills essential to your successful social work education and evidence-informed, reflective practice. Key features include: Theoretical break down and simplification of key theories How to avoid common pitfalls Activities to help you cement your learning Case studies applicable in practice. This will support you right from the very beginning of your programme through to the end of your final placement and into practice.

Part I. Getting Oriented1. Social work: An introduction2. Clients and services3. Values, ethics, and obligationsPart II. Thinking about knowledge and how to get it4. Different views of knowledge5. Critical thinking: Values, knowledge, and skillsPart III. Thinking about problems and causes6. Competing views of problems and causes7. Taking advantage of research findings about behavior and how it is influenced by the environmentPart IV. A problem-solving practice model8. Problem solving and decision making: Integral to helping clients9. Evidence-based practice: A problem-solving process and philosophy10. Posing questions and searching for answers11. A bare-bones guide to critically appraising practice-related researchPart V. Getting started12. Contextual assessment13. Beginning: A procedural guide14. Engaging clientsPart VI. Relationship skills15. Interpersonal helping skills16. Handling challenging social situationsPart VII. Gathering and organizing information17. Where to look: Deciding how to gather needed information18. Observation: Learning to see19. Reviewing resources and obstacles20. Putting it all togetherPart VIII. Selecting plans and assessing progress21. Selecting and Implementing service plans22. Evaluating outcomes as integral to problem solving23. Planning for endingsPart IX. Intervention options24. Education and skill building25. Helping clients learn positive behavior change skills26. Working with groups and families27. Working with organizations and communitiesPart X. The long run28. Maintaining skills and staying happy in your workReferences Index.

Be proud to be a lazy radical! This textbook makes the case for a radical approach to social work that can be embraced by everyone. It's an approach based on real empathy and an understanding of oppression, of managerialism, of the moral heart of social work, of humanism and of the effects of neoliberal hegemony. Jane Fenton provides a model of radical practice for students and social workers who are committed to 'doing the right thing', and who want to develop their own framework for practice. This book will appeal to students who are activists, but want to frame their individual-level practice in a meaningful way, and to those who are non-activist and non-political but simply want to be good social workers. It will give a political and moral understanding of social work practice and lead to confident, value-based and enjoyable social work.

Covers all major topics relevant to clinical social work. Discusses social work practice, multicultural and diversity issues, and research, as well as assessment and measurement.

It is vital that social work students learn to integrate their personal and professional selves if they are to meet the challenges of social work in complex changing environments. This accessible text is designed to enable readers to explore and build on their existing skills and abilities, supporting them to become competent and self-aware reflective practitioners. Reflective Thinking in Social Work uses stories told by a range of social work students to model reflective practice learning. Discussing issues such as identity, motivation to enter the social work profession and lived experiences in the journey into social work, the book brings together stories of hardship, privilege, families, hopes, interests and community activism from many diverse ethnic backgrounds. Each narrative is introduced by the author and ends with a commentary drawing out the key themes and exploring how the reader can use the narrative to enhance their own understanding and critical thinking, and to engage in transformative practice. Framed by an in-depth discussion of available frameworks for reflective practice in different contexts and the importance of narratives in constructing identities, this is an invaluable text for social work students at both bachelor's and master's degree levels.

Critical thinking as a process can appear formal and academic, and far-removed from the everyday practitioner experience. This book enables post-qualifying students to develop their analytical skills in line with their everyday experiences.

The first textbook to emphasize the importance of critical thinking skills to practice, this third edition of the classic Social Work Practice retains its unique focus on thinking critically about decisions that social workers make daily. Organized around the phases of helping, this hands-on introduction highlights the decision points that social workers encounter during assessment, intervention, and evaluation. This text, together with its companion website, provides students with a wealth of hands-on exercises for developing and assessing their practice skills. Most importantly, it helps students enhance client well-being by becoming critical thinkers and evidence-informed practitioners.