This book will help students develop their understanding of how the internet is impacting on social work education and practice in 21st century. Essential reading for students interested in the influence of digital technology and social media, including the impact of digital divides, this book looks at how the value-base of social work can have a positive effect on service users and carers who engage with digital services.

In a digitally powered society, social workers are frequently challenged to embrace new interventions and enhance existing strategies in order to effectively promote social justice. The cases in this volume present engaging examples of technology tools in use across micro, mezzo, and macro practice, thereby illuminating the knowledge, skills, and values required of those who practice social work 2.0.

The integration of digital technologies into practice presents opportunities and challenges for the field of youth work. Digitalization procedures transform interactions with users, in addition to their needs. These also transform the organizations where youth workers are involved in professional practice. Adapting digital technological tools is a crucial challenge for the youth work profession. Youth Work in a Digital Society is an essential scholarly publication that explores how to overcome any challenges and issues facing youth development work in the digital age and to what extent modern digital technologies can contribute to empowering youth work practice. Featuring a wide range of topics such as digital inclusion, mobile technologies, and social media, this book is ideal for executives, managers, researchers, professionals, academicians, policymakers, practitioners, and students.

"How to rethink social theory in our digital times"--

We now live in a digital society. New digital technologies have had a profound influence on everyday life, social relations, government, commerce, the economy and the production and dissemination of knowledge. People’s movements in space, their purchasing habits and their online communication with others are now monitored in detail by digital technologies. We are increasingly becoming digital data subjects, whether we like it or not, and whether we choose this or not. The sub-discipline of digital sociology provides a means by which the impact, development and use of these technologies and their incorporation into social worlds, social institutions and concepts of selfhood and embodiment may be investigated, analysed and understood. This book introduces a range of interesting social, cultural and political dimensions of digital society and discusses some of the important debates occurring in research and scholarship on these aspects. It covers the new knowledge economy and big data, reconceptualising research in the digital era, the digitisation of higher education, the diversity of digital use, digital politics and citizen digital engagement, the politics of surveillance, privacy issues, the contribution of digital devices to embodiment and concepts of selfhood and many other topics. Digital Sociology is essential reading not only for students and academics in sociology, anthropology, media and communication, digital cultures, digital humanities, internet studies, science and technology studies, cultural geography and social computing, but for other readers interested in the social impact of digital technologies.

What does it mean to live in a digital society? Does social media empower political activism? How do we form and express our identity in a digital age? Do algorithms and search engine results have a social role? How have software and hardware transformed how we interact with each other? In the early 21st century, digital media and the social have become irreversibly intertwined. In this cutting-edge introduction, Simon Lindgren explores what it means to live in a digital society. With succinct explanations of the key concepts, debates and theories you need to know, this is a must-have resource for students exploring digital media, social media, media and society, data and society, and the internet. “An engaging story of the meaning digital media have in societies. The writing is relatable, with diverse and comprehensive references to theories. Above all, this is a fun book on what a contemporary digital society looks like!” - Professor Zizi Papacharissi, University of Illinois at Chicago Simon Lindgren is Professor of Sociology at Umeå University in Sweden. He is also the director of DIGSUM, an interdisciplinary academic research centre studying the social dimensions of digital technology.

′This engaging and stimulating book is well placed to become a key text in many student social workers′ redaing lists′ - Journal of Interprofessional Care `[An] excellent book, abounding with conceptual insights, bursting with research and evidence-based reasoning, and pretty comprehensive in the spread of topics. [It] contains plenty of though-provoking material in nice sized chunks that challenged me to think about my practice in different ways and also made me want to find out more. The range of contributors is impressive and students could do a lot worse than digest and reference their work in assignments′ - Professional Social Work `a comprehensive account of the issues related to social workers′ personal development and latest developments in social work practice. I have no doubt that this book will provide an invaluable reference guide for social workers who are interested in the development of the profession′ - Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP) `[This] book is put together in an accessible and engaging way, which serves to stimulate the reader by posing questions, and creating opportunities for reflecting on the key learning points of each chapter. [It] should be an essential reading item on the book list of every social work student and act as a training resource to those training future social workers, and those already established within the profession′ - Health & Social Care in the Community `In recent years, social work has been devalued by politicians and the media. However it requires practitioners equipped with key skills to empower individuals and communities and rooted in values which stimulate them to promote social justice. It is heartening that social work educators are at the forefront of equipping social workers with the skills and values to promote a better society. This book will open hearts and minds to achieve these ends′ - Bob Holman, former Community Worker and Professor of Social Policy Social Work: A Companion to Learning is an exciting and definitive new book that will equip readers with the core knowledge and skills they need to successfully complete their social work training, and go on to be an effective practitioner. The text takes a holistic and critical approach, not only enabling students and practitioners to understand how to practise social work effectively, but also how to locate this practice within its societal context. Written and edited by leading experts in the field, each chapter skilfully explores key themes, issues, and concepts underpinning social work theory and practice in an engaging, authoritative and accessible way. The selection of topics serves to establish: - the contexts through which social work education can best be understood - the core requirements and processes that characterise social work courses - the issues involved in continuing professional development. The chapters comprise a wide range of key issues, such as communication skills, partnership working, the values of social work, supervision, management, law, and research mindedness, as well as two unique chapters written exclusively from service users′ perspectives. Case studies, interactive questions, key points and further reading sections are used throughout the book to bring the material to life and aid readers′ understanding. Social Work: A Companion to Learning will be a core text for students and practitioners at all levels, providing the most up-to-date and comprehensive companion they will need to help them progress in their careers. Mark Lymbery has taught social work at the University of Nottingham since 1995. He is the author of Social Work with Older People (2005), also published by SAGE. Karen Postle is a lecturer in social work at the University of East Anglia. Both authors have a background as social work practitioners.