This unique and timely book, edited by Michael J. Austin, introduces and connects social justice to the core values of social work across the curriculum. It presents the history and philosophy that supports social justice and ties it to ethical concepts that will help readers understand social justice as a core social work value. The book further conveys the importance of amplifying client voice; explores organization-based advocacy; and describes how an understanding of social justice can inform practice and outlines implications for education and practice.

It is important for practising and trainee social workers to have a full understanding of the work they do and its role in society. This book provides an introduction to 'the essentials' of social work. Written from an international perspective, the author details the core theory, values and practice which unite social workers around the world. He covers professional standards, social work education and training and social work structures, and outlines a vision of the future of social work: where it is now, and what needs to be done to protect its identity. This accessible text will be required reading for social work professionals and students.

"In this exciting new book, Malcolm Payne draws on core principles of social work to articulate a new humanistic practice for the twenty-first century. Humanistic Social Work: Core Principles in Practice presents a profession that aims at positive fulfillment in social relationships, exploring and reconciling artistic, creative, and spiritual avenues with evidence-based practice approaches and postmodernist understandings of human growth and knowledge development. Showing how practitioners can embody flexible, skilled, and knowledge-based responses to the complexities of human individuality, Payne reorients the aims of social work as an accountability to clients' individual self-fulfillment, enabled by community and social development. Humanistic Social Work is a reaffirming treatise on the strengths rather than the deficits of the individual, the innovations rather than the imperfections of the social work profession."--Publisher's website.

Social work ethics provide practitioners with guidance on how to promote social work values such as respect, social justice, human relationships, service, competence, and integrity. Students entering the profession need to develop a real-world understanding of how to apply these values in practice while also managing the dilemmas that arise when social workers, clients, and others encounter conflicting values and ethical obligations. Ethics and Values in Social Work offers a comprehensive set of teaching and learning materials to help students develop the knowledge, self-awareness, and critical thinking skills required to handle values and ethical issues in all levels of practice--individual, family, group, organization, community, and social policy. BSW and MSW students will particularly appreciate how complex ethical obligations and theories have been translated into plain language. Additionally, the comprehensive set of case examples and exercises provides realistic scenarios to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills across a range of practice situations.

`[A]ims to clarify how competent practice emerges from the integration of knowledge, values and skills.... It includes fairly detailed discussion of core values, knowledge and skills, devoting a chapter to each and going on to make links with particular areas of work. Thoughtful cross referencing between contributors and extensive reference to research and other relevant literature promotes appreciation that competent practice requires integration′ - Child and Family Social Work This original textbook provides an invaluable introduction to the required core knowledge, values and skills in social work today. Within the context of critical debate about knowledge, values and skills, a highly respected team of contributors focus their attention on three key areas: social work with children and families; community care and social work with adults; and probation and social work with offenders. One of the most important and innovative features of the text is that it offers a practical tool for readers to identify and monitor competences. Knowledge, values and skills are integrated to produce a set of competences, the main components of which are then shown in practice as problem-solving devices against which readers can evaluate their own understanding of competent and effective practice.

This social work book is the first of its kind, describing practical steps that social workers can take to shape and influence both policy and politics. It prepares social workers and social work students to impact political action and subsequent policy, with a detailed real-world framework for turning ideas into concrete goals and strategies for effecting change. Tracing the roots of social work in response to systemic social inequality, it clearly relates the tenets of social work to the challenges and opportunities of modern social change. The book identifies the core domains of political social work, including engaging individuals and communities in voting, influencing policy agendas, and seeking and holding elected office. Chapters elaborate on the necessary skills for political social work, featuring discussion, examples, and critical thinking exercises in such vital areas as: Power, empowerment, and conflict: engaging effectively with power in political settings. Getting on the agenda: assessing the political context and developing political strategy. Planning the political intervention: advocacy and electoral campaigns. Empowering voters Persuasive political communication. Budgeting and allocating resources. Evaluating political social work efforts. Making ethical decisions in political social work. Political Social Work is a potent reference for social work professionals, practitioners, and students seeking core political knowledge and skills to practically advance their work. For specialists and generalists alike, it solidifies political action as vital for the evolution of the field.

For decades, teachers and practitioners have turned to Frederic G. Reamer’s Social Work Values and Ethics as the leading introduction to ethical decision making, dilemmas, and professional conduct in practice. A case-driven, concise, and comprehensive textbook for undergraduate and graduate social work programs, this book surveys the most critical issues for social work practitioners. This sixth edition incorporates significant updates to the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and discussion of challenging issues related to cultural competency, antiracism, moral injury, human rights, environmental justice, ethical humility, non-Western perspectives on ethics, and practitioner self-care. Reamer also focuses on how social workers should navigate the digital world through discussion of the ethical issues that arise from practitioner use of online services and social networking sites to deliver services, communicate with clients, and provide information to the public, and he examines the standards that protect confidential information transmitted electronically. He highlights potential conflicts between professional ethics and legal guidelines and expands discussions of informed consent, confidentiality and privileged communication, boundaries and dual relationships, documentation, conflicts of interest, and risk management. Conceptually rich and attuned to the complexities of ethical decision making, Social Work Values and Ethics is unique in striking the right balance among history, theory, and practical application.