Crisis in Care?: Challenges to Social Work

Since a high point of professional optimism in the late 1960s, social work practice has become entangled in a crisis of confidence and of direction. It has been subject to a wide range of conflicting demands, pressures, and criticisms. A Crisis in Care? examines these challenges and their impact on social work practice. This volume provides an analysis of the political, professional, and organizational development of social work in Britain; examines the development of the knowledge base of social work and its historical roots; discusses the proposed changes of direction for social work which have been issued from the state over the last decade; and highlights issues surrounding the social and cultural diversity needs that social work has failed to meet, focusing on issues of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and disability. A book presenting a distinctive approach to the analysis of social work, A Crisis in Care? will provide stimulating reading for social work students and professionals interested in the historical roots and recent changes in social work in Britain.