Description
Book SynopsisRemaking Social Work with Children and Families provides a sustained examination of the ''modernisation'' of this area of social care. It analyses some of the key themes introduced by the administrations of John Major and Tony Blair and provides a critical exploration of contemporary policy initiatives and issues. These include:
the
Looking After Children (LAC) materials
The Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families
''working together'' to protect children
the mainstream approach to ''race'' and ethnicity in social work
the implications for social work of the emergence of ''personal advisers'', mentors and related professionals.
The author argues that political and ideological factors need to be taken into account in order to understand the dominant discourses and evolving practices of social work with children. Potential fixation with ensuring that young people are able to ''fit'' into their allotted r
Trade Review‘A book for those who want to understand the immediate past, in the hope that it might enlighten the future for children’ - Chris Hanvey, UK Director of Operations, Barnardos in Community Care magazine
‘This is an excellent text for opening discourse between academics and researchers on data-gathering methods, which will truly assist social workers in their day-to-day work with clients, while simultaneously providing accountability. The text also facilitates teaching critical thinking to students’ - The British Journal of Social Work
‘The account is a passionate and thorough one…this makes a real contribution to critical writing on statutory social work in the UK, or more specifically, on social work with children and families in England and Wales. Garrett builds his analysis from the basis of current social work methods and, and in doing so, opens a window on the discourses which underpin social work practice today’ - European Journal of Social Work
‘[A] book for those who want to understand the immediate past, in the hope that it might enlighten the future for children’ - Chris Hanvey, UK Director of Operations, BarnardosCommunity Care (2003) 27 November
‘This is an excellent text for opening discourse between academics and researchers on data-gathering methods, which will truly assist social workers in their day-to-day work with clients, while simultaneously providing accountability. The text also facilitates teaching critical thinking to students' - Diane Jacobs, Tulane University, New Orleans The British Journal of Social Work (2004) vol. 34 (4)
‘[The] account is a passionate and thorough one…[T]his makes a real contribution to critical writing on statutory social work in the UK, or more specifically, on social work with children and families in England and Wales. Garrett builds his analysis from the basis of current social work methods and, and in doing so, opens a window on the discourses which underpin social work practice today’ - Viviene E. Cree, University of Edinburgh European Journal of Social Work (2004) vol. 7(1)
‘It provides a sound historical account of significant developments in children’s social work in England and Wales during the 1990s and in the early years of this century, including sections on looked after children, joint working in child protection, adoption and issues of race and ethnicity. It concludes with a valuable evaluation of the "emergent new professionals" and in particular a critical review of the Connexions Service. In the concluding chapter it anticipates some of the themes of the Green Paper such as Children’s Trusts and the Identification, Referral and Tracking system…The book could provide a useful overview of recent policy and practice developments for student social workers and could usefully stimulate class discussions in each of the areas it addresses’. - Chris Mills, NCPCC Social Work Education (2004) vol. 23 (3)
‘Many will find a resonance in his reminder to professionals that it can be their duty to dissent from the currently dominant political view. It is useful to have a senior academic in the field articulate the need for such autonomy and detachment’ - Julie Miller, Consultant Paediatrician, St James’ Hospital, Leeds Child Abuse Review (2004) vol. 13 (3)
‘Overall, this is a well-written, accessible and thought provoking book, which deserves a wide audience. It would be of interest to social work students, social care professionals, policy makers and academics’ - Pamela Attree, Institute of Health Research, Lancaster University Sociological Research Online (2004) 9/2 http://www.socresonline.org.uk/9/2/garrett.html
‘Paul Michael Garrett has been a consistent – and consistently stimulating – critic of the modernisation agenda in social work with children and families for several years now. [He] is widely read, and it shows. He brings a wide range of theoretical and factual sources to bear on his argument. His approach is intended to be critical but constructive, not simply debunking. It is also engaged from the beginning with the ethical purpose of social work with children and families’ - Nigel Thomas, University of Wales Children & Society (2005) Vol. 19
'This book makes a real contribution to critical writing on statutory social work in the UK, or more specifically, on social work with children and families in England and Wales. Garrett builds his analysis from the basis of current social work methods and tools, and in doing so, opens a window on the discourses which underpin social work practice today.' - European Journal of Social Work
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Thinking Critically About Social Work with Children and Families in the Early Twenty-First Century 1. Part One: Major Departures? Social Work with Children and Families 1990-1997 1. The 'Blueprint' for Change: The 'Looking After Children' (LAC) System 2. Examining the 'Product Champions: LAC and its Continuing Role in the Remaking of Social Work with Children and Families 3. 'Working Together' to Protect Children? Part Two: Things Can Only Get Better? New Labour and Social Work with Children and Families 4. Social Work and the Third Way: The Assessment Framework, New Labour and More New 'Tools' for Social Work with Children and Families 5. An 'Eye Catching Initiative': New Labour and Child Adoption 6. Viewing the World Through a Monochrome Lens: Social Work with Children and Families and the Dominant Approach to 'Race' and Ethnicity 7. Social Work with Children and Families in a World of 'Emergent New Professionals' Conclusion
