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Social Work newsletter - September 2009. Go to the newsletter archive.
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Social Work NewsletterWelcome to the Jessica Kingsley Publishers Social Work Newsletter. This monthly newsletter includes interviews, articles and opinion pieces from JKP authors as well as relevant news stories and conference dates. We welcome your feedback and please do let us know of any forthcoming conferences or events that you would like us to mention. You can find details on how to contribute or give feedback, as well as opt out of these emails, further down the newsletter. | |
Exclusive Interview with Jan Horwath
Jan Horwath is the author of The Child's World: The Comprehensive Guide to Assessing Children in Need: 2nd edition, published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. She is Professor of Child Welfare at the University of Sheffield and she worked as a practitioner, trainer and manager in both voluntary and statutory social work settings before becoming an academic in 1995. How did you initially become involved in social work with children and families?
As a young social work student I always intended working with children and families therefore, when I completed my training, I looked for a job that would enable me to focus on this user group. My first social work position was with a non-governmental organisation Middlemore Homes in Birmingham. The charity provided residential placements lasting between one and three years for families that had both a history of chronic neglect and the Local Authority was considering care proceedings. My job was to work intensively with a small number of families to improve parenting capacity and address the impact of neglect on the children. I particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to really get to know the families and to use a range of individual and group approaches. How has practice with children and families developed and changed since the first edition of The Child's World eight years ago?
Whilst editing the chapters included in the second edition of the Child’s World I was continually reminded of the significant research, policy and practice developments that have had an impact not only on social work practice but also on the practice of all professionals who come into contact with children and families. Not long after the first edition of The Child’s World was published Lord Laming’s inquiry report following the death of Victoria Climbiè and the Government’s response: Every Child Matters began to have a significant impact on policy and practice. As the book is about assessment practice I’ll focus on that area of practice. One of the most striking changes to assessment policy and practice is the broadening of focus of assessment in order to identify early concerns and children with additional needs. This has been achieved through the introduction of the Common Assessment Framework. There have been considerable changes to organisational and practice contexts which were designed to address concerns about weak accountability and poor levels of service integration. These changes have reinforced the contribution that practitioners from a wide range of disciplines can make to both assessing and meeting the needs of vulnerable children as well as children in need. The changes have also emphasised the role and responsibilities of senior managers in creating a climate that promotes effective practice. What, in your opinion, are the main challenges facing social workers today? Those in the profession have always been aware of the many challenges social workers encounter however, in the past few months these challenges have really come under the political and public spotlight. The interim report of the social work taskforce, for example, outlines many of the challenges and indeed there are many. For example, complex cases, a demoralised workforce; lack of clarity regarding the role of the social worker; an emphasis on performance management and the very negative portrayal of social workers in the media. Yet against this backcloth frontline staff are undertaking some excellent work and not only safeguarding but also promoting the welfare of numerous children. For me the biggest challenge is recognising effective practice and in the same way that we have begun to pay more attention to resilience amongst children and young people we should be considering what makes for a resilient workforce. Why is it that some practitioners can continue to work effectively with service users when others in the same or similar settings struggle? What do you do in your spare time? Living in Sheffield with the Peak District on the doorstep it is hardly surprising that I spend much of my spare time walking those hills and dales. I also enjoy walking long distance paths and my current project is the Thames Path. However since the end of June I have been spending much of my spare time with my first grandchild -Oscar-. He is an absolute delight and no I’m not biased. Copyright © Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2009 
The Child's World: The Comprehensive Guide to Assessing Children in Need: 2nd edition is released this month and is now available for purchase. See the below link for more details. JKP News
JKP author David Hewitt has been Highly Commended for the Popular Medicine category of the BMA Medical Book Award 2009 for his book The Nearest Relative Handbook: 2nd edition.
Social work in the news - some of the articles in the media this month
Community Care have featured an article on celebrities backing social work in a government recruitment push.
We are pleased to announce that you can now follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook!
This month's author feature:
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Content linksJKP Social Work books
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Email us with your news, events or feedback at news@jkp.com or visit our website for more on our books.
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Useful Dates for your Calendar
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