What is Social Work?

Nigel Horner is Head of the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Lincoln, where he teaches social work history, theory and methods, residential child care and ageing and older people. He began working in a London Borough Children’s Home in 1972, before studying Sociology at Durham University. After a period as a Community Worker, he qualified in Social Work from Glasgow University in 1980, and thereafter worked in Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Fostering and Youth Offending settings. He is also a Senior Fellow in the Higher Education Academy.

This is a really useful introduction to the different roles of social workers and the historical development of the profession, with really helpful links to the PCF. It′s a perfect introductory textbook for our introductory undergraduate social work module.

• Chapter 1: Introduction and core themesChapter 2: The beginnings of social work: "The comfort of strangers"Chapter 3: Social work with children, young people and familiesChapter 4: Social work with people with learning difficultiesChapter 5: Social work with people experiencing mental distressChapter 6: Social work and older peopleChapter 7: Formalising and consolidating social work as a professionChapter 8: Current services, practices and issuesChapter 9: Summarising remarks and signpostsAppendix 1: Professional Capabilities FrameworkAppendix 2: Subject Benchmark for Social WorkAppendix 3: A code of ethics for social work (BASW) values and principlesAppendix 4: Mapping services in modern social work and social care settingsAppendix 5: Time line of the development of social workAppendix 6: Summary of recommendations from the Munro ReportAppendix 7: The standards of proficiency for social workers in England and the Professional Capabilties FrameworkAppendix 8: Building a Safe and Confident Future (July 2009)Resources and useful websites