Applying Critical Thinking and Analysis in Social Work

Dr Michaela Rogers is a lecturer of social work who is involved in both research and teaching across the areas of social care, social justice, equality and diversity, safeguarding, interpersonal violence and gender. Dr Rogers has delivered and worked alongside colleagues on a range of projects in the voluntary and public sector. These projects typically aim to explore social problems in terms of everyday experiences or assess the impact of service delivery or specific policy initiatives. Dr Rogers is a qualified social worker registered with the profession’s regulatory body in England, the Health and Care Professions Council.Dr Dan Allen is a social work academic with over 18 years′ experience working to democratise child protection practice with Romani and Traveller families. He has published widely on this topic and has represented child protection practitioners working to support Romani and Traveller families at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the House of Lords, and the Welsh Assembly. Dr Allen is particularly interested in examining the intersection of power relations, prejudice, and the impact of governmentality, subjectivities, and ethics on the translocation of professional conduct. Developing a perspective that combines ′neoliberal governmentality′ with ′socio-political′ influence and ′critical′ and ‘radical′ theory, Dr Allen seeks to critically examine the questions of why, how and so what in the context of dominant discourses affecting regimes of practice at individual, cultural and societal levels. Dr Allen is a qualified social worker registered with the professional regulatory body, Social Work England, and he is an active member of the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Social Work Association.

This book is a very valuable and rich resource to enable social work students in training to develop effective critical thinking skills and habits. It has excellent content and practice relevant exercises with which to encourage students to develop their critical thinking further both in their academic studies and professional practice.

• IntroductionPart I: An Introduction to Critical Thinking and AnalysisChapter 1: Introduction to Critical thinkingChapter 2: Introduction to Critical KnowledgePart II: An Introduction to Critical Reading and WritingChapter 3: Critical ReadingChapter 4: Critical WritingPart III: Critical Thinking and Analysis in PracticeChapter 5: Critical ReflectionChapter 6: Professional Judgement and Decision MakingChapter 7: Critical Analysis and Working with Risks and StrengthsChapter 8: Reflexivity and Use of SelfChapter 9: Analytical Assessments and Report WritingConclusion