Developing Skills and Knowledge for Social Work Practice

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.Dawn Whitaker is a lecturer at Lancaster University and registered independent social work consultant and trainer. Dawn worked as a mental health social worker in the North West of England for many years, before joining a Local Authority training department to deliver teaching on the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Dawn subsequently joined the NHS as a locality Mental Capacity Act implementation lead, with particular responsibility for implementing the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). As an Independent Social Worker, Dawn is regularly instructed by the Official Solicitor for the Court of Protection, specifically in cases where there is a health and social care dispute, or an adult is deemed to be ‘at risk’ requiring ‘safeguarding’. Dawn continues to undertake ISW work, and has been involved in a number of high-profile, landmark cases such as Cheshire West [Cheshire West and Chester Council v P (2011) EWHC 1330 (COP)] and LBX v K & Ors [2013] EWHC 3230 (Fam).David was until recently a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. He worked for many years as a qualified mental health social worker and service manager in central Manchester. His previous book, Social Work Practice Learning was published by SAGE in 2014. Donna is a registered social worker whose 30 year career includes a range of positions in therapeutic residential childcare, child protection teams, and CAFCASS. During the last eight years of her career, Donna worked as an expert witness for the family courts. Her academic and research interests are complemented by her role as a critical social psychologist, her PhD is a phenomenological analysis of prospective adoptive parents’ experiences. In addition, Donna has lead roles in several child sexual abuse and exploitation research studies including Rotherham MBC’s, CSE Needs Analysis; Voluntary Action Rotherham’s Base project; Barnardo’s real love rocks CSE practitioner training resource; Greater Manchester Police CTZN project and evaluation of MOSAIC II, a charity providing therapeutic support to victims, families and survivors of child sexual abuse.  Finally, Donna is commissioned by NHS England to manage the development of a psychosocial assessment model, designed to enhance disclosures of sexual abuse between children, young people and professionals.

This is a resource that will aid students in understanding the core skills essential for effective practice.

• IntroductionPart I: Core Skills1. Person-Centred Communication2. Active Listening Skills3. Communicating with Children4. Emotionally Intelligent Social Work5. Developing Empathic Skills6. Reflection and Reflexivity7. Understanding Values, Ethics and Human Rights8. Valuing Difference and Diversity9. Resilience and Self Care10. Time ManagementPart II: Skills for Assessment and Interventions11. Assessment Skills12. Interviewing Skills13. A Positive Approach to Safeguarding: Risk in Humane Social Work14. Working with Service Users and Carers15. Building Resilience in Service Users16. Conflict Management and Resolution17. Research-Informed Practice18. Writing Skills for Practice19. Inter-Professional Practice and Working Together20. Maximising Supervision21. Review and Evaluation22. Court Skills - Dawn WhitakerPart III: Key Social Work Theories and Methods23. Strengths-Based and Solution-Focused Approaches24. Systems Theory and an Ecological Approach25. Narrative Social Work26. Task-Centred Social Work Practice27. Person-Centred Social Work28. Group work - Michaela Rogers29. Attachment Theory: Examining Maternal Sensitivity Scales30. Grief and Loss31. Crisis Intervention32. The Social Models of Disability and Distress33. Social Work ActivismConclusion