In the wake of the profound changes in policy and practice around caring over the past ten years, this volume takes a fresh look at the social and legal status of carers. Demonstrating the scope and diversity of 'caring', the contributors highlight the positive aspects of caring and the interdependence of many caring relationships but also broach the sensitive and complex subject of poor' care and the importance of identifying and meeting the needs of 'hidden carers'. Arguing that policy and practice must take account of both carers' and users' interests, the contributors re-evaluate the...

Evidence-based practice - what it might mean, how it can be achieved, whether it should be aspired to - is the subject of much debate and argument in social work. Covering areas of social work practice that are well established and those in which evidence is just beginning to become available, the authors address issues such as: * What is to count as evidence, and who decides this? * If relevant evidence is agreed on, how should it be used in practice? * How can the thing that made the difference be identified? * Does success result from the theory employed by the worker, or because the...

Based on key research into assessment, treatment and recidivism, this book offers practical guidance on improving intervention techniques with sex offenders. The contributors explore the monitoring and surveillance strategies and cognitive-behavioural techniques currently used both in prison and in the community, and give clear directions for future practice. Providing a detailed overview of the typologies and characteristics of offenders, they suggest strategies for managing different kinds of offender, including children and young people who are sexually aggressive. The Sex Offenders Act...

Public Services Inspection in the UK provides a detailed account of the changing role of inspection in public services management. It analyses the key debates about the role that inspection plays in increasing public accountability and encouraging service improvement. Contributors describe current inspection methods across the key public sectors of education, social care, the criminal justice system, local government services and healthcare, and examine the underlying issues and tensions associated with public services inspection. They compare approaches adopted in different parts of the UK...

Developments in Social Work with Offenders explains the organisational and legislative changes that have occurred in social work and probation across the UK in the past 10 years, in the context of the accumulating body of knowledge about what constitutes effective practice in the assessment, supervision and management of offenders in the community. Three different aspects of working with offenders are covered: developments in policy; assessment, supervision and intervention; and issues and needs. Contributions from experts in the field discuss issues such as community punishment', case...

Examining the theory and practice of work with people with mental health problems, this volume considers the current state of policy and organisation and the changes that have taken place over the last decade in the field. The book charts the move away from separate, specialist services, and the resultant impact on service provision and concerns over dilution of expertise. Using research findings and case studies, the contributors discuss: * the perception of clients by social work organisations * the implementation of services * the impact of community care arrangements * the circumstances...

Effective Ways of Working with Children and their Families examines the latest evidence about the most successful forms of intervention when working with children and their families. The book covers a wide range of approaches and services, with particular emphasis on those methods seeking to help children with identified problems. Certain approaches focus on individual children, others on their families, whilst some aim to influence children's lives at school, neighbourhood and community levels. After discussing the principles, designs and debates associated with ideas of effectiveness and...

Focusing on the enormous organisational and cultural changes that local authority social services have undergone since the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act, this volume provides an overview of the structure and function of social care at practice, management and policy levels. It contains contributions from leading academics, researchers and practitioners in the UK, and also includes chapters on the experiences across the United Kingdom and abroad. The contributors examine the impact and effectiveness of key shifts in: the weighting of responsibility of central and local government who the...

This work analyzes the context of post-compulsory education and training through the stories of ten young people entering the world of youth training in Britain. In their re-examination of the ways in which young people make career decisions, the stories are grounded in policies emphasizing individual responsibility for education and training in a market built around neutral careers guidance. The book aims to show that current debates about education and training are often based on false assumptions about how people behave and interact with each other, and to help the reader understand the...

The contributors to this volume examine the range and nature of problem behaviours among children and young people and the changing nature of their offending, which is reflected in the ongoing examination of philosophies, practices and policies and the tension between welfare' and more traditional justice and punishment' approaches. They recognise the increasing obligation of recognising the rights of young people who offend and trace the relationship between explanations of offending by this group and the implications these have for the development of relevant and effective crime prevention...