Developing mental health team effectiveness requires that we explore both how people work together and the context of the team itself. This text, by an acknowledged authority in the field, examines the historical, social policy, political and organisational context alongside the design and the management of team processes. Recognising the central importance both of the relationship between users and staff, and the mental health of team members, the author considers teams as part of a continuous quality improvement process aimed at achieving better outcomes for users.

Are women still oppressed? Is paid employment the key to liberation? Should pornography be banned? Do women have an absolute right to abortion? Can women in government really make a difference? This book draws on a wide range of theoretical, empirical and comparative material to provide a lucid account of feminist debates and the ways in which political disagreements stem from underlying theoretical assumptions. Clear and balanced in its assessment of different problems and perspectives, it offers an essential guide to contemporary feminist thinking and practice.

Nature, Risk and Responsibility explores ethical interpretations of biotechnology and examines whether sufficient consensus exists or is emerging to enable this technology to occupy a stable role in the techno-economic, social and cultural order. The contributors address the nature and prospective implications of biotechnologies for nature, life and social organisation and employ a wide range of social theories to evaluate risks and propose responses.

Changes in ideas about social welfare have required caring professions to adapt their practices in ways which have challenged their underlying values and their relationships with service users. Focusing on nursing, remedial therapy and social work, this book examines core social values expressed through policy. The implications of these ideas for the caring professions in social welfare are explored, as are important questions about the use of industrial and commercial metaphors in health and human services.

The psychology of women's health is an area traditionally controlled by male-orientated scientists, psychologists and doctors. Women by definition have been unquestioningly seen and treated as deviant from the male norm. This model has been challenged by feminist historians and sociologists but not by psychologists who seem to have implicitly accepted the medical model and emphasised the pathology in women's behaviour and emotions. In this book women's views and their experience of their own health and health care are taken seriously and analysed within a psychological and a feminist angle.

Changes in ideas about social welfare have required caring professions to adapt their practices in ways which have challenged their underlying values and their relationships with service users. Focusing on nursing, remedial therapy and social work, this book examines core social values expressed through policy. The implications of these ideas for the caring professions in social welfare are explored, as are important questions about the use of industrial and commercial metaphors in health and human services.

This book traces the origins and development of social work as we now know it. Providing an ambitious synthesis of historical and international material, it explores the different faces of social work, whether defined by social policy developments, professionalization, changes in client group, or shifts in practice orientation. This is a unique book undertaken by an author with a strong international reputation and, as such, it promises to be a landmark for years to come in the social work literature.

It has been widely noted in the social work literature that the practice of child protection is highly gendered. When it comes to child abuse, women come under more scrutiny and men, who are more likely to present a risk of harm to children, are not engaged with. This important text takes stock of this controversial topic, examining the state of policy and theory on the subject and exploring the organisational culture and the professional knowledge and values that influence contemporary social work in the field of child welfare. Skilfully combining theory with illustrative example, it...

This analytically cogent account engages with both the philosophical roots of ideas and their application in institutional structures. Offering a critical overview of political philosophies of welfare it is ideal for advanced students on courses in political science, sociology, social policy, and philosophy.

Power is an unavoidable issue in social work. Practitioners frequently work with the marginalized and disadvantaged. While they have a duty to protect the vulnerable, sometimes this means exercising authority against the wishes of those they are working with - as when they have to remove a child from abusive parents, section a severely mentally distressed person, etc. This important text explores these complex issues, both at a conceptual and applied level, in order to give students a clear understanding of the theoretical frameworks relevant to practice and to help them begin to think...