Social Theory for Social Work: Ideas and Applications

Trying to understand how the world looks through the eyes of different individuals and groups and how this shapes how they think and act is something social workers do all the time. It is what social theorists do too. This book identifies and explains in a highly accessible manner the absolute value [...]
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Trying to understand how the world looks through the eyes of different individuals and groups and how this shapes how they think and act is something social workers do all the time. It is what social theorists do too. This book identifies and explains in a highly accessible manner the absolute value of social theory for social work. Drawing on the conceptual ideas of a wide range of classical and modern social theorists, the book demonstrates the insights their work can bring to bear on a wide range of social work practice-scenarios, issues and debates. Departing with the work of the classical theorists, the book covers a diverse range of theoretical traditions, including phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, Norbert Elias, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, feminism and globalization theory. Putting to work ideas from these different perspectives, a range of social work scenarios, issues and debates are opened up and explored. The final chapter brings together the wide-ranging theoretical strands, using them to critically reflect on the contribution they can make towards realizing a number of core social work values. Demonstrating exactly how and in what ways social theory can make important and enduring contributions to social work in the context of a rapidly globalizing world,?Social Theory for Social Work?is essential reading for social work students, practitioners and professionals, alike. ??