Book contents
- Engaging with Social Work
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Engaging with Social Work
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Foreword to the second edition
- About the authors
- Acknowledgements
- Acronyms and abbreviations
- 1 The critical potential of social work
- 2 Contemporary practice contexts: Enduring social forces
- 3 The new normal: Contemporary and emerging challenges and opportunities for social work
- 4 What can we do? A critical response to social contexts
- 5 How did we get here? The history of critical social work
- 6 Values and ethics for critical practice
- 7 Theories for practice
- 8 Social work practice
- 9 Diversity, power and knowledge
- 10 Fields of practice: Challenges and opportunities
- 11 Advancing critical social work into the future
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- References
10 - Fields of practice: Challenges and opportunities
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 October 2025
Book contents
- Engaging with Social Work
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Engaging with Social Work
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Foreword to the second edition
- About the authors
- Acknowledgements
- Acronyms and abbreviations
- 1 The critical potential of social work
- 2 Contemporary practice contexts: Enduring social forces
- 3 The new normal: Contemporary and emerging challenges and opportunities for social work
- 4 What can we do? A critical response to social contexts
- 5 How did we get here? The history of critical social work
- 6 Values and ethics for critical practice
- 7 Theories for practice
- 8 Social work practice
- 9 Diversity, power and knowledge
- 10 Fields of practice: Challenges and opportunities
- 11 Advancing critical social work into the future
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- References
Summary
While we have already touched on several fields of practice throughout this text, this chapter draws on our own and other authors’ research and experience to go somewhat deeper in relation to three social work practice fields: aged care and working with older people; child protection; and men’s violence against women. We consider some of the current debates that exist within these fields and contextualise them within wider social and political contexts. We acknowledge the challenges for critical practice, particularly when it seems to be at odds with the dominant discourses and associated institutional structures and cultures.
Keywords
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- Information
- Engaging with Social WorkA Critical Introduction, pp. 306 - 338Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
References
Further reading
Bennett, K., Booth, A., Gair, S., Kibet, R. & Thorpe, R. 2020, ‘Poverty is the problem – not parents: So tell me, child protection worker, how can you help?’ Children Australia, 45(4), 207–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, B. 2009, ‘Empowering and rights-based approaches to working with older people’, in Allan, J., Briskman, L. & Pease, B., eds, Critical Social Work: Theories and Practices for a Socially Just World, 2nd ed., Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Burton, C., Gilpin, C. & Draughon, J. 2020, ‘Structural violence: A concept analysis to inform nursing science and practice’, Nursing Forum, 56(2), 382–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Duffy, F. 2017, ‘A social work perspective on how ageist language, discourses and understandings negatively frame older people and why taking a critical social work stance is essential’, British Journal of Social Work, 47, 2068–85.Google Scholar
Morley, C. & Fleming, J. 2021, ‘Can critical reflection improve social work practice in organisations?’, in Ewing, R., Waugh, F. & Smith, D. L., eds, Reflective Practice in Social Work. Interdisciplinary Explorations in Education and Social Work. Becoming Reflective, Routledge.Google Scholar
Morley, C. & Stenhouse, K. 2020, ‘How might critical reflection enable critical social work practice in mental health?’ Social Work Education, 40(1), 80–94,CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, R. 2018, ‘Emancipatory social work with older people: Challenging students to overcome the limitations of ageism and institutional oppression’, Social Work and Policy Studies, 1(1), http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0711-8389Google Scholar
Saar-Heiman, Y. & Gupta, A. 2020, ‘The poverty-aware paradigm for child protection: A critical framework for policy and practice’, British Journal of Social Work, 50, 167–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, J. 2016, ‘The mission of critical social work and the statutory child protection system in Australia: Resisting neoliberal encroachment’, Social Alternatives, 35(4), 59–65.Google Scholar
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