How This Site Is Structured

Over the picture above here you will see a number of tabs. These are the major sections of the site.

Introduction

You have probably already worked out that this section contains the basic information about the site, including the Learning Objective, a section on Defining Theories, this page, and another page on a model called The Practice Pyramid.

It will be very useful for you to familiarise yourself with this section in the first week or two of the module.

Main Sections of this Website

Social Work

This section address the question “What is Social Work?” It looks at the Global Definition of Social Work, and then compares four different models of social work. Finally, this section provides a general model of the social work process.

Meta-Theories

The next section explores a range of theories that can be applied across the whole of the social work process, regardless of the model of social work being used. It begins with an exploration of the Person-Centred theories that have traditionally underpinned social work practice. It then explore an area of theory often overlooked in social work education, communication theory. It then moves on to explore Ecological-Systemic Theory, a theory which moves social work from an individualised activity into one that deals with the Person In Environment model of practice. This section ends with an exploration of Anti-Oppressive Practice, a model that is vital if for social work practice to ensure that it does more good than harm.

Practice Models

The fourth section deals with three models that relate to how social work is practice. It starts with another area of theory that is often overlooked in social work education, problem-solving. It then explores what is probably the most widely claimed model of social work practice in the UK, Task-Centred Practice. The last practice theory in this section is Crisis-Intervention.

Realities

The final section seeks to deal with the gap between how social work is presented in theory and how it is practiced in people’s homes and in social work offices. This section seeks to help you face up to the gaps between the rhetoric of social work and the daily experience of social workers and those they work with.

Having looked at an overview, it is important next to turn to the things that underpin good social work practice. These can be summarised using the Practice Pyramid.

Last updated by M.Allenby on 22.8.16