Social Work Practice: A Critical Thinker's Guide (Revised)

By Eileen Gambrill

Book Overview

The first textbook to emphasize the importance of critical thinking skills to practice, this third edition of the classic Social Work Practice retains its unique focus on thinking critically about decisions that social workers make daily. Organized around the phases of helping, this hands-on introduction highlights the decision points that social workers encounter during assessment, intervention, and evaluation. This text, together with its companion website, provides students with a wealth of hands-on exercises for developing and assessing their practice skills. Most importantly, it helps students enhance client well-being by becoming critical thinkers and evidence-informed practitioners.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0199757259
• ISBN13: 9780199757251
• Release Date: November 2012
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 704 Pages
• Weight: 4.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 8.8" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Highly Recommended to Close the Gap between Research and Practice

As someone who is teaching Social Work Practice this Fall, I will be using this book as the main textbook for my class. I highly recommend that this book be carefully read by every social work practitioner. Both students and highly experienced, seasoned professionals will find much of value in this book. There has been much discussion of the gap that exists between research and social work (and other mental health) practice and how to bridge it. Until now, in spite of all the discussion about evidence-based practice, little has been written in practical terms, on how a social worker or other mental health professional would go about actually conducting evidence-based practice. This book gives very practical, detailed ways in which to engage in evidence-based practice and encourages social workers to think critically about what they do in practice, rather than just passively accept notions and interventions handed down by authorities. This book helps social workers to question, think deeply, identify their own philosophical positions, and evaluate the evidence (or lack thereof) that supports what they do. Although the book is centered around social work practice, other mental health professionals could also greatly benefit from reading it. For anyone who has ever wondered how evidence-base practice is done, this is the book for you.