Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion ─ Promoting Social Justice in Social Work

In our highly unequal Britain poverty and social exclusion continue to dominate the lives of users of social work and social care services. At the same time, spending cuts and welfare reform have changed the context within which services are delivered. The third edition of this unique textbook seeks to capture the complexity and diversity of practice relating to social exclusion as social workers adapt to this challenging environment.

Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion prepares practitioners to engage directly with the social and personal circumstances facing excluded individuals and their families. The volume:

‧ Explains the development of the concept of social exclusion as a framework for understanding the impact of poverty and other deprivations on users’ lives and outlines five building blocks for combating exclusion in practice;

‧ Locates practice within social work values of fairness and social justice while acknowledging the many challenges to those values;

‧ Includes individual chapters on excluded children and families, young people and adults -- with chapters also on practice in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and rural communities;

‧ Discusses inclusionary practice in relation to racism as well as refugees and asylum seekers.

Throughout, the book encourages students and practitioners to think through the range of approaches, perspectives and value choices they face. To facilitate engagement each chapter includes up-to-date practice examples, case studies and specific questions for readers to reflect on.

John Pierson has taught at Staffordshire University for twenty years and is currently Visiting Lecturer in the Creative Communities Unit at Staffordshire University, UK. He is the authorUnderstanding Social Work: History and Context and has co-edited the Dictionary of Social Work, among other works.