Substance Use in Social Work Education and Training ─ Preparing for and Supporting Practice

Substance use has become an increasingly common concern for all aspects of social work practice, and especially when working with mental health and vulnerable families. This requires all social workers to have sufficient education and training in alcohol and other drugs across a range of settings.

This volume presents evidence from a number of major studies which examine the current state of social work education in relation to substance use. These contextual considerations are complemented by specific applied analyses which explore classroom, methodological, practice and theoretical considerations within both the UK and America. Substance Use in Social Work Education and Training provides a strong evidence base for the effectiveness of appropriately-targeted education and support given to social workers. It further substantiates calls for a greater inclusion of more on substance use in social work education and curricula.

This book is based on a special issue of the journal Social Work Education.

Dr Hilda Loughran is the Director of Social Work at University College Dublin, Ireland. Her main research interests and teaching areas are in substance use and social work, and drug policy analysis.

Dr Wulf Livingston is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Glyndwr University, UK. His primary research interests are alcohol, knowledge acquisition, and recovery and service user involvement. He is also Chair of the New Directions in Study of Alcohol group and supports the British Association of Social Workers Special Interest Group.