The SAGE Handbook of Social Work Research

Ian Shaw, Katharine Briar-Lawson, Joan Orme, Roy Ruckdeschel, Ian Shaw, Katharine Briar-Lawson, Joan Orme, Roy Ruckdeschel

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781412934992, 9781412934985
• eBook ISBN: 9781446206744
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Sozialwissenschaften
• Subtopic: Sozialarbeit

"This is an ambitious book. It aims at nothing less than a comprehensive account of the state of the art of social work research internationally and an intellectually original statement that will help to define and shape social work research. Those with a serious interest in social work research will agree that this is a major undertaking and one that should put social work research ?on the map?." -

Ian Sinclair, University of York, UK

"This terrific Handbook provides an essential map for navigating the complex currents of social work research today. It resists polemical and simplistic binaries to chart a course that emphasizes diversity, pluralism and sensitivity to political contexts in many featured exemplars. As key chapters note, inherent tensions at the heart of social work itself are mirrored in current debates about the purposes and methods of social work research. Rather than patch over differences, the volume invites us to understand historical roots of unresolvable tensions, and live with them. The international scope of the volume is unique--scholars from more than a dozen different countries were involved --and its broad scope counters the tendency toward parochialism of much North American literature. The Handbook should be essential reading for students and academics." -

Catherine Riessman, Boston University, USA

The SAGE Handbook of Social Work Research provides a comprehensive, internationally-focused account of leading social work research, offering an original and defining statement on contemporary theory and practice within the field. The groundbreaking Handbook engages critically with the nature and role of social work research and evaluation in contemporary societies around the globe, and asks four key questions:

- What is the role and purpose of social work research?

- What contexts shape the practice and purpose of social work research?

- How can we maximise the quality of the practice of social work research?

- How can the aims of social work in its varied domains be met through social work research?

Ranging over local, national and international issues, and exploring questions of theory and practice, this is a diverse and constructively organized overview of the field. It will quickly be recognized as a benchmark in the expanding field of social work research, setting the agenda for future work in the arena.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Notes on Editors
• Notes on Contributors
• Handbook Advisory Board
• Editorial Essay
• SECTION I - Purposes of Social Work Research
• 1 The Nature and Purposes of Social Work
• 2 Providing Objective, Impartial Evidence for Decision Making and Public Accountability
• 3 Theory and Knowledge about Social Problems to Enhance Policy Development
• 4 Improving Intervention and Practice
• 5 Researching Our Own Domains: Research as Practice in ‘Learning Organizations’
• 6 Challenging the Dominant Paradigm: Social Work Research, Social Justice and Social Change
• SECTION II - Contexts for Social Work Research
• 7 Research and Government
• 8 Politics and Values in Social Work Research
• 9 Social Work Research and Ethics
• 10 From Social Work Practice to Social Work Research: An Emergent Approach to a Basic Problem
• 11 Theory and Theorizing: Intellectual Contexts of Social Work Research
• 12 The Uses of Social Work Research
• 13 Places in Time: Contextualizing Social Work Research
• SECTION III - The Practice of Social Work Research
• 14 The Practice of Social Work Research
• 15 Logics, Qualities and Quality of Social Work Research
• 16 Evidence and Practice:The Knowledge Challenge for Social Work
• 17 Methods for Enhancing Theory and Knowledge about Problems, Policies, and Practice
• 18 Methods for Understanding, Learning and Social Justice
• 19 Mixing Methods in Social Work Research
• 20 Challenges and Directions in the Practice of Social Work Research
• SECTION IV - Domains of Social Work Research
• 21 Nation
• 22 Community
• 23 Children, Young People and Families
• 24 Health and Well-being
• 25 Disability
• 26 Mental Health
• 27 Social Work Research and Aging
• 28 Social Work in Criminal Justice
• 29 Challenges and Directions in Social Work Research and Social Work Practice
• Bibliography
• Name Index
• Subject Index