Social Work in the Shadow of the Law is an essential resource for social workers, social work students, and for all those who work in and study human services. Editors Simon Rice and Andrew Day are joined by eminent social work scholar and practitioner Linda Briskman in this fully updated fifth edition.
Key features of the new edition:
- New chapters on human rights and on research into multidisciplinary practice.
- Fresh insights from new authors who are experienced social work practitioners.
- Important additional case studies and references.
- Updated material for all chapters including those on adoptions; child sexual abuse; domestic violence; elder abuse; Indigenous Australians; lesbian, gay and/or transgender people; the NDIS; refugees and asylum seekers; social work ethics; and being in court.
- Analysis of how the law and social work practice intersect and of the alignment and tensions between these two disciplines.
More than 20 years since the publication of the first edition, this book continues to equip social and human service workers with knowledge that will enable them to work effectively with their clients, lawyers and the legal system.
List of tables and figures
List of abbreviations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Notes on contributors
PART I: REFLECTING ON SOCIAL WORKERS AND LAWYERS
1. Why social work and law?
Phillip Swain
2. Towards a reconciliation of legal and social work practice
Spencer Zifcak
3. Socialising the law: Multidisciplinary practice with lawyers and social workers
Chris Maylea, Nareeda Lewers, Elissa Scott, Penelope Weller and Stan Winford
PART II: SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE IN LEGAL CONTEXTS
4. Looking back – looking forward: Past, current, and future child adoptions in Australia
Susan Gair
5. Social work following sudden and unexpected death
Dorothy Ford and Anne Giljohann
6. Child sexual abuse: Social-legal intersections of practice
Jan Breckenridge and Michael Salter
7. Social work and prisons
Eileen Baldry and Mindy Sotiri
8. Domestic violence, social work and the law
Susan Heward-Belle
9. Elder abuse and the law
David Rose and Ralph Hampson
10. Mediation of disputes in the Australian family law system
Dale Bagshaw
11. Social work practice and debt
Carolyn Bond and Martin Ryan
12. Australian lesbian, gay and/or transgender people and the law
Damien W Riggs, Clemence Due and Clare Bartholomaeus
13. Housing and homelessness
Louis Schetzer
14. Extending beyond the legal: Social work and human rights
Linda Briskman and Jim Ife
15. Indigenous Australians: Continuity of colonialism in law and social work
Terri Libesman and Linda Briskman
16. Mental health law and its implications for social work practice
Lisa Brophy, Bill Healy and Chris Maylea
17. Out-of-home care: Prevention and placement strategies
Susan Tregeagle
18. The NDIS: A quantum leap towards social rights for people with intellectual disabilities
Christine Bigby and Darren O’Donovan
19. Social work with refugees and asylum seekers: An ever-changing partnership with the law
Kirstein Fentiman and Justine O’Sullivan
20. Social security and welfare rights: What role for social work?
Terry Carney and Christine Bigby
21. Youth justice and social work
Wing Hong Chui
PART III: LEGAL ASPECTS OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
22. The ethics of social work practice
Donna McAuliffe, Phillip Swain and Andrew Day
23. Record keeping
Deb Miles and Andrew Day
24. Social workers, the law and interpreters
Uldis Ozolins
25. Courts and tribunals
Simon Rice
26. Evidence
Simon Rice
Table of cases
Table of statutes
Index
Reviews of previous editions:
This very important book offers contributions from 35 authors on the legal aspects and contexts of social work practice.
[The book] continues to offer a useful resource, particularly for social work and human resource practitioners, and students of both those disciplines. It is also a useful reference for legal practitioners who will gain an alternative perspective on the way the law impacts on those who may be less fortunate for a whole range of reasons.
Allison Ballard, Ethos, ACT Law Society, September 2014
The third edition includes chapters from 12 new contributors. New chapters cover issues such as domestic violence, working with interpreters, social work and sexuality, homelessness and housing rights, adoption and post-adoption practice, family law and social work and Indigenous Australians. … The book refers to case law and legislation and provides case studies throughout each chapter. References to articles, statistics and law reform committee reports and other relevant government reports in particular areas are useful. Both state and territory legislation in each area is canvassed so the guide is useful nationally.
Law Institute Journal Victoria, December 2009
