Skip to main content
Social Work in the Shadow of the Law

Social Work in the Shadow of the Law

6th edition

Editor

, , ,

ISBN

9781760025793
Publication Date

05/02/2026

AUD $130.00 gst included

Coming soon...
SKU: 9781760025793 Categories: , , , , Tag:

It is 30 years since Phillip Swain’s ground-breaking edited collection, In the Shadow of the Law. In this updated, 6th edition, the editors and authors from earlier editions are joined by a fourth editor and a number of new authors, bringing fresh and critical perspectives to contemporary issues at the intersection of social work and law. Through lived experience and professional expertise, the authors offer unique insights into the complexities and challenges of social work practice in legal contexts, and of the legal dimensions of social work practice. The wide range of topics in previous editions is expanded, with chapters specifically addressing alcohol and other drugs, children’s rights, and victims of crime, and chapters on sites of punishment, surveillance, and confinement. As in previous editions, the 6th edition provides chapter summaries, key learning points, questions for consideration, and suggested additional reading and websites.

Preface
Acknowledgments
Notes on Contributors
Foreword by Phillip Swain

PART 1: SETTING THE SCENE
1 Critical social work in the shadow of the law
Sacha Kendall Jamieson, Linda Briskman and Andrew Day
2 Indigenous peoples and approaches to child welfare
Stephanie Gilbert and Lisa Featherstone
3 Human rights
Linda Briskman and Sacha Kendall Jamieson
4 Children’s Rights
Samia Michail, Mary Megalaa and Amy Megalaa
5 Ethics
Donna McAulife and Leia Greenslade
6 Legal proceedings
Simon Rice
7 Interdisciplinary practice
Lisa Ewenson
8 Interpreters
Uldis Ozolins

PART 2: SITES OF PUNISHMENT, SURVEILLENCE AND CONFINEMENT
9 The prison industrial complex
Debbie Kilroy and Tabitha Lean
10 Child protection and out-of-home care
Jane Thomson
11 Youth justice
Lobna Yassine
12 Prisons
Sacha Kendall Jamieson and Eileen Baldry
13 Mental health law
Lisa Brophy and Chris Maylea
14 Refugees and asylum seekers
Mary Anne Kenny and Lucy Fiske

PART 3: INTERSECTIONS OF LAW AND SOCIAL WORK
15 People living with disability
Christine Bigby and Piers Gooding
16 Australian lesbian, gay and/or trans people
Robyn Ericksen, Damien W. Riggs, Clemence Due and Clare Bartholomaeus
17 Older people
David Rose and Rachel Blance-Palmer
18 Victims of crime
Katherine McLachlan, Sarah Quick and Nicola Trenorden
19 Housing and homelessness
Chris Horsell
20 Gender-based violence
Susan Heward-Belle
21 Child sexual exploitation and abuse
Michaell Salter and Jan Breckenridge
22 Alcohol and other drugs
Antonia Ravesi and Jennifer Uzabeaga
23 Debt
Carolyn Bond and Bronwyn Davis
24 Social security and welfare rights
Terry Carney and Christine Bigby
25 Death and dying
Jane Mowell and Marc Trabsky

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

You may also like…

Related products