Helping children, disabled people, the unemployed, the elderly or homeless people can be inspiring work. However you can only help other people effectively if you understand your role clearly and know how to navigate the organisation in which you work. Professional Practice in Human Service Organisations examines what it means to be a professional in human service work, and how to develop excellence in professional practice. Making explicit what is often held as tacit knowledge in day to day practice, the authors explain the dynamics of human service organisations. They outline the challenges worker can face in caring for vulnerable people while at the same time fulfilling expectations of management and funding bodies. They explain the importance of understanding the complex networks of service delivery systems, including the role of information technology. They also examine how workers can maintain professional relations with clients, colleagues and other workers by developing skills in advocacy and in handling conflict, complaints and ethical dilemmas. Professional Practice in Human Service Organisations is essential reading for practitioners new to roles in social work, community work, youth work and related fields.

Helping children, disabled people, the unemployed, the elderly or homeless people can be inspiring work. However you can only help other people effectively if you understand your role clearly and know how to navigate the organisation in which you work. Professional Practice in Human Service Organisations examines what it means to be a professional in human service work, and how to develop excellence in professional practice...Making explicit what is often held as tacit knowledge in day to day practice, the authors explain the dynamics of human service organisations. They outline the challenges worker can face in caring for vulnerable people while at the same time fulfilling expectations of management and funding bodies. They explain the importance of understanding the complex networks of service delivery systems, including the role of information technology. They also examine how workers can maintain professional relations with clients, colleagues and other workers by developing skills in advocacy and in handling conflict, complaints and ethical dilemmas...Professional Practice in Human Service Organisations is essential reading for practitioners new to roles in social work, community work, youth work and related fields.

Currently there is an enduring and changing meaning of social work in a world where new crises are being confronted and new opportunities are arriving in the evolving context of social work and the related disciplines. There is a question on how to manage the transformation of social work both productively and creatively during this global shift. Practitioners and educators can experience a tragic disorientation when confronted by the diversity and depth of these crises endured and can face doubts about their role in social work throughout all these changes and difficult situations. Alternatives to this disorientation, a comfort with uncertainty, and a capability to take risks need to urgently be developed on a professional and personal level for success in the evolving field. Through historical lens and a review of policies and value-based approaches, the recontextualization of social work can be explored. Practical and Political Approaches to Recontextualizing Social Work explores practical and political ways in which social work practice has been reconstructed. Chapters identify this recontextualization of social work and how it is changing, adapting, and transforming the profession along with providing the potential implications for the profession. This book grants insight on the reconstruction of social work on the personal and interpersonal level ("case" work) and also on those intending to impact social work on the local/global environment level in all dimensions: politically, economically, socially, and ecologically. In addition, the book includes a shift from the present short-term and micro/personal view to a future and much broader and encompassing perspective and practice vision. This book is essential for social workers, practitioners, policymakers, government officials, researchers, academicians, and students who want to learn more about the recontextualizing of modern social work in a shifting global environment.

Currently there is an enduring and changing meaning of social work in a world where new crises are being confronted and new opportunities are arriving in the evolving context of social work and the related disciplines. There is a question on how to manage the transformation of social work both productively and creatively during this global shift. Practitioners and educators can experience a tragic disorientation when confronted by the diversity and depth of these crises endured and can face doubts about their role in social work throughout all these changes and difficult situations. Alternatives to this disorientation, a comfort with uncertainty, and a capability to take risks need to urgently be developed on a professional and personal level for success in the evolving field. Through historical lens and a review of policies and value-based approaches, the recontextualization of social work can be explored. Practical and Political Approaches to Recontextualizing Social Work explores practical and political ways in which social work practice has been reconstructed. Chapters identify this recontextualization of social work and how it is changing, adapting, and transforming the profession along with providing the potential implications for the profession. This book grants insight on the reconstruction of social work on the personal and interpersonal level ("case" work) and also on those intending to impact social work on the local/global environment level in all dimensions: politically, economically, socially, and ecologically. In addition, the book includes a shift from the present short-term and micro/personal view to a future and much broader and encompassing perspective and practice vision. This book is essential for social workers, practitioners, policymakers, government officials, researchers, academicians, and students who want to learn more about the recontextualizing of modern social work in a shifting global environment.

his book provides a framework for professional expertise and practice for our times. Professionals must deal with complex and unpredictable situations and balance competing interests. What specific knowledge and skills should they develop to be able to work flexibly and confidently? How is the often stereotypical knowledge of the novice student transformed into responsive ways of working in uncertainty? This book grounds these issues in a study of contemporary professional practitioners as they developed their expertise over a period of five years beginning with their preliminary training. It describes their initiation into practice and their progression towards professional effectiveness. Using an analysis of patterns in the development of experienced practitioners, the authors create a theory of professional expertise for practice in conditions of uncertainty. The book also proposes educational strategies to help develop this expertise.

Information communication technologies in human services are of increasing interest and concern to health and welfare educators, managers, and practitioners due to their useful information management and teaching capabilities. ""Information Communication Technologies for Human Services Education and Delivery: Concepts and Cases"" significantly contributes to the growing area of ICT application in education and human service delivery. Containing expert international contributions, this Premier Reference Source showcases innovative practices, addresses ethical and logistic concerns, and provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings.