Social Work and the Community: A Critical Framework for Practice

Communities are a context, target and resource for social work practice. They can be both a source of care and support and the site of poverty, conflict and discrimination. This text examines the relationship between social work and community in terms of theoretical perspectives, research, policy intervention and professional practice. It offers a coherent analysis of the importance of community in social work activity, exploring themes such as welfare modernisation, inclusion, sustainability, multi-professional working and anti-oppressive practice.

KEITH POPPLE is Professor of Social Work at London South Bank University, UK, and author of Analysing Community Work (Open University Press, 1995) as well as co-editor of two other books. He is a member of the editorial board of the quarterly international journal, Community Development Journal, for which he was editor from 1998 to 2003.

PAUL STEPNEY is Lecturer in Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Wolverhampton, UK and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Tampere, Finland. He is co-editor of Social Work Models, Methods and Theories: A Framework for Practice (Russell House Publishing, 2000).