Social Work in the British Isles

1. In Search of 'British' Social Work: Identity, History and Entanglement, Malcolm Payne and Steven Shardlow. 2. Social Work in England, Malcolm Payne and Steven Shardlow. 3. Social Work in Late-Modern Ireland, Fred Powell, National University of Ireland, Cork and Harry Ferguson, University College, Dublin. 4. Social Work in Northern Ireland, Jim Campbell, Queen's University, Belfast and Mary McColgan, University of Ulster, Derry. 5. Social Work in Scotland: After Devolution, Lorraine Waterhouse, University of Edinburgh and Janice McGbee, University of Edinburgh. 6. Social Work in Wales, Mark Drakeford, University of Wales, Cardiff and Charlotte Williams, University of Wales, Bangor. 7. Guernsey: Social Work on a Small Island, John Wolfe, Deputy Director, Children Board, Channel Islands. 8. Social Work in the British Isles: Continuties and Differentiations, Malcolm Payne and Steven Shardlow. Appendix: About the British Isles. Bibliography. Index

This is an excellent source book which brings together the legal, administrative, political and professional aspects of social work across the region. It does so very well, particularly through the manner in which it exposes and explains the differences in systems between these (largely) English speaking neighbours... The editors have done a good job of bringing together writers who provide a wide and relevant range of material, clearly and fluently written. This is not in the words of the author of one of the chapters, a book of `dumbing-down-blandness' (p. 156) but a coherent collection of essays on the state of the art in social work.