SAGE Handbook of Social Work Research

I arrived in York (England) as Professor of Social Work in the Spring of 2003, following a long career in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University (Wales). I presently hold positions at the University of York and the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Aalborg University, Denmark. I have written and researched extensively. My next book, body and soul permitting, will be Social Work and Science for Columbia University Press, followed by a four-volume 'Major Work' for Sage Publications on Social Work Research, with Jeanne Marsh and Mark Hardy. I am involved, alone or with others, at various stages of four research projects: an extended historical project on the relationship of sociology and social work, partly through the Special Collections at the University of Chicago; a historical study of the British Journal of Social Work; a study of the nature of research networks in social work; and a systematic review of practitioner research in adult social care. I hope to develop the notion of 'sociological social work' to the point where I will write a further book. I co-founded the journal Qualitative Social Work. I envisioned and led to fruition in 2011 the European Conference for Social Work Research, and have worked with others to consolidate that initiative through a new European Social Work Research Association. Katharine Briar-Lawson is an experienced academic administrator and national expert on family focused practice and child and family policy. Among her books (co-authored) are Family-Centered Policies & Practices: International Implications (2001) and (co-edited) Innovative Practices with Vulnerable Children and Families (2001). She has recently co-edited two volumes on Evaluation Research in Child Welfare, (2002) and Charting the Impacts of University-Child Welfare Collaboration, (2003). She is a member of the Council on Social Work Education Practice Commission; she also serves as associate editor for the New Global Development: Journal of International and Comparative Social Welfare, and is consulting editor for Social Work, as well as Family Preservation. She Co-Chairs the Gerontological Task Force for the National Association for Deans and Directors. Joan Orme began her social work career as a probationofficer working first in Sheffield and then Southampton. Her first academic post at the University of Southampton was specifically for training probation officers. She continued in generic social work education, with a specific interest in probation education and training, at Southampton until she took up her post at Glasgow . Joan was appointed the first Professor of Social Work at the University of Glasgow in October 2000 and helped to establish the Glasgow School of Social Work, a joint Schoolof Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities. She was appointed the founding Head of the School in 2003. Joan is active in a number of Scottish and UK organisations. In 2001-2004 she was Chair of the Joint University Council Social Work Education Committee (JUC SWEC) that represents universities with social work courses. In that role she represented social work academics on the Department of Health Project Board for the Social Work degree in England . She was appointed a lifelong fellow of the JUC in 2005. In 2000-2004 she was a member of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Training Board and was Vice Chair from 2003-2005. She currently holds a Researcher Development Initiative (RDI) grant from the ESRC for Increasing the confidence and competence of Social Work researchers: building research capacity in social work. Details of the RDI are available at rdi.ac.uk. She is a member of the steering group that developed the JUC SWEC Research Strategy swap.ac.uk/research/strategy.asp and a member of the Steering Group for the Research and Development Strategy for Social Services in Scotland Professor Ruckdeschel is Co-Editor and Co-Founding Editor, along with Ian Shaw of the UK, of the Sage journal Qualitative Social Work: Research and Practice. He is a current member and past chair of the University-wide Qualitative Research Committee. He has also recently chaired the School of Social Work Rank & Tenure Committee (1998-2002) and the Family Concentration (1999-2002) and has served on and/or chaired numerous School committees. Professor Ruckdeschel currently serves on the Advisory Committee of Ethics Across the Curriculum (1998-present) and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Center for Health Care Ethics (1997-present).

A groundbreaking handbook which evaluates the role of social work research in the context of national and international societies

Mapping Social Work Research: Pasts, Presents and Futures - >PART ONE: PURPOSES OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCHThe Nature and Purposes of Social Work - f004 Nigel Parton and Stuart KirkProviding Objective, Impartial Evidence for Decision Making and Public Accountability - Annette Boaz and James BlewettTheory and Knowledge about Social Problems to Enhance Policy Development - Joan Orme and Katharine Briar-LawsonImproving Intervention and Practice - f004 Daniel Gredig and Jeanne C MarshResearching Our Own Domains: Research as Practice in 'Learning Organizations' - Susan White and Gerhard RiemannChallenging the Dominant Paradigm: Social Work Research, Social Justice and Social Change - f004 Bob PeasePART TWO: CONTEXTS FOR SOCIAL WORK RESEARCHResearch and Government - f004 Ian Shaw and Joan ZlotnikPolitics and Values in Social Work Research - Haluk SoydanSocial Work Research and Ethics - f004 Richard HugmanFrom Social Work Practice to Social Work Research: An Emergent Approach to a Basic Problem - Steve TrevillionTheory and Theorizing: Intellectual Contexts of Social Work Research - Mikko Mantysaari and Richard WeatherleyThe Uses of Social Work Research - Roy Ruckdeschel and Adrienne ChambonPlaces in Time: Contextualizing Social Work Research - f004 Ian ShawPART THREE: THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCHThe Practice of Social Work Research - Jackie Powell and Blanca RamosLogics, Qualities and Quality of Social Work Research - Ian ShawEvidence and Practice: The Knowledge Challenge for Social Work - Geraldine Macdonald and Jennie PopayMethods for Enhancing Theory and Knowledge About Problems, Policies, and Practice - Jane F GilgunMethods for Understanding, Learning and Social Justice - Carmen Lavoie, Judy MacDonald and Elizabeth WhitmoreMixing Methods in Social Work Research - Jennifer C Greene, Peter Sommerfeld, and Wendy L HaightChallenges and Directions in the Practice of Social Work Research - f004 Katharine Briar-Lawson, Robyn Munford and Jackie SandersPART FOUR: DOMAINS OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCHNation - f004 Linda BriskmanCommunity - Karen Staller and Tracie Mafile¿oChildren, Young People and Families - Mary Ruffalo, June Thoburn and Paula Allen-MearesHealth and Well-being - f004 Paul Bywaters and Michael UngarDisability - Sally French and John SwainMental Health - f004 Peter Huxley, Michael Sheppard and Martin WebberSocial Work Research and Aging - f004 Philip McCallionSocial Work in Criminal Justice - Fergus McNeill, Dennis Bracken and Alan ClarkeChallenges and Directions in Social Work Research and Social Work Practice - Joan Orme, Roy Ruckdeschel and Katharine Briar-Lawson