European Social Work - A Compendium

The publication takes account of the fundamental developments transforming social work in Europe at the beginning of the 21st century. A European standard of social work has already emerged, but models for future European social work are absent. Therefore the compendium gives an overview of the current transformation process for the first time, discusses the visible and invisible changes and maps out where social work is positioned in the emerging post-welfare states. The Compendium takes account of fundamental developments transforming Social Work in Europe at the beginning of the 21st century. Therefore the book combines theoretical analysis of prevailing trends in European social policies with perspectives on emergent and future forms of professional social work practice. It sets standards for a new decade of European social policy initiatives in which social workers are centrally involved. While not advocating the standardisation and harmonisation of social work education and methodology, the Compendium will represent a positive version of European Social Work as a paradigm for the development of theoretically grounded and universally oriented models of contemporary social work. Such a vision of a European Social Work is sorely needed for the future development not only of social work, but of the future welfare arrangements in Europe. In view of these challenges, the Compendium aims at providing background information to the readers, which makes (future) professionals and policy makers capable of, and competent in participating actively in processes of social policy formulation and practice transformation at all levels. In each chapter, international experts give an overview of different aspects of the current transformation process and map out where social work is positioned in the emerging post-welfare states.