Making sense of theory and its application to social work practice

Social work students and some practitioners often struggle to get their head around the application of theory and associated methods of intervention derived from the social sciences to social work practice. Although there are a number of texts on this topic available, Making sense of theory and its application to social work practice offers a fresh approach written with the `non- theoretician' in mind.



After exploring the expectations and limits of application of theory to practice, the author sets about describing theories of explanation and their associated methods of intervention. He follows this by looking at theoretically driven approaches and their associated methods of intervention. One generic case study is used throughout, tweaked slightly but maintaining the same service users and presenting issues so the reader can see how the theory of explanation or approach and the associated method of intervention is applied. The text also offers opportunities for the reader to engage their critical thinking skills as they are invited to think critically in respect of the theories of explanation and approaches discussed.

Applying Theories in Social Work is written to be immense value to both social work students and practitioners.