This is an informative, critical and ambitious book that raises key debates linked to anti-oppressive social work practice, drawing on analyses regarding power, poverty, politics and values. Chapter 1 emphasises the complex and difficult circumstances in which social work operates and recognises the importance of understanding the wider social, political and philosophical contexts in which practice occurs. Chapter 2 moves on to examine the political nature of social work, focusing on the role of the state and the importance of political ideology in shaping social work intervention, and offering an overview of competing theories, linked, for example, to Marxism, neoliberalism and functionalism, that have impacted on political understandings of social problems. It also draws on the relevance of modernism and post-modernism in affecting social work intervention. Debates regarding values and ethics are explored in Chapter 3 alongside major philosophical concepts. Here the author offers a critique of professional ethical codes and argues that social work ethics and values fail to sufficiently consider notions of social justice. Chapter 4 is concerned with issues of power in social work. Here, the focus is on the relative powerlessness of social work service users and the ways in which social workers can overcome the potentially damaging power dynamics in their practice, with the aim of giving service users more control over their lives. There is an acknowledgement that political and economic marginalisation contribute to the powerlessness that people experience in society, and an awareness of the impact of de-professionalisation in undermining the practitioner knowledge base.

The book continues with a chapter examining poverty, disadvantage and social work. This debate compares and contrasts the concept of ‘poverty’ with that of ‘social exclusion’ and points to the ways in which the former draws on structural explanations of disadvantage, whereas the latter tends to reinforce individualistic and moralistic explanations. It also considers the very serious problem of inequality in the UK, and offers a theoretical exploration of the ways in which the poor are perceived and the consequences for effective social work intervention. Moving on, Chapter 6 raises issues concerned with psychology, sociology and social work. Here the book explores the relative merits of mainstream psychological theories in providing insights for social workers, as well as examining sociological theories and the interplay of agency and structure in the construction of personal and social problems. The author observes that the role of critical psychology is to acknowledge that human thought and action has to be placed in a social context of unequal relationships of power, access to resources, opportunities and wealth and income.

Chapter 7 then considers the ways in which social work methods and approaches facilitate an effective critical practice that is underpinned by notions of social justice. Key to this debate is the view that working individually and collectively to improve the lives of service users should not be separated out from working to create a socially just world in which such changes can be positively sustained. That is, social workers have a moral obligation to stand up for and support the poorest and most disadvantaged members of society.

The book is a welcome and timely addition to the literature. In a society characterised by growing levels of deprivation and disadvantage and increasing attacks on the poorest and most vulnerable, it is vitally important that social workers have an understanding of the political nature of social work, and that they work towards addressing the impact of societal injustice on the lives of service users. Throughout, the book raises issues of social justice and anti-oppressive practice in the context of wider structural inequalities, and reinforces the critical importance of poverty in shaping the lives and experiences of service users. It also acknowledges the challenges that social workers face in the context of increasing levels of state control linked to privatisation and marketisation. The book recognises the need for social workers to always think critically and to always challenge policies, practices, methods and theories that have the potential to oppress further service users who are already in positions of economic, political and social powerlessness. In doing so, it also points to the ways in which social workers can work towards engaging with service users in a more collective and creative manner.

The book is written in an accessible manner and at the end of each chapter the author summarises ‘key points’ that have been made, alongside questions for discussion and some contributions from students. Social work practitioners, academics and students will find the book encourages them to critically reflect on the nature of social work in contemporary society, with a view to developing a more critical and empowering approach to intervention.