A new edition of the classic group work textbook! In Working More Creatively with Groups, Jarlath Benson presents the essential knowledge required to set up and work with a group. He looks at how to plan and lead a group successfully and how to intervene skilfully. As well as covering the different stages in the life of a group, the book emphasizes the various levels of group experience and gives suggestions for working imaginatively with them. This thoroughly updated third edition not only provides a comprehensive guide to groupwork but shows the groupworker how to move on to more in-depth and intensive work, using a variety of strategies illustrated by full clinical vignettes. Many chapters are updated and expanded to include Benson’s latest thinking and teaching and the book includes two new chapters. The first focuses on working with and developing different sorts of groups along the therapeutic/educational continuum. The second new chapter discusses how to best use a supervisory process and set up and run a supervisory group. Well known and widely used by social workers, psychologists, educationalists and youth workers, this popular text is suitable for all those working with groups.

This text presents the basic knowledge required to set up and work with a group. It looks at how to plan and lead a group successfully and how to intervene skillfully.

The Child Protection Handbook explains how to recognise abuse and protect at-risk children for those working with children and young people aged under 18, including in social care, education, health services, and sport and leisure settings. The book has been fully updated to incorporate the impact of new technology as well as current legal and policy frameworks that govern statutory child protection intervention in the UK. It considers all aspects of child protection, including organisational issues, children’s rights, the needs of those from diverse backgrounds, and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on child protection work. With accessible, up-to-date information presented in an easy-to-navigate format, the Handbook is ideal for all busy practitioners wanting to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families. Fully updated since the last edition in 2007 – perfect for all those working with children and young people Easy to navigate and locate information – suitable as a reference book for busy practitioners Illustrative boxes in each chapter, drawing on practice case examples to highlight current issues and dilemmas All concepts explained in straightforward, jargon-free language Reflective points to encourage the reader to think about their own practice and apply new knowledge Key questions for students and teachers to check understanding and to explore concepts further Links to resources and further reading Supporting social workers in child protection practice Poverty and child protection New forms of child abuse, including technology assisted child sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation, gangs and criminal exploitation, radicalisation, forced marriage of children and young people, female genital mutilation, and faith-based abuse Focus on teenagers, including child protection in adolescence, leaving care, safeguarding and children in conflict with the law, children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour, and child to parent violence and abuse Safeguarding in sport and leisure Working with parents at risk of repeat removal of their children through care proceedings

Art-based activities can develop resilience and self-esteem, enabling children in need to cope better with ongoing stress and loss. Arts Activities for Children and Young People in Need offers interventions and exercises drawn from practice and research, for practitioners to use as a basis for their own arts-based groups or one-to-one sessions. Holistic arts activities facilitate a spiritually sensitive approach. Mindfulness-based exercises underpin the approach, and include guided meditations in which a group imagines that they are clouds, or draw feelings and emotions while listening to music, to encourage awareness of the senses. The activities help the group to relax and become more self-aware, encourage an exploration of feelings, values and understanding and are beneficial for children not ready to embrace traditional therapies or counselling. This book is accessible and suitable for helping, health and education practitioners and students from a variety of disciplines, such as social work, psychology and counselling.

Both the new social work degree and Post-Qualifying Award in social work require that students are competent at working with groups and such skills are also valuable in interprofessional practice, partnership working and within the social care workforce. This accessible book introduces the practicalities of planning, establishing, facilitating and evaluating social work projects and contains common-sense guidance on setting up, facilitating and closing small helping, interprofessional and other groups. The reader is introduced to the relevant skills, stages and decisions in groupwork and guided through what to do when things seem to be going wrong.

Art matters. It affects us in our daily lives and is full of meanings that are valuable to all of us. As a catalyst for social interactions, art may either cause public conflict and create dissensions or facilitate mutual understanding and strengthen collective bonds. All of this is grounded in practices that develop and change along social interaction, cultural dynamics, as well as technological and economic lines. So how is art formed and produced? What are the relevant constraints and challenges that artists experience in the creative process? And what constitutes artistic agency? This collection of contributions from international, interdisciplinary experts explores particular case studies to deeply analyse artistic practices. Comprising eleven chapters relating to different art forms, each chapter offers an original perspective conveying a comprehensive understanding of artistic practices as arrays of specific activities in contemporary art worlds. This book will be important for both researchers and practitioners in the field. It will help artists to deepen their analytical abilities, enabling them to further their own creative practice. It will allow students and researchers to gain insights into processes of artistic creation and thus into the reproduction of art, as well as innovation in the arts.

This is a comprehensive guide to integrating assessment, learning and practice, reflecting current concerns in health and social care. The authors - an academic, a training officer and a practitioner - present complementary perspectives to bring theory and practice closer together. Arguing that a holistic approach to learning can fit with a competency approach to assessment, the authors show how this promotes both efficiency and creativity in evidence-based professional practice. They also demonstrate how their combined assessment and learning tool, the 'signposted portfolio' can work in practice. This portfolio forms both a summary of what the social work student or health care practitioner has learnt and the foundation of an assessment document. This practical and thoughtful resource is essential reading for trainers, practitioners, managers and students in health and social care who are seeking to provide the best service to their clients.