Andrew Day

Linda Briskman

Simon Rice

Social Work in the Shadow of the Law

Bob Pease

June Allan

Critical Social Work starts from the premise that a central goal of social work practice is social change to redress social inequality. Taking a critical theoretical approach, the authors explore the links between personal and social change. They confront the challenges for critical social work in the context of pressures to separate the personal from the political and in responding to the impact of changes in the socio-political, statutory and global contexts of practice. Critical Social Work has been thoroughly revised to take into account recent social, economic and political developments. Coverage of theoretical frameworks has been substantially expanded and reflects current concerns such as evidence based practice and human rights. The causes of people's marginalisation and oppression are examined in relation to class, race, ethnicity, gender and other forms of social inequality.Case study chapters in the earlier edition on working with immigrants, Indigenous people, women, men, families, people with psychiatric disabilities and those experiencing loss and grief have been updated and revised. The second edition includes new case study chapters on disability, older people, children, rurality, and violence and abuse.

Critical Social Work

Susie Latham

Chris Goddard

In 2005, in the wake of the Cornelia Rau scandal, a citizen’s inquiry was established to bear witness to events in Australia’s immigration-detention facilities. Until then, the federal government had refused to conduct a broad-ranging investigation into immigration detention, and the operations within detention centres had been largely shrouded in official secrecy. The People’s Inquiry into Detention (as it came to be called) heard heartbreaking evidence about asylum-seekers’ journeys to Australia, their refugee determination process, and their life in and after detention. In total, around 200 people testified to the inquiry, and a similar number of written submissions were received. Human Rights Overboard draws together, for the first time, the oral testimony and written submissions from the inquiry in a powerful and vital book that stands as an indictment of Australia’s refugee policy. Clearly and comprehensively presented, the book is a haunting journey guided by voices from every side of the fence: former and current immigration detainees, refugee advocates, lawyers, doctors, psychiatrists, and former detention and immigration staff. Taken together, their stories record a humanitarian disaster that sounds a warning to current and future policy makers, both here and overseas. With a foreword by prominent humanitarian lawyer Julian Burnside, Human Rights Overboard is an essential book that will resonate for years to come.

seeking asylum in Australia

Human Rights Overboard

Linda Briskman

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