Abstract

Putting Analysis into Assessment is the essential guide to improving assessment practice in child care social work. It addresses the issues of central concern to child care social workers, including analytical assessment, outlines how to avoid common pitfalls in thinking and practice, provides strong theoretical foundations, and successfully demonstrates how these theory can be translated into practice. With reference to common and specialist assessments, the book covers every stage of the assessment process: planning and preparation, hypothesising, involving children and making, recording and reviewing decisions. This second edition features new and tested practice tools, practice development sessions and activities, plus new sections on risk and resilience and assessing need and risk in chronic situations. This toolkit will be valued by practitioners, managers, trainers and lecturers looking for a grounded resource which bridges theory and practice, and provides clear guidance to improve assessments.
As social workers are striving to push back the excessive levels of bureaucratisation and increase the space for professional practice, this excellent book offers easily understood ways to improve critical reasoning skills and will be useful for individuals, teams, and agencies.
Professor Eileen Munro Social Policy Department, London School of Economics