Social Work with Drug and Substance Misusers (Transforming Social Work Practice) Book

It has long been recognised that clients with addiction problems need a skilled response rather than one based on punishment and surveillance. Social work practitioners can offer these skills and may find themselves dealing with addition problems in a range of settings, either within a specialist drug unit or as part of their work with a different client group, for instance within families or in youth justice work. Written specifically for social work students, this book covers all aspects of working with drug and substance misusers. It looks at the history and changes in policy on substance misuse and highlights the differences between working with young and adult substance misusers. There have been numerous initiatives, government statements and legislative changes in recent years which are carefully outlined to guide the reader through the complexity of the field of substance misuse. Treatment approaches are explained in a user friendly manner. These approaches are also linked to discussions on why people take drugs and the policy implications of harm reduction and abstinence approaches to substance use/misuse are explored and related back to practice. The reader will find clear guidance on how to engage with the client group - what approaches work and what approaches do not.Read More