This fully revised fourth edition of a well-respected textbook seeks to build social workers' confidence in legal interpretation and implementation - practitioners must not only know the law; they must also have a critical appreciation of its implications for human rights, civil liberties and social justice. With a focus on promoting knowledge and skills in recognising, locating and articulating legal issues, it also demonstrates how the law can be used to inform practice standards and deliver positive outcomes for service users.

This is essential reading for social work law modules at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Practitioners and educators will also find it an invaluable resource to guide them through a complex, yet vital, aspect of their work.<

New to this Edition:
- Combines up-to-date statute, case law and guidance with extended practice examples and questions for reflection

SUZY BRAYE is Emerita Professor of Social Work at the University of Sussex, UK, and an independent consultant in adult social care and safeguarding. Her professional background is in social work, specializing in mental health, and in management of local authority children's services. As an educator and researcher, she has written widely on social work and the law, legal literacy, adult social care and self-neglect. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and Editor of the European Journal of Social Work.

MICHAEL PRESTON-SHOOT is Professor of Social Work and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at the University of Bedfordshire, UK.