Existentialism and Social Work Book

	Preface
	Acknowledgements
1	Introduction	1
2	Theory and Practice
	Introduction	11
	What is theory?	12
	Paradigms	13
	Social science and social work	13
	Positivism	14
	Hermeneutical science	16
	Theory-practice polarisation	17
	Education versus training	19
	Eclecticism	20
	Philosophy and social work	20
	Relativism and relativity	22
	Applying theory to practice	22
	Conclusion	25
3	Existentialism: Basic Principles
	Ontology	28
	Phenomenology	38
	Ethics	44
	Social theory	50
	Criticisms of existentialism	64
	Conclusion	67
	Explanatory Note: Language and Terminology	70
4	Existentialism and Theory
	Introduction	71
	Psychodynamics	72
	Behaviourism	84
	Interactionism	91
	Systems theory	96
	Radical social work	101
	Traditional approaches to social work	106
	Conclusion	112
5	Existentialism and Practice
	Child care	116
	Social work with older people	134
	Existentialist social work practice	149
6	The Sociopolitical Context
	The historical background	151
	The management of deviance	154
	The role of the state	157
	Ideology	160
	The radical dilemma	164
	Conclusion	169
7	Conclusion
	Introduction	173
	The main themes	173
	The way forward	179
	Existentialism and social work	182
	Principles for practice	186
	Bibliography	190
	Index	198