Social Work and Poverty: A Critical Approach

Social Work and Poverty provides a timely review of the key issues that social workers and service users face when working together to combat poverty. Lester Parrot first situates social work and poverty within a historical context, analyzing various poverty concepts and theories and how then can lead to practices that work against the oppression of service users. Including reference to international practice throughout, he then critically evaluates the United Kingdom’s 2012 Welfare Reform Act, highlighting the negative impact that it will have on service users and social workers alike. Ranging from topics such as access to food, obesity, drug use, and the effects of globalization, he provides a fresh understanding of poverty and how we can better overcome it.