Social Work and Mental Health
A Decolonised Approach to Theory and Practice
- Jill Childs - International Federation of Social Workers Europe
Social Work Practice (General)
This groundbreaking book offers a critical, global perspective on mental health social work, aimed at both pre- and post-qualifying students. Moving beyond basic introductions, it presents a decolonised, holistic approach that challenges traditional models. By incorporating innovative ideas and indigenized practices, it seeks to transform mental health social work. Essential for future practitioners, this text inspires a new vision for the field, making it a must-read for those committed to advancing mental health social work.
Every so often one comes across a book which pervades every dimension of ones being. This exceptional book is one and it is essential reading. ... Such good reading for practitioners, strategists, leaders, policy makers and, well, everyone working and living in the area of mental health ... I have not often before been as excited by reading a practiced based text. I hope that such an innovative approach, coupled with meticulous detail could readily be applied to other areas. This is essential reading for future, current and historical practitioners, inspiring a new vision for us all. I hope you will enjoy and treasure ‘Social Work and Mental Health as much as I did.
In her latest work, Social Work and Mental Health: A Decolonised Approach to Theory and Practice, Jill Childs sheds much needed light on a challenging subject, in an accessible, neatly structured set of eight chapters. She explores the key concepts in sufficient depth for both those new to the subject, and those already working in professional practice or academia, by expertly summarising and critiquing a wide range of perspectives ... The book’s greatest strength is therefore the width of its canvas, and I am sure most readers will find they have been taken on a far wider and deeper journey of discovery than they might have expected in such a slim volume.
Recent debates in social work, psychiatry, and global health have called increasing attention to the legacy of colonialism, racialisation, and epistemic dominance within mental health systems. Social Work and Mental Health: A Decolonised Approach to Theory and Practice by Jill Childs enters this discourse with both urgency and clarity ... The book’s originality lies in its simultaneous interrogation of epistemological dominance and its constructive articulation of alternatives drawn from the global south. Few mental health social work texts provide as detailed an engagement with non-Western practice models, and fewer still treat Indigenous knowledge as equal, rather than supplementary, to Eurocentric paradigms. Childs’ attempt to operationalise decolonisation, rather than merely theorise it, sets the text apart from much of the current literature...The book deserves readership across the social work ecosystem, from undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to practitioner training and policy consultation.
This book is an encouragement to all social workers and other mental health practitioners to raise their gaze, look out and embrace a world of helpful and fascinating ideas about mental health social work with children and adults from around the globe. It is timely, a rich resource for students and practitioners, and provokes the reader to look further into what needs to change in mental health in the UK and Western societies.
At a time in the world where more and more countries seem to be turning in on themselves in national self-interest, and international conflict is on the rise, this book shines a bright light and celebratory enthusiasm on what social workers and other practitioners can learn from each other across borders and countries.