|
A CLASSIC TEXT in
social work education, Case Critical opens
the door on Canada's social services from the
perspective of social workers themselves, and
service users or "cases", people whose voices we
rarely hear.
This completely
revised and updated fifth edition includes new
interviews and topics of discussion to reinforce
Carniol's passionate case for social work as
"liberation practice."
BEN CARNIOL has
focused on issues of social justice, social change,
and social services for over forty years. He is
Professor Emeritus, School of Social Work, Ryerson
University. The Canadian Association of Schools of
Social Work has awarded him an honorary life
membership for distinguished contributions to
social work education in Canada.
How the 5th edition
of Case Critical compares with previous
editions:
Similarities:
It retains the same
critical edge.
The voices of social
service providers and users are heard
throughout.
Differences:
It critiques the
negative impact of corporate globalization, tax
cuts, and the abandonment of the vulnerable. It
emphasizes the challenges that are currently being
made to these trends and the need for social
workers and others to extend these
challenges.
It places more
emphasis on the need to challenge the multiple
structured inequalities (gender, class, colour,
etc.) by service providers, service users, policy
makers, and social movements.
It places much greater
emphasis on Aboriginal voices and
teachings.
It includes current
examples of specific effective social
services.
There is greater
emphasis on personal agency: attitudes and
motivation to include oneself (as service
providers) in activism for social
justice.
What people have
been saying about the 5th edition:
Ben Carniol's
now classic book continues to present an incisive
understanding of the conflicted system of social
services in Canada. His insights into the
circumstances of people and communities who
experience injustice and need are presented with
clarity and compassion. He shares the voices of the
people and the helpers, and connects us with a
multitude of resources: writings, organizations,
and community experiences. A must-read for all
those engaged in developing their own
understandings and their own best
practices.
Jim Albert,
First Nations Elder, and social work educator
Ben Carniol's Case Critical has been an
assigned reading in my social work classes for many
years. Each new edition enlightens, inspires,
provokes--and always results in critical
examination and reflection on social work
practice.
Elizabeth
Radian, PhD, RSW, Social Work Program, Red Deer
College, Alberta
Case Critical honestly presents the
oppressive realities of social services in Canada
while simultaneously engendering a sense of hope
and possibility. First-person accounts from workers
and clients inform Carniol's astute analysis, and
the extended discussions of privilege and activism
are especially welcome additions to this fifth
edition. This text should be on all the required
reading lists for Canadian social work
curricula.
Dr. Carolyn
Campbell, School of Social Work, Dalhousie
University, Halifax
Ben Carniol has done a superb job with this fifth
edition. I respect Ben as the epitome of proactive
social work writers. He is a social work educator
who understands the history and struggles of
Indigenous peoples in Canada. Schools of social
work should use this book in their programs . . .
this is a must-read for social workers.
Yvonne Howse of
the Cree Nation, First Nations University of
Canada, School of Indian Social Work
Ben Carniol brings his voice to the page, providing
stories from his own experience and sharing the
powerful stories of others--social workers and
clients. By doing so he makes strong connections
between different forms of oppression and
discrimination, and the means to address them. I
know this book will inform and inspire a new
generation of social workers in Canada to become
more self-reflective, be able to recognize
oppressive policies and practices in the agencies
in which they work, and be prepared to engage in
social justice efforts inside and outside the
profession.
Professor Shari
Brotman, School of Social Work, McGill
Universit
Case Critical is a must-read for anyone
working within the social services sector in
Canada. In clear and accessible language Ben
Carniol analyses the situations of service users
and social workers and outlines a liberation
practice that challenges oppression and works
toward social justice.
Bob Mullaly,
Dean of the Faculty of Social Work at the
University of Manitoba
In this insightful and very readable book, Ben
Carniol cuts through layers of neo-conservative
misconceptions to show that unfair advantage, not
talent, accounts for the ever-rising inequality in
our society. Case Critical has become an
essential primer on social justice--and
injustice--in Canada.
Linda McQuaig,
author and journalist
|
