Introductory Parameters

Abstract

For the purposes of this book it is assumed that readers will be familiar with the principal features of the mental illnesses and have an acquaintance with social work. For those who do not have these prerequisites, perhaps they should break off here and read Naomi Smith’s Mental Illness: what you should know. For social work a beginning might be Martin Davies’ The Essential Social Worker (not that the present author shares all of his views) followed by the Barclay Report, Social Workers: their role and tasks — especially the appendices by Brown, Hadley and White and Pinker. The present volume has been written with social workers in mind but social work has continuously absorbed knowledge and skills originally developed by others, while others have made use of what was first practised by social workers. The boundaries of many professions have been extended in this mutual exchange and their areas of overlap have grown. I try to keep this diffusion in mind in the hope that some of what I write will also be of interest to others.