Social Work Concerns and Challenges in the 21 Century

Choice of themes and the manner in which they are dealt with is a noteworthy feature of this book. Seven out of the twenty articles are on women. A striking feature is that out of the seven articles four of them discuss the daily work undertaken by women. The traditional images of women as a home maker have given way to a more ‘real’ and a more authentic picture of women which places issues of livelihood at the heart of the matter. The section on children brings to the fore some problems which publicly remained unacknowledged, even if privately they were known. Issues of women and children are increasingly getting into the public arena. The articles on ageing points to not only demographic changes but also to changes in the structure and function of families as India modernises. Social work in India has yet to outline a conceptual framework for its practice component. The section on the practice part provides an outline of practice with the aged and women. The last section presents the larger context in which social work is practised in India. Strangely enough, six decades after independence and development, distress and displacement are the characteristic features of life in rural India. This raises questions about the very nature of the development process presently underway in the country. What does this book offer to its readers? Today social work in India has moved away from its traditional moorings in the curative model which also was urban-centric. A new model is emerging. This book offers its readers a glimpse of social work as a subtext of Indian complexities.In all twenty articles are collected in this volume. They are thematically divided into five different parts, viz. women, children, ageing, practice and research and the larger context. An essential reading for those interested in understanding issues in social work.