Developing social work skills for practice

This chapter builds on the introduction to social work skills in the first chapter and explores how social work skills, values and ethics shape the social work profession. There is an emphasis on service user and carer perspectives and their experiences — good and bad — of social work intervention. The chapter explores the qualities and skills most valued by service users and carers during interaction with social workers and how the ‘communication bridge’ of the working relationship can make a positive difference to people’s lives (Kadushin and Kadushin, 1997). Finally, the chapter introduces the shadowing of direct social work practice as part of the readiness to practice process within social work degree programmes and the importance of this prior to the commencement of the practice learning placements.