Towards Practising Social Work Law

Social workers in training and experienced practitioners alike often appear apprehensive and lacking in confidence about working in the legal arena. Students anticipate their law learning with a variety of emotions, including anxiety (even fear), and feel overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of learning required (Braye et al., 2011; Preston-Shoot and McKimm, 2012a). There is ambivalence too. The very idea of law being part of social work may be questioned, with concern that its coercive powers are antithetical to social work values. Legal language is perceived as inaccessible and the interface between law and social work as complex and fluid; there is disappointment when the clear boundaries expected from the legal rules are not apparent. Practice teachers appear daunted by their responsibility for teaching and assessing social work law and express reservations about their own legal competence (Preston-Shoot et al., 1997; Braye et al., 2007). Nonetheless, a positive perception of law exists too as a source of legitimate authority, and a resource in advocating for and promoting equality and human rights. Despite its challenges, social work students have long expressed enthusiasm for their law learning (Ball et al., 1995; Marsh and Triseliotis, 1996; Lyons and Manion, 2004; Braye et al., 2011) and law learning significantly impacts upon knowledge and confidence, and changes attitudes about synergy between legal rules and social work values (Braye et al., 2014a; Preston-Shoot and McKimm, 2012b; Preston-Shoot et al., 2013).