Assessment is everywhere in social work. Done well, assessment advances the social worker's understanding of clients’ contexts and creates pathways for supporting their lives. Done poorly, colonialism and power take over the story, sustaining marginalization, disempowerment, and damaging outcomes.
This book considers the many ways assessment carries power, from the way information is reported, collected, and acted upon through to the clients’ interactions with adjacent systems and institutions. Authors in this volume tackle the troubled history of racist and Eurocentric assessment and engage critically with issues of colonialism, assumptions about the meaning of family, anti-Black racism, disability and neurodivergence, migration and citizenship, restorative justice and aging out of care. Focusing on pragmatic skills rooted in theory and connected to major social issues, this collection is an indispensable resource for social work students and practitioners learning to ground assessment in relational collaboration, reflexivity, and critical thinking.
With contributions from: Dorothy Badry, Natalie Beltrano, Susan Burke, Victor Chikadzi, Peter Choate, Nancy Flatters, Jennifer Hedges, Leona Huntinghawk, Ashlee Homewood, Julie Mann-Johnson, Tammy Pearson, Desi Shebobman, Christina Tortorelli, Carol Wade and Ajwang' Warria.
