Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgements -- Contributors' profiles -- My Daddy didn't hold me down / Caroline Coyle -- Learning from stories of practice / Denise Lyons and Noel Howard -- The Irish Association of Social Care Workers / Noel Howard -- Social care education and the Irish Association of Social Care Educators / Denise Lyons -- There's no place like home : care and aftercare / 'Keith King -- The impossible tasks : which wolf will win? / Maurice Fenton -- Doing the small things with great kindness : the role of relationship, kindness and love in understanding and changing behaviour / John Digney and Max Smart -- The language of social care / Pauline Clarke Orohoe -- An approach to family assessments / Angela Feeney -- Achieving independent living for people with disabilities / Aoife Killeen -- the stranger in the mirror : dealing with dementia in the intellectual disability sector / Iseult Paul -- It's all about the 'I' : self-understanding in social care practice / Frank Mulville -- Precious cargo : focusing as a practice approach / Derek McDonnell -- Waiting : avoiding the temptation to jump in / Des Mooney -- Containment : not always a dirty word / Maria O'Sullivan -- Placing therapeutic relationships at the heart of our work / Laura Behan -- The therapeutic alliance in practice / Helen Buggle -- A house for one : single-occupancy residential units : further isolation or a progressive response? / Nuala Reynolds -- Supporting those who self-injure in social care settings / David Williams -- An A, B, C approach to challenging behaviour : a reflective tool for service users and social care workers / Marguerita Walsh -- Learning to practise : the role of practice placement in social care / Lillian Byrne-Lancaster -- Supporting a team to direct and lead change in social care / Claire Leonard -- Supervision : a reflective guide / Fiona Doyle -- the significance of the small things : teaching independent living skills to young people in residential care / Kathy D'Archy -- Thoughts on the good enough worker / Paddy Ormond -- The good manager : moral discernment and courage / John Molloy -- No womb at the inn / Caroline Coyle.

This multi-contributory book is the first social care text written exclusively by those in practice, management and academia. It provides a wealth of practical knowledge from the experiences of social care workers who have worked with different groups in diverse settings, including children, those with disabilities and the elderly.