1218 Book Reviews

prime responsibility for dealing with child abuse; and, in light of the Munro Inquiry, this could be reinforced even further. Why is this in light of such a difficult, tragic and scandalous history? This question remains unanswered.

References
Butler, I. and Drakeford, M. (2005) Scandal, Social Policy and Social Welfare, 2nd edn, Bristol, The Policy Press/BASW. Munro, E. (2011) The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report: A Child-Centred System, Cm. 8062, London, Department for Education.

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Nigel Parton NSPCC Professor in Applied Childhood Studies, University of Huddersfield

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcr123

Social Work in Extremis: Lessons for Social Work Internationally, Michael Lavalette and Vasilios Ioakimidis (eds),
Bristol, The Policy Press, 2011, pp. v 1 191, ISBN 978 1 84742 718 2 (hb), 65.00

This book contains an extraordinary collection of articles from a variety of countries that explores the nature and role of social work and its relationship to communities in extreme circumstances. These circumstances vary from wars, national conflicts and emergencies, to natural disasters and other calamities where urgent responses are required. Social workers provide some of the assistance required, but what is especially interesting is how the communities in these varied situations rally and support their members in needand how social workers can tap into this natural spring of mutual aid. It is the intention of the authors to use these insights to catch a glimpse of an alternative form of social work across the globe and, indeed, this popular social work raises important questions about the nature and definition of social work itself. Chapters feature examples of extreme social situations from Palestine, Lebanon, Greece, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Croatia, Cyprus, the Central Asian republics and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This book follows on from the useful book that Lavalette and Ferguson co-edited entitled International Social Work and the Radical Tradition (Lavalette and Ferguson, 2007). Lavalette is also national coordinator for the UKs radical Social Work Action Network, while Ioakimidis is on SWANs steering committee, and the various chapter authors do not disappoint in presenting a radical and searching inquiry into social work values. One chapter covers the extreme circumstances in the Palestinian West Bank, which, although creating mayhem for families in the territory, have also led to the development of organic projects that have been created within and run by volunteers in the camps. While official NGOs have their own agendas, and outside funding often comes with strings attached, these projects are trusted

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and supported by local people as they deliver services from the bottom up. In a similar way, the case example of the organisation Samidoun in Lebanon demonstrates the resilience and flexibility of a local organisation dedicated to helping people in needin this case, in war-torn Beirut. Lessons suggest that grassroots responses can be very effective in mobilising local resources and that social work in situations like this needs to be committed and take sidesneutrality is not an option. There are three chapters on Greece, which perhaps do create some imbalance between countries and regions, but each of these is well argued and provides interesting insights. One of these covers post-disaster reconstruction efforts following recent serious fires that led to attempts at profiteering by developers, who used the chaos to try to change land designation in favour of tourist buildings and hotels. In this case, social work students through a community organising initiative supported grassroots citizens action groups in opposing this. There are useful discussions throughout about the nature of social workis it a macro or micro activity, one that engages at a community organising level or deals with peoples personal problems? The conclusion is that social work must do bothand be able to commit to social justice and human rights concerns in a practical sense. This links directly into the ongoing concerns over the international definition of social work and, here, readers would also be advised to see the macro/micro debate in Hugmans recent book on international social work (Hugman, 2010). The chapter on working with the despalzados (internally displaced people) in Bogota, who have been forced to leave their traditional areas through armed conflict between paramilitaries and guerrillas, indicates that social workers need to recognise the existence of different cultures, traditions and experiences in working at a grassroots level in complex local situations. This underlines a point made often in this book that traditional statutory social work is heavily bureaucratic and restricted by formalities, risk assessments and official prescriptions (p. 88), while a social work true to its values can be found through conscientisation and emancipation of the oppressed (p. 91). While this brings in a particularly Latin American flavour to the book, the same sentiments of the need for a social work approach built on mutual respect, dignity and commitment to human values are also endorsed in other chapters, including the one on Sri Lanka. Here, the tumultuous and very violent recent events where the Tamil north was overwhelmed by the Sinhalese south at great human cost led to the need for restorative justice and peace-building efforts, investigated in this book through three interesting case studies. Social work in action is often very different to official social work, and this is explored in the case of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the southern USA, in a chapter that highlights the direct face-to-face, practical and meaningful tasks taken on by social workers in assisting casualties. Systemic poverty, underdevelopment and racism had left the residents vulnerable to the consequences of such a natural disaster, yet social workers had not voiced concerns over this. In direct practice, however, in managing the multiple demands of relief and

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1220 Book Reviews

reconstruction, because they could work on micro and macro levels, social workers were very much valued. Yet, on another level, they had been co-opted into the system and had not raised some of these social justice concerns. The extreme circumstances reflected in the chapters both provide opportunities for social work engagement but also compel us to reflect on the nature of social work, where our profession can be enriched by working alongside the popular, self-help and local initiatives that emerge at times of trial and hardship.

References
Hugman, R. (2010) Understanding International Social Work: A Critical Analysis, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Lavalette, M. and Ferguson, I. (eds) (2007) International Social Work and the Radical Tradition, Birmingham, Venture Press.

Downloaded from http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Nicosia on November 10, 2011

Nigel Hall IFSW Representative and Senior Lecturer, School of Social Work, Kingston University, UK
doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcr124

Managing the Ageing Experience: Learning from Older People, Denise Tanner,
Bristol, The Policy Press, 2010, pp. vii 1239, ISBN 9781861348852 (pb), 24.99

The authors stated aim is to learn from older people themselves, and the ways that they manage the experience of ageing (p. 1). Denise Tanner has written a most interesting text, focusing on learning from the experience of twelve older people, all of whom have a multiplicity of health and social issues, but none was considered to be of a level to be eligible for services from the local authority. Nevertheless, significant issues remained for all of them. Data were collected by Tanner herself and the text paints a vivid picture of the research encounters. Using a mixture of data-collection methodsdiaries and five loosely structured interviews conducted over a period of timeshe seeks to explore how older people manage the ageing experience and what sorts of coping strategies are used. There is some good discussion of the methodologies used and of the efforts she made to involve older people in the design and operation of the research, such as sharing the on-going analysis with the participants. The subsequent analytic framework is well describedsophisticated and insightful. The use of case descriptions is a theme referred to often in the academic literature (e.g. Richards, 2000; Bornat and Bytheway, 2010), emphasising the importance of listening to how older people describe their experiences. Coping strategies employed by the twelve people engaged in the research study are then analysed from two perspectives: first, doing strategies and, second, cognitive efforts. There were many examples through the text. Although