Enlightening Professional Supervision in Social Work: Voices and Virtues of Supervisors

This book is a response to the felt need of social work practitioners for professional supervision. Reflecting on the social work profession in the context of contemporary socio-economic and political challenges and wide-ranging organizational and practice settings, the book provides a voice for supervisors to share their experiences.
Social workers often deal with difficult, undefined and unique human situations where there are no ready-made solutions or quick fixes. This constant and complex working process can cause stress, burnout and affect their quality of work and judgement if they are not supported appropriately and in a timely way. One such support to them is offering professional supervision to enhance their professional functioning and their quality of service. On the one hand, the narratives of experienced supervisors reveal critical dilemmas, core processes and content, expectations, issues posed, and concepts and theories employedin professional supervision, and on the other, the wisdom and qualities of supervisors. This book analyzes concepts and models employed by supervisors and the complex interaction of their qualities and wisdom that arise from their narratives. It underscores the supervisee’s being through integrating the personal and professional self to deliver better quality services to people, agencies, and communities. The book argues that the current trends compel action for well thought through professional supervision for all who need it. Those interested in professional supervision - supervisees, practitioners, and supervisors - will benefit from reading this book.
Enlightening Professional Supervision in Social Work: Voices and Virtues of Supervisors is the resource that both supervisors and practitioners need to create safe environments to carefully reflect, develop knowledge, sharpen skills and effectively engage in practice. It will improve services to clients and organizational service provision, and not only benefit both practitioners and supervisors in social work and human services, but also social work educators and students, social policy administrators as well as managers and trainers in the social services sector.

Manohar Pawar, PhD is professor of Social Work, School of Social Work and Arts and the Gulbali Institute for Agriculture, Water and Environment, Charles Sturt University, Australia; the president of the International Consortium for Social Development and the founding Editor-in-Chief of a peer-reviewed journal, The International Journal ofCommunity and Social Development, published by SAGE. He has nearly 40 years of experience in social work education, research and practice in Australia and India. He has received several honors and awards. His interests and recent publications include: COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact on and Implications for Community and Social Development (ed., SAGE, 2021); Virtue Ethics in Social Work Practice (co-authored, Routledge, 2021); Empowering Social Workers: Virtuous Practitioners (co-authored Springer, 2017); Future Directions in Social Development (co-edited, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); Reflective Social Work Practice: Thinking, Doing and Being (co-authored, Cambridge University Press, 2015); Water and Social Policy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014); Social and Community Development Practice (SAGE, 2014); International Social Work: Issues, strategies and programs (co-authored, 2nd edition, SAGE, 2013); and SAGE Handbook of International Social Work (co-edited, SAGE, 2012).

A. W. (Bill) Anscombe, PhD is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Australia and the Gulbali Institute for Agriculture, Water and the Environment at CSU. Prior to ＂retiring＂, he had 21 years at CSU, including as Course Director for CSU Social Work and Social Welfare programs. Prior to academia, he had 20 years in corrections, where he held positions from trainee to senior management roles, including Regional Operations Manager and A/Regional Director for Southern NSW, Australia. In 2000, he was seconded from the University to be the Director for Child Protection (Western) as part of the (then) New South Wales Department of Community Services, with responsibility for a geographical area of about 600,000 square kilometres, 25 service outlets, 1000+ children in Out of Home Care, 168 professional staff and more than 14000 Child at Serious Risk of Harm reports. He also operated in a joint appointment between CSU and the Department of Community Services for four years. He is currently a voluntary director of five not-for-profit small/medium human service companies or associations. He has an active, committed Christian faith. His research interests and projects have been broad, including in the areas of First Nations housing and governance, health in multicultural Australia, rural social services, child welfare, corrections, faith in rural Australia and numerous service evaluations. His doctoral studies were on ＂Consilience in social work: Reflections on thinking, doing and being＂. His most recent book publications are: Virtue Ethics in Social Work Practice (co-authored, Routledge, 2021); Empowering Social Workers: Virtuous Practitioners (co-authored, Springer, 2017); and Reflective Social Work Practice: Thinking, Doing and Being (co-authored, Cambridge University Press, 2015).