Evaluation and Social Work Practice

I arrived in York (England) as Professor of Social Work in the Spring of 2003, following a long career in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University (Wales). I presently hold positions at the University of York and the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Aalborg University, Denmark. I have written and researched extensively. My next book, body and soul permitting, will be Social Work and Science for Columbia University Press, followed by a four-volume 'Major Work' for Sage Publications on Social Work Research, with Jeanne Marsh and Mark Hardy. I am involved, alone or with others, at various stages of four research projects: an extended historical project on the relationship of sociology and social work, partly through the Special Collections at the University of Chicago; a historical study of the British Journal of Social Work; a study of the nature of research networks in social work; and a systematic review of practitioner research in adult social care. I hope to develop the notion of 'sociological social work' to the point where I will write a further book. I co-founded the journal Qualitative Social Work. I envisioned and led to fruition in 2011 the European Conference for Social Work Research, and have worked with others to consolidate that initiative through a new European Social Work Research Association. Professor Joyce Lishman is now retired, and was previously Head of the School of Applied Social Studies, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. She was also General Editor of the Research Highlights in Social Work series for many years.