This book presents studies of key practice areas in social work (such as interviews, case conferences, and the media) and provides an analysis of the language and construction used in typical case studies of everyday social work practice.

Christopher Hall is Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Applied Childhood Studies, University of Huddersfield, UK. Stef Slembrouck is Professor of English Linguistics and Discourse Analysis, University of Ghent, Belgium. Srikant Sarangi is Professor of Language and Communication, and Director of the Health Communication Research Centre, Cardiff University, UK.

1. Introduction 2. Categorisation and Accountability in Professional Texts and Talk 3. Collegial Communication in Policy Review Interviews 4. Inter-professional Decision-making in a Case Conference 5. Negotiating Roles in a Home Visit 6. Reporting Events in Case Notes 7. The Client's Account of a Social Work Intervention 8. Justifying Action in a Public Inquiry 9. Narrative Transformation in Media Reporting 10. Conclusion