A level sociology revisited

An at times simplistic account of forms of discrimination which rarely attempts any real depth of analysis. Possibly this is all social work students want to get through their essays with high marks, but the narrative will fail to prepare them for the reality of extreme rationing and endless office based work after qualification. Thompson has certainly got lucky with this best seller that successfully simplifies and packages complex forms of power and domination and presents them as easily confronted and solved. No evidence of epistemological analysis but instead just a new form of A level sociology in drag. Still it sells like hot cakes and so the publishers should be happy, and the career must surely have taken off. Crude, academically lazy and completely out of touch with us the social work practitioners!

Seminal

An absolute must have for anyone wanting to work in the field of social care. Thompson's grasp of issues around the areas of discrimination is second to none and his ability to describe and analyse potential problems and common pitfalls is first class. Only criticism is that perhaps he is a bit of one trick pony, his PCS model appears all over the place, including in other texts. Nevertheless it makes sense and it works. If you are interested in structral oppression and how endemic it is even within the social care profession buy this book

Not entirely an anti- discriminatory view.

As a social work student I thought that this book would look at examples that occurr everyday when trying to work in an anti-discriminatory way. Unfortunately I did not feel that the book gave any other view than to assume that the social worker will always be the one who discriminates and the examples used became one sided and repetitive. I actually challenge this view with the book - as anyone will know, discrimination cuts both ways. Although a solution may never be reached, what about when users discriminate against each other and towards you, what would be the best way to practice then? After several pages I actually felt that the book was more brain-washing rather than giving some though provoking healthy suggestions for practice.