Incorporating the critical perspectives, emphasis on diversity, and pointed suggestions for change that made the previous editions into bestsellers, Ben Carniol pulls together today’s most pertinent research, critical analysis, and practice examples and presents them in this accessible and useful sixth edition of Case Critical.

In the context of the current economic and political climate, this new edition discusses First Nations issues, the increasing corporatization of service, and the explicit link between social work practice and social movements. Carniol questions illegitimate privilege created by colonialism, racism, patriarchal capitalism, heterosexism, ableism and ageism; posing many key questions. Such as, why, as social work education develops progressive approaches, are so many social services deteriorating? How can social workers become allies with diverse groups of people? And, why do progressives persist in their work?

Carniol, a long-time social work educator and social justice activist, offers his own analysis of social work in Canada today in this provocative and ultimately hopeful sixth edition.

Ben Carniol has worked on issues of social justice, social change, and social services for over forty years. He is Professor Emeritus, School of Social Work, Ryerson University, Toronto, where he co-ordinates the delivery of social work education to off-campus Aboriginal students, in partnership with the First Nations Technical Institute. The Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work has awarded him an honorary life membership for distinguished contributions to social work education in Canada.

Ben Carniol's profile page

PRAISE FOR CASE CRITICAL, 6th Edition

'A finely crafted and eloquent critique of the ideological, economic, political and social factors that define the Canadian social work milieu ... Carniol has his finger on the pulse of social work in the new millennium, artfully weaving discourse with practical suggestions that encourage us collectively toward a respectful, inclusive, and life-affirming liberatory social work framework.'
-Raven Sinclair, Social Work, University of Regina (Saskatoon), and co-editor of Wicihitowin

'The book is packed with real-life examples of oppression and privilege within social services and the impact on service providers and users. Ben Carniol makes seemingly invisible systemic injustices visible, and with his usual compassion and wisdom, weaves a message of resistance and liberation.'
-Steven Hick, Social Work, Carleton University, and author of Social Work in Canada

'I cut my teeth on the first edition of Ben Carniol's Case Critical. Then a definitive andinfluential work, now in its sixth edition, Carniol's book has become a classic and a must-read for those seeking emancipatory approaches to social work practice. Always fresh and edgy, this new edition is an evocative analysis of our society's growing inequity and an unflinching rallying call for social workers to join the battle for social justice and a caring society.'
-Donna Baines, Labour Studies and Social Work, McMaster University, and editor of Doing Anti-Oppressive Practice

'Pulls together facts, figures and interviews, offering social workers a reality check and concerned citizens a look inside Canada's troubled social service agencies.'
-The Toronto Star