Big ideas about social work, made a little shorter — but never simpler than they need to be.

Social Work Shorts explores the theories, ideas and questions that sit behind everyday social work practice. From power, relationships and communication to ethics, identity, reflection and the realities of working with people, it’s a place to think about not just what social workers do, but why they do it. Written for students, practitioners and anyone curious about social work, the aim is to make complex ideas accessible without taking away the complexity that makes them interesting.

About me – I’m Stephen J. Mordue, an author, academic and social work educator at the University of Sunderland. I’ve spent much of my career working in and around social work education, helping students and practitioners make sense of the theories, ideas and sometimes rather complicated language that surround the profession. I was a social worker working with Older People for 12 years – an academic now for 13. I’ve published books on social work, well-being, and productivity – particularly focussed on the social work profession and Social Work Shorts is another way of doing what I enjoy most: taking interesting ideas seriously while making them easier to talk about.