"Since launching in 2003, Transforming Social Work Practice has become the market-leading series for social work students. Now, in order to reflect the ongoing changes to social work practice and education, and in light of the Social Work Task Force report, the series is being improved even further. These books are now more critically-engaging, with greater emphasis on current thinking and policy and further opportunities for students to reflect on their own practice and their own learning." "In order to practice effectively, social workers need a critical understanding of how people develop and how the different stages in the average life course can alter and affect a person. Covering all stages of the life course, this book looks at the ways in which people develop before birth, as babies and children through adolescence and onto young, middle and older adulthood. With this knowledge, social workers are able to establish and maintain effective partnerships with both service-users and other professionals alike." "This best-selling book has been revised to reflect the implications of the Social Work Task Force Report on practice, particularly when working with children and young people. New research findings have also been included and relevant government guidance and policy documents have been acknowledged to reflect current theory and practice. The book remains a key text for students on the social work degree requiring a thorough knowledge and understanding of human development and its impact on social work practice." "The Series Editors" "Professor Jonathan Parker is Director of the Centre for Social Work and Social Policy Research at Bournemouth University. He is currently Vice-Chair of the Joint University Council Social Work Education Committee." Greta Bradley is a senior lecturer in social work at the University of York. Her academic interests are in community care and workforce studies in social work. Her most recent research is on aspects of sustainable practice in social work. She is former editor of Practice.