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This article reports on a small-scale enquiry into the value for Japanese social work students of learning about international social work. The study highlights a number of practice-related benefits for students, linking these to contemporary Japanese and UK social work education and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act in England and Wales heralds a new era for social work practitioners and researchers. Protecting and empowering vulnerable adults--an important element of adult-care social work--relies on a legal framework that attempts to balance adults' rights with the desire to protect them. The new Act is part of that framework, addressing the fundamental issue of when and how decisions can be made on behalf of people who lose decision-making abilities ('capacity'). The Act encompasses the meaning of incapacity and best interests, advance directives concerning treatment, managing people's affairs and making decisions for them, overseeing the delegation process, and research. In explaining how the Act addresses some of these challenges, the article alerts practitioners and researchers to the key areas in which the Act will make a major impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings from a systemic review of knowledge relating to current practice in the teaching, learning and assessment of law in social work education. The research comprised an internationally conducted systematic review of the literature, together with a survey of current education practice in the four countries of the UK. Two consultation events sought the views of a range of stakeholders, including the perspectives of service users and carers. Set in the context of debates about the relationship between law and social work practice, this paper identifies the common themes emerging from the review and offers an analysis of key findings, together with priorities for future directions in education practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Human Rights Act 1998 adopted the European Convention on Human Rights as a benchmark by which people's fundamental rights are to be respected and enforced. Before the passing of this Act recourse to the Convention was possible, but remedies were not always effective and influence on legislation was variable. With the passing of the Human Rights Act 1998, legislation itself and all public bodies' activities are potential areas for scrutiny by the courts. The implications for professional practice in certain key areas are profound, these being compulsory intervention, detention and treatment, protection of the vulnerable, privacy, and rights to family life. This article explores how the Convention may influence professional practice in the area of mental health. It does so by exploring key points of intervention at which professionals need to be mindful of the context for decision making set by the Convention and identifies a number of core principles for mental health practice already established by the European Court. The article is intended as an introduction to the role of the European Convention on Human Rights as it applies to practice and assumes no previous knowledge of case law or the Convention itself. It is not intended as an exhaustive account of the full implications of the Convention for all areas of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-assisted learning is now well established in many universities and offers a number of virtues that should commend it to social work educators. It offers a unique and valuable way of achieving certain learning outcomes that are of particular value in social work education. This paper presents one attempt to develop its potential by integrating Web-based tutorials into teaching social work law. It is suggested that Web-based learning has a unique and specific contribution to offer in enhancing student learning, but it does need to be carefully planned and integrated into teaching. Resistance to this form of learning needs to be anticipated; and the reasons for it considered for they may partly explain why the use of computer-assisted learning in social work education has, so far, been fairly limited. Nevertheless the 'added value' of Web-based learning is considerable so long as it is not regarded as some kind of cheap or 'soft' teaching option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]