Teaching Social Work in Latin America

This volume examines the status of social work education in Latin America, a region where the first School of Social Work was founded 100 years ago, marking the beginning of a century-long tradition of professional education and social commitment. It discusses issues related to curriculum, pedagogy, practice, and research facing social work educators.

This book reveals how Latin American social work has had to continuously respond to emerging demands. It emphasizes the need to comprehend and make sense of complex global phenomena: globalization, aging populations, Indigenous participation, economic crises (especially in the post-pandemic context), disability, natural resource depletion, human rights, and the systemic exclusion of communities. The volume provides social workers with ways to deliver effective tools and skills in coping with violence, addictions, mental health problems, discrimination, and exclusion. The chapters present concrete proposals for student training across various social phenomena, without losing sight of the territory and the social actors within their sociocultural and economic contexts.

This book will be indispensable to teachers, researchers, and students of social work, education studies, social welfare, and Latin American studies. It will also appeal to practitioners and policymakers working within social development.