I'm a first year student in a Masters of Social Work program, and as you might expect, we get recommended a ton of books from professors as well as from our classmates. I thought there could be some folks out here with ideas of books they think new social workers should read, but also might serve as a good resource for other people on here :) I will not be adding The Body Keeps the Score šāāļø but I will keep adding to this list as I get recs, either from you or in school!
created by notlizlemon
last updated November, 2026




Amaze! Will be adding some to my interested list āØ
Yay! I haven't read them all, but I hope you find some good ones (and let me know if there is anything I'm missing)
i'd love to recommend Already Enough by Lisa Olivera for this list!
Ahhh thank you!! Adding now!!
graduated bsw student here: Torn Apart and Fatal Invention by Dorothy Roberts I feel like are great books that get overlooked. Torn Apart is a must read for anyone wanting to go into child welfare. I'm sure even more of her books are good for sw students but these are the ones I've read
Thank you!! A lot of my peers are interested in child welfare (ya girl is lowkey done w kids after a decade teaching haha)