Robert Adams was Professor of Social Work at Teesside University and Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of West of Scotland. A qualified social worker, he had extensive experience of teaching students and was external examiner to professional qualifying programmes in social work across England, Scotland and Wales. He published widely and was co-author with Lena Dominelli and Malcolm Payne of the classic trilogy of edited books, Social Work: Themes, Issues and Critical Debates, Critical Practice in Social Work and Practising Social Work in a Complex World. He died in January 2015.

Steve Myers is Director of Society at the University of Salford.