A Role for Anyone? A Description of Social Work with the Elderly in Two Area Offices

Summary This article analyses information from Case Review Forms completedby social workers on 199 allocated elderly clients. These peoplewere very frail, most were considered to be ‘at risk’and to require regular, reliable and frequent care. The questionof the client moving to a tafer setting arose in two-thirdsof the cases, concerning which there was often some dispute.It is argued that social workers require a high level of professionalskill in dealing with clients, and others involved, faced withsuch questions and that this requirement will remain with thedevelopment of ‘community social work’.     

Ambiguities in Decision Making: Social Work's Response to 'Glue-Sniffing' in Scotland

Correspondence to Dr Elizabeth Jagger, Social Science Department, Park Campus, 1, Park Drive, Caledonian University, Glasgow G3 6LP Summary This paper examines how social workers make decisions aboutwhich cases of ‘glue-sniffing’ require intervention,in the context of a government policy which construes the problemprimarily within the arena of parental responsibility. Usingdata from interviews with social workers and research on ‘glue-sniffing’,it shows that social workers were frequently reluctant to dealwith cases. It explains that this has to do with factors suchas organizational priorities, lack of resources and, in particular,the ambiguous status of ‘glue-sniffing’ within theirown professional discourse. It concludes that the complex interplayof these factors means that government policy is not translatedinto practice in any simplistic manner.     

'Low Key Practices' in Social Work. Towards a Socio-historical Method

Summary In this article a ‘socio-historical’ method of analysisand intervention in social work will be developed, illustratedby an example drawn from social work with families, the programknown in France as Action Educative en Milieu Ouvert. Our purposeis to support and encourage what we call ‘low key practices’,which refers to practices in which social workers within theexisting structures of so-called ‘individual social work’attempt to explain the social struggle taking place in the situationsthey are dealing with.     

Case Finding and Screening for Social Work in Acute General Hospitals

Paul Bywaters, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Science and Policy Studies, Coventry Polytechnic, Priory St., Coventry, CVI 5FB. Summary Since the first appointment of a ‘Lady Almoner’social workers in hospitals have complained about the problemof obtaining referrals appropriate to their skills and knowledge,and sufficiently early in the patient's stay to allow for effectiveintervention. Often, due to shortage of staff, workers haveto rely on referrals from other staff, patients and carers.But where social workers find their own cases, a wider rangeof problems and patients are selected. In the United Statesduring the past twenty years there has been a rapid spread ofscreening at the point of admission or pre-admission, to identifyhigh risk patients for social work assessment. The evidencefor the effectiveness of this approach to case finding is examined.     

Social Work as Uncommon Sense

Summary Social work needs to resist pressures to identify itself solelyat a superficial level of common sense responses to social problems.It has to go beyond this to recognize its use of ‘uncommonsense’ as the means by which social workers cross therelationship gap and respond to their client's needs. The importanceof doing this in the early stages of relationship, as in crisisintervention, are considered, and stress is placed on holdingtogether both the explicit task-related aspect of the relationship,and the less obvious emotional interchange. By means of theiruncommon sense, social workers are enabled to reflect for, andshare with clients their areas of pain, in such a way as torender them more tolerable.     

Informal Welfare, Social Work and the Sociology of Welfare

Summary This article seeks to inject some important but neglected considerationsinto discussions about the nature of informal welfare and thenotice social workers should take of it. Following a sketchof how both sociology and social policy have regarded informalwelfare, it is argued that a sociology of welfare which is sensitiveto the definitions held by participants indicates that socialworkers would be wise to seek to ‘tap’ informalwelfare very cautiously. It is also argued that such sociologyneeds to be accorded a more prominent place in social work trainingcourses.     

Problems in the Perinatal Prediction of Child Abuse

Summary The aim of this paper is to consider and comment criticallyupon the recommendation by some eminent authorities that effortsbe made to design and implement procedures to predict the abuseof children. My view is that this move toward prediction—‘sponsored’largely by American paediatricians—is less of a new departurethan an extension of the dominant conceptual tradition wherebychild abuse is seen as analogous to a disease. However, in spiteof its basis in a medical model, it is clear that the idea thatthe abuse of children can be accurately predicted has greatappeal for many social workers. I shall argue, however, thatserious obstacles stand in the way of prediction; that theseobstacles are insufficiently appreciated by the advocates ofprediction; and that—consequently—social workers(and others) should temper with scepticism their enthusiasmfor these developments.     

Models of Assessment in Social Work

Summary The provision of a social work service depends significantlyupon assessment of the social situation of clients as determinedby social workers. It is argued that the social worker's ‘understanding’of the social situation is framed within a particular way ofthinking about cause and effect. Three different models of suchthinking are used in practice. They are identified as the linearmodel, systems analysis and the management model. The originsand attributes of each model are described and related to thesocial, economic and political environments which have influencedtheir separate developments. The value base underlying eachmodel is explored. Issues relating to the present position ofsocial work are clarified.     

The Other Italian Experiment: Neighbourhood Social Work in the Health and Social Services

Summary Following recent legislation, most social workers in Italy arenow responsible for giving a service to the population of agiven geographical area rather than to any particular categoryof client. The findings suggest that there is some experimentationwith regard to the organisation and composition of neighbourhoodteams and that the trend, not without problems, is towards socialworkers becoming the ‘gatekeepers’ to financialand other resources in the Social Service Sector for the localpopulation.     

Informal Networks of Care: Issues Raised by Barclay

Summary In calling for the creation of ‘community social work’,the Barclay Report argues that social workers should aim todevelop informal caring networks. This entails exploiting anindividual's informal social contacts, such as kin, friends,and neighbours, to provide care. This paper firstly examinesthe assumptions and thinking behind the concept of informalcaring networks. It then assesses the feasibility of using differentinformal relations in care provision by analysing the normativepatterning and exchange content underlying them. It concludesthat strategies like Barclay's are unlikely to be successfulbecause they entail a transformation of these relationshipsthat is incompatible with their normal organisation.     

Understanding Adolescent Female Prostitution: A Literature Review

Correspondence to Dr Jill Jesson. Aston Business School, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B47 7ET. Summary Sexual behaviour and sexuality are currently topical issuesof concern for child care social workers. Social workers arespending more and of more of their time with children who comeinto care because of sexual abuse, or who have an involvementin the ‘rent’ scene or Prostitution. In additionmany teenage young women come into care because of social orparental concern over their lsquo;promiscuous’ behaviour.The review of research on adolescent prostitution offers severalexplanations for involvement in prostitution. which vary accordingto the discipline of the author. Explanations vary from pathologicaland personal psychology factors to the wider social aspectsof the family and local environment. This literature reviewwas used as a basis for research which examined the incidenceof female prostitution for a social services department. Thisis a relatively new field of interest and consequently thereis very little British research published on the issue of adolescentprostitution, or on under age (16) prostitution. There is nopublished research on girls in care and prostitution. We needto know much more about the reality of young people's livesbefore social workers can offer a meaningful response.     

Social Work Values: The Moral Core of the Profession

Correspondence to Cynthia Bisman, Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, USA. E-mail: cbisman{at}ada.brynmawr.edu Summary This paper argues that an emphasis on the profession’sknowledge base has come at the expense of attention to socialwork's values and mission. The discussion examines the relativeimportance of knowledge, values and skills in an effort to understandthe shifting emphases of the profession within a social andhistorical context. The consequences of these shifts for theprofession and for its relationship to society are also considered.Concepts from the intellectual struggles of social work andfrom an interdisciplinary perspective suggest ways to groundthe profession’s skills and knowledge in its values ofhuman dignity, service to humanity and social justice. At itscore, social work must respond to the moral imperative of caringfor the neediest among us. This entails re-claiming and buildingon the commitment of early social workers ‘to work withforces that make for progress . . . to forward the advance ofthe . . . common people’ (Richmond, 1899, p. 151). Thepaper concludes that for social work to have a future, the professionmust take pride in its moral core, define its contemporary meaningand work for the social welfare in ways that are relevant toboth social workers and non-social workers.     

Euthanasia: Israeli Social Workers' Experiences, Attitudes and Meanings

Correspondence to Dr Ronit D. Leichtentritt, Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. E-mail: ronitl{at}post.tau.ac.il Summary Sixteen social workers in Israel were interviewed about theirexperiences with and attitudes towards various forms of euthanasia,as well as the meanings they ascribe to them. Using phenomenologicalanalysis, seven themes were identified, emphasizing individual,interpersonal, organizational, social and therapeutic considerations,and suggesting a holistic and integrative structure of the phenomenon.The themes were arrived at by identifying distinctions and similaritiesbetween different forms of euthanasia. Two themes suggestingsimilarities were revealed: ‘diminishing the value oflife’ and ‘a call for help’. Three themeswere found to distinguish between passive euthanasia (withholdingand withdrawing life-sustaining treatment) and active forms(active euthanasia and assisted suicide): ‘legality’,‘social acceptance’ and ‘concern for the sickand dying’. The last two themes distinguished betweenwithholding treatment and assisted suicide, on the one hand,and withdrawing treatment and active euthanasia, on the other:‘the involvement of others as executor’ and ‘thepublicity of the act’. Further research and training isrequired to better inform social workers in this ethical area.Given their unique position, social workers should activelyparticipate in legal, social and therapeutic discussions concerningend-of-life decisions, for the benefit of clients, their familiesand health-care providers.     

Primary Health Care Workers' Views about Social Work

Summary SUMMARY A comparison of the views about social work held by 188 primaryhealth care workers—118 GPs, 31 health visitors and 39district nurses—working in the same teams is presentedhere.^* The study focussed particularly on their perceptionsof social workers, their role and performance. The data indicatea general acceptance of the social work role, but a lack ofknowledge of or extensive criticism about, social work performance.Significant differences of view emerged about social work training,role and clients, indicating occupation is a significant factorin perceptions held. In particular, the client group predominantlydealt with appears to have had an impact on perceptions. However,views about social work performance did not differ greatly,suggesting the influence of occupation on perceptions shouldnot be overstated.     

Open Records: The Client's Right to Partnership

Summary Many Social Services Departments have opened their files totheir clients or intend to do so. This reflects the incomingtide of concern about citizens' rights and client participation,but what effect might the opening of records have on the practiceof social work? The paper summarizes the findings of a small scale study inwhich a team of social workers opened their case recording toa selected number of clients. The workers’ and clients‘views of this process are described, along with the implicationsfor practice. The study suggests that a focus on shared recordingcan begin to alter the kind of work done by the social worker,helping to promote a partnership between the worker and theclient. Finally, the paper argues that a policy of client access enforcedonly as a right is prone to sabotage or a fall into disuse.A seven point training programme is outlined in order to helpsocial workers use Open Records as an opportunity to promotea partnership in their work with clients.     

Social Networks and Social Service Workers

Correspondence to Peter Sharkey, School of Law, Social Work and Social Policy, Liverpool Polytechnic, 98 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, L3 5UZ. Summary ‘Networks’ is a word often used in the discussionof social work practice and within social services departments.It was a word which was central to the Barclay Report (1982)and important within the more recently published Griffiths Report(1988) on community care. It is a word also known to sociologistsand anthropologists through the development of ‘networkanalysis’. There is, however, a fairly wide gap betweenits use within social work and its use within social science.This article tries to explore this gap and the ways in whichsocial science ideas might have some use and relevance to socialservice workers. It does this by using some illustrative datafrom a study done of the personal networks of thirty elderlypeople who were all clients of a social service district office.