Professional Values and Ethics in Social Work: Reconsidering Postmodernism?

Correspondence to Professor Richard Hugman, School of Social Work, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. E-mail: r.hugman{at}unsw.edu.au Summary The ‘postmodern turn’ in social theory has raisedquestions for understanding the social world. The implicationsof these debates for social work values and ethics are the centralfocus of this article. The implications of a postmodern viewof social work are examined and compared with criticisms ofpostmodern theory. It is argued that a critical considerationof postmodern insights may assist social work to examine thediverse, provisional and uncertain nature of all aspects ofour world, including knowledge and skills, values and ethics.Such an approach strengthens the case for a discursive modelof ethics.     

Dreadful Moments: Existential Thoughts on Doing Social Work

Summary Dreadful moments often happen in social work. This is when theordinary, reliable, taken-for-granted world is called into questionby a calamitous or hopeless situation. In order to respond thesocial worker has to relocate himself after momentarily plunginginto a vortex of trouble that destroyed the client's and, fora short time, his own sense of relatedness. Existentialism,which focusses on the whole structure of personal and interpersonalbeing and the necessity to act in the knowledge of freedom andresponsibility, does help with this relocation. Two cases, basedon actual social work, are reconstructed dramatically in orderto illustrate the positive use of the idea of dreadful moments.These are ideal-typical examples of successful social work whichcould be a model for a general phenomenological-existentialperspective in social work in which the author is at presentengaged.     

'Anti-oppressive practice': emancipation or appropriation?

Summary This article offers an initial critical discussion of the conceptof anti-oppressive practice - AOP - from the perspectives ofservice users. Whilst acknowledging the emancipatory aspirationsof anti-oppressive practice, it also considers its regressivepotential. AOP has become central in social work theory andpractice and indeed is sometimes presented as a key approachand theory of social work. This discussion highlights the failureso far significantly to involve service users and their organizationsin the development of anti-oppressive theory and practice. Itconsiders how the ideology and structures of anti-oppressivesocial work impact upon service users; the problems raised by'expert' appropriation of users' knowledges and experiencesand the issues raised by the failure so far to address the useof social work and social care services as an area of differenceand category of social division. Finally, the article examinesalternatives to existing notions of anti-oppressive practicebased on the equal involvement of service users.     

Social work, social networks and network knowledge

Summary The claim that there is something distinctive about the kindof knowledge associated with social work research is investigated.When three tests of distinctiveness are applied it emerges thatthe only way in which this claim can be upheld is by referenceto a prior claim to ontological distinctiveness. The natureof this distinctive ontology is explored using an image of linksand interdependencies. It is argued that complexity is integralto both the world of social work practice and the process ofdoing social work research. Alternative conceptions of complexityin the physical and social sciences are discussed but it issuggested that social work research needs its own concept of'network knowledge' if it is to deliver understandings of complexityrelevant to the world in which it exists. Finally, the extentto which network knowledge is networked knowledge, collectivelyowned and produced is examined. The article concludes that bylinking the concept of knowledge to the process of knowledgecreation, what emerges is not only a distinctive research paradigmbut also a way of rebuilding a concept of professional unityand purpose in social work education.     

Aspects of Social Work on a Cancer Research and Treatment Unit in a London Teaching Hospital

Summary With the rapid growth of technology and science in society today,an increasingly large number of people are becoming patientsin specialized research and treatment units. The reorganizationof social work support to the health service is upon us, andgreat care must be taken to ensure that this important groupof clients will receive the social work help it needs. The paper is based on work in a cancer unit in a London teachinghospital and seeks to illustrate ways in which the work is specialized     

Social Work and the 'Missionary Zeal to Whip the Heathen Along the Path of Righteousness'

Correspondence to Amon Bar-On, Department of Social Work, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana. Summary Ever since Western forms of social work were first importedto Africa, a serious debate has been raging on whether theyfit the African context Most of this debate has concentrated,however, on the techniques of Western social work as opposedto the ends to which they are put, which, being underpinnedby Western values, are essentially alien to African culture.Applying Western social work in Africa can be viewed, therefore,as continuing the work of the missionaries who sought to remakeAfricans in their own image. Following a summary of the argumentswhy Africa might require a form of social work of its own, thisarticle explores the chances of such indigenization and concludesthat it might be nigh impossible unless research involving reflectivelearning by African social workers with their clients is placedat the centre of social work practice.     

Toward Generic Social Work Practice--a Review and Some Innovations

Summary This essay reviews the development of the generic concept andoffers three models and several concepts that are seen as relevantto the progress of generic theory for social work practice.A major gap in professional social work has been identified.The generic approach is seen as having exciting potential foreducating and training multi-skilled social workers, but a greatdeal of head and heart work is necessary before the idea ofgeneric social work can become a practical and viable reality     

Social Work, the State and the University

Summary Some aspects of the triangular relationship between the state,the university and social work are explored. Is it appropriatefor social work to be taught in a university? What are the implicationsof the fact that well over 90% of social workers are employedby the state? And what above all, is the nature of the relationshipbetween critical analysis as the corner-stone of scholarshipand the need to prepare the social work student to functioneffectively in the real world? It is argued that the respectiveattitudes of higher education and government towards socialwork are influenced by the nature of social work's relationshipwith sociology, but that this in turn has not been fruitfulfor practice development.     

Strange Meeting: Marxism, Psychoanalysis and Social Work

Summary It is suggested that the polarity between Marxism and psychoanalysisis one factor hindering the development of social work's professionalidentity. The first section of the article suggests ways inwhich a dialogue between the two perspectives might be established.In the second section such a dialogue is applied to a numberof central concepts in social work theory and practice.     

Stress and Opportunity in the Role of the Prison Welfare Officer

Summary The role of social workers within the penal system has beenthe subject of much discussion and heart-searching by probationofficers and others since the probation service took on responsibilityfor rilling prison welfare posts in 1966. Many officers havebeen reluctant to undertake secondment as Prison Welfare Officersbecause of the difficulties of applying their social work trainingand experience in a penal setting and their fears of absorptioninto a punishment-oriented culture. This article explores thenature of the stresses involved in the practice of social workin this setting, and argues the case for the positive contributionthat social workers can make, at present often ignored in discussingthe stress and conflict inherent in the situation. Stress, itis argued, may be a necessary function of effective work inthis context, and the attempt to reduce it by giving the PWOa more detailed role definition and a clearer position withinthe prison hierarchy is premature. The role is best definedas it emerges from the experience of good practitioners withinthe setting, a concept which has implications for the choiceof probation officers for this type of work and for their approach.They should be able to see and utilize the opportunities foreffective social work, and incorporate available research ina flexible and imaginative methodology     

Explanation and Education in Social Work

Summary Social work education has to confront the problem of workingwith students in developing an understanding of the range ofexplanations that exist in the social sciences and the differentbases of these explanations. One pedagogic approach is to explorea map of categories of explanation based upon different conceptionsof the nature of social science knowledge itself. Such a map,outlined in the paper, would distinguish between physical scienceparadigms and human science paradigms and identify the differentimplications for social work of the various viewpoints. Theteacher cannot remain neutral with regard to explanation inthe social sciences; the author therefore indicates that hisown account is based on a marxist perspective     

Social Work, Sectarianism and Anti-sectarian Practice in Northern Ireland

Correspondence to Dr Jim Campbell, Department of Social Work, The Queen's University of Belfast, 7 Lennoxvale, Belfast BT9 5BY, Northern Ireland. Jim Campbell lectures in the Department of Social Work, The Queen's University of Belfast. His doctoral thesis was on the concept of violence in social and political thought. His current research interests include social policy in Northern Ireland and mental health social work Summary This paper addresses a subject relatively unknown to the Britishand international social work audience—that of trainingfor anti-sectarian practice. In doing so, it points to someof the complex, even dangerous issues raised by such trainingfor social work students and practitioners in Northern Ireland.The paper comments upon the limited but significant ways inwhich social work educators and practitioners have tried tochallenge sectarian discrimination in Northern Ireland, andproposes methods in train ing and research which might facilitatea better understanding of these processes.     

Constructivism in Social Work: Towards a Participative Practice Viability

Summary Social work has traditionally drawn upon an expansive rangeof social science research and theorizing as its claim upona ‘knowledge base’. Recent debates have exploredthe need for the profession to develop its own theory of socialwork knowledge arising from practice. This paper seeks to extendthe boundaries of these ideas through an operational and epistemologicalelaboration and critique of Sheppard's (1995a; 1998) notionof a practice paradigm. In an examination of the contributionof constructivism and the seminal work of George Kelly's (1955)Psychology of Personal Constructs, arguments are put forwardfor social work practice to focus upon the co-construction ofviable working relationships with service users as the basisfor an anti-oppressive and participative professionalism. Itargues that the sterile philosophical dichotomies between objectivism/realism-subjectivism/interpretivismand the equally unhelpful social work division between practice-theoryshould be integrated within a situated, participatory, constructivistapproach to knowledge creation in social work practice and continuingprofessional development.     

Social Work Tomorrow: Towards a Critical Understanding of Technology in Social Work

Correspondence to Bob Sapey, Department of Social Work, University of Central Lancashire, Preston PR1 2HE Summary This paper makes use of theoretical ideas that have been developedto understand the impact of new technology on organizationsand applies them to its use within social work agencies. Thesedeveloping theories employ ideas that are familiar to socialworkers—organization theory, decision making theory, andcommunication theory. The paper therefore argues that socialworkers are in a good position to understand and influence theuse of computers within welfare agencies and do not need tobe inhibited by a lack of technological knowledge. It is furtherargued that, unless social workers do become involved in theways in which new technologies are used within organizations,they will fail to influence its impact upon their clients andmay further fail to control the way in which computers affectthe nature of social work itself in the future.     

Compulsory Persuasion: A Problem for Correctional Social Work

Summary Social work risks being misused as a technique for controllingundesirable behaviour, regardless of clients' expectations orchoices. This approach to social work involves certain underlyingassumptions about human nature which raise considerable ethicaland practical difficulties. Recent trends in the probation andafter care service are considered, together with some researchstudies of the effectiveness of social work in reducing offendingbehaviour. From these it is argued that social work servicesfor offenders are more likely to be effective when the emphasisis on helping with perceived problems and difficulties ratherthan on crime prevention.     

'Problematics of Government', (Post) Modernity and Social Work

Correspondence to Nigel Parton, Professor in Child Care Studies, The University of Keele, Keele. Staffordshire ST5 5BG. Summary This paper attempts to locate contemporary developments andtensions in social work within current debates in social theoryconcerning the problematics of government and (post) modernity.It argues that modern social work emerged in a period of ‘welfarism’which has now passed and that as a consequence social work hasnot simply been restructured in the era of neo-liberalism butis exposed as an activity particularly concerned with managingfamily life via the exercising of moral judgements and negotiatingresponsibilities. As a consequence the essential ambiguitiesof social work are more self evident than previously, and ratherthan constituting problems to be overcome, articulate the centralelements of what it is to do social work. The article concludesby, tentatively, outlining the implications of such an analysisand how it may help us to understand what is going on and howwe might proceed.     

The Operation of Economic 'Laws' within Social Work: A Critical Appraisal

Summary In planning and administering social work services, economictheory has had a strong impact in recent years. The authorsexamine the application of economic theory, in particular pricingtheory (as used by Judge and others), to social work services.They conclude that there is an ideological function in applyingmicroeconomic theory to social work and that there are seriouslimitations in the contribution that such economic theory canmake to resolving social problems.     

Social Work and System Theory

Summary The contribution of general system theory to the understandingof social work method in a generic situation is considered.An account of general system theory is given indicating howhuman systems differ from other systems, taking their placein a larger continuum. The implications of the theory for socialwork are then examined with special reference to four levels.First there is the philosophical level, the view it presentsof man and society, as compared with other psychological andsociological theories. Secondly its contribution to the perspectiveof social workers, making them aware of the range of systemsthey should be considering. Thirdly its contribution to practicein providing a model of the structure of systems as a guideto appraisal and intervention. In this connection the modelis related to Lippitt's ‘diagnostic orientations’.Fourthly its contribution to the understanding of social workprocess is examined. In the conclusion it is suggested thatit is the contribution to the third level that justifies theexpenditure of effort in absorbing the theory.     

1998 Human Rights Act: Social Work's New Benchmark

Summary The 1998 Human Rights Act makes the European Convention on HumanRights directly enforceable by the United Kingdom's courts andtribunals. This represents a major constitutional change andwill allow statute law and common law to be assessed, or reassessed,according to the rights laid down in the Convention. This hasmany implications for social work policy makers, managers andpractitioners. It will require the Convention rights to be atthe heart of social work practice. The ability of service usersto challenge decisions by social services departments will nolonger be dependent upon the traditional approach to judicialreview. Compliance with the Convention will now feature in legalchallenges. It is essential that the practice of social workembraces the principles outlined in the Convention. In manyrespects, they are rights that practitioners and others recognizeas being basic expectations of service users, and making themdirectly enforceable can only be for the good. However, we shouldnot underestimate the effect that the legislation will have.This article outlines the legal effects of the 1998 Human RightsAct and illustrates them by reference to examples from socialwork practice.     

Some Implications of an Integrated Model of Social Work for Theory and Practice

Summary This paper is an attempt to assess the significance of the introductioninto this country of an ‘integrated’ or ‘unitary’approach to social work. An attempt is made to clarify the relationshipbetween paradigms, theories and models. The author claims thatan integrated approach to social work may represent a shiftfrom a predominantly individualistic conceptual model of practiceto an interactionist one. These conceptual models are comparedand critiques of the integrated model are examined. The questionis posed: is it possible to have an integrated model of practicewithout an integrated theory? Some suggestions are made concerningthe essential characteristics of such a theory and the possiblecontribution of sociology to its development Finally, some implicationsof the model for practice and for social work education arediscussed.