The Fieldwork Team Response: An Investigation into the Relationship between Client Categories, Referred Problems and Outcome

Correspondence to Peter C. Burke, Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Social Policy and Professional Studies, The University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX. Summary This paper concerns a study of the outcome achieved followingfieldwork responses to referred client problems within particularclient categories. The evidence from the study demonstratesthat while referred client problems initiate the social workresponse, administratively assigned client groups were a betterdeterminant of outcome. It is shown that the category of a caseis more directly related to outcome than is the problem referred.If social work is to be predominantly based on client categorizationthen polarization will result, represented by an increasinglyprofessional child care practice and a more basic servicingrole for the worker with elderly and handicapped people. Thispresents dangers for the organization of teams, the allocationof resources, and the training of social workers. Taking accountof client problems as part of caseload management should reducethis effect.     

Poverty, Social Work and Social Justice

Correspondence to: Gary Craig, Professor of Social Justice, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK. E-mail: G.Craig{at}hull.ac.uk Summary The concept of social justice has become a common part of thepolitical lexicon in recent years, with New Labour identifyingit as a key goal of its social strategy. In this article, Iset out my understanding of what the elements of a social justiceprogramme should look like and apply it to the performance ofthe New Labour government in the policy area which has traditionallypresented a major challenge to social workers, the issue ofpoverty. Finally, I raise some questions about what this analysismeans for the future role of social work shaped by values ofsocial justice.     

Changing Behaviour in a Residential Group Setting for Elderly People with Learning Difficulties

Correspondence to Ms K. Cigno, Department of Social Policy and Professional Studies, University of Hull, Hll HU6 7RX. Summary Group living is not an easy situation for residents and staff.A client with a long history of institutionalized care and aggressivebehaviour proves to be a challenge to care staff who attemptto improve the quality of her life and that of her fellow residentsthrough a behavioural intervention aimed at reducing the numberof disruptive incidents and increasing the use of social skillsand activities for this client. The results indicate a lesseningof incidents of ‘unreasonable behaviour’ and anincrease in self-esteem. The appropriateness of this approachto elderly clients' problems is discussed.     

Children in Secure Accommodation

Correspondence to Professor Robert Harris, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Department of Social Policy and Professional Studies, The University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX. Summary This paper describes the characteristics of a sample of children(N = 399) being held in secure accommodation in eleven localauthorities prior to the implementation of the Children Act1989. It is argued that secure accommodation cannot be divorcedfrom other aspects of child care policy and practice; that anyconfidence that problems of excessive or variable usage canbe removed by more restrictive legislation is largely misplaced;that when social workers resort to secure accommodation it isoften through a combination of ‘worry’ about anunpredictable child and uncertainty as to what else to do; andthat since not all children in secure accommodation wish toleave it (and the more secure accommodation constitutes goodquality child care the more children are likely to want to stay)a ‘rights’ framework, though necessary, is not asufficient moral or conceptual basis for developing secure accommodationpolicy and practice.     

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.     

An Approach to the Management of the Assessment of Practice Placements

Correspondence to Annie Hudson. Lecturer in Social Work. Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, University of Manchester. Manchester M13 9PL Summary This article addresses some of the issues and problems inherentin the assessment of practice placements. and discusses theefforts of one course to devise a method of managing the assessmentprocess. It begins with an identification and brief discussionof those problems, then moves on to review the development ofthe method and describe the system as it currently operates.The second part of the article discusses the need for continuingattention to both the design of the system and its implicationsfor the roles of those most involved, with particular emphasison the role of the tutor. The article concludes by posing somequestions raised therein which have relevance for current debatesabout the future of social work training.     

Allocating Blame in Social Work

Correspondence to Geraldine Macdonald, Applied Social Studies, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, Egham Hill, Surrey TW20 OEX. Summary This article takes issue with those who assume that the responsibilityfor bad outcomes in social work, such as child deaths, is appropriatelylaid at the feet of individual workers. It examines the philosophicalorigins of such arguments, some recent applications within socialwork literature and their appropriateness to the realities ofsocial work practice. The author argues that a morality of socialwork must recognize the social and organizational context inwhich it occurs.     

Administrative Justice and Charging for Long-term Care

Correspondence to Greta Bradley, School of Nursing, Social Work and Applied Health Studies, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK. E-mail: M.E.Bradley{at}hull.ac.uk Summary Drawing on the findings of a study in the area of charging forlong-term care for older people, this article makes links betweenperceptions and practices of local authority professionals andthe concept of administrative justice. The research revealedthat discretion was exercised at all levels, although not allstaff were aware of this. Cases may be treated differently andaccidents of geography, local political culture or personnelare likely to affect the outcome of financial assessments ofadults. The implications of this work remain timely since meanstested assessment of personal care and residency costs lookset to continue in England and Wales.     

Reflexive Modernity and Social Work in Ireland: A Response to Powell

Summary The aim of this article is respond to some of the issues addressedby Powell (1998). It focuses on his consideration of the roleand task of social work within a changing society. I argue that,before postulations about the future role of social work inIreland can be made, consideration of its current nature andthe form of its discourses are necessary. I then go on to critiquePowell's analysis of social work in the context of conceptssuch as empowerment, participation and prevention and arguethat, by failing to consider the necessarily regulatory andcentralized nature of much of Irish social work currently, suchan analysis remains merely rhetorical. Powell's reference tothe Irish Association of Social Workers' Code of Ethics (1995)as evidence of social work entering a period of reflexive modernityis also examined. The article concludes with a call for a moveaway from utopian speculation within Irish social work discoursetowards a more realistic and constructive analysis of both thefuture potential and the limitations of Irish social work, givenits spatial and discursive constraints.     

The Life and Death of the Care Order (Criminal)

Professor Robert Harris, Department of Social Policy and Professional Studies. The University of Hull. Hull, HU6 7RX. Summary This paper traces the life history of the care order (criminal)from its inception in the 1969 Children and Young Persons Actto its abolition in the 1989 Children Act. It is argued thatthe care order (criminal) is a microcosm of the central ambiguityof the juvenile justice system, and that its history accordinglymirrors that of juvenile justice itself. An empirical studyis then reported which demonstrates that the role of the provisionsince 1983 has been complex, but that it has catered for threedistinct groups of offenders, of whom only one poses a policyproblem. The ‘residence requirement’ solution tothis problem in the 1989 Children Act is welcomed as havinga better chance of sustaining the different tasks of the juvenilejustice system.     

Commonality and Diversity in Feminist Social Work

Correspondence to Vicky White, Department of Applied Social Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL. Summary The relationship between feminist social workers and women serviceusers is a central concern in the feminist social work literature.The literature's discussion of feminist social worker/womanservice user relationships, along the dimensions of commonalityand diversity, is compared with the experiences and understandingsof feminist social workers who participated in a small-scalequalitative study. Two main themes are considered: first, commonalityin feminist social worker/woman service user relationships;secondly, diversity amongst women service users. Issues forfuture work are drawn out of the discussion of these themes:the problematic nature of feminist social worker/woman serviceuser commonality; the impact of social divisions other thangender on women service users' lives; the importance of unpackinggeneralizations about both women service users and feministsocial workers; the need to explore the intersections of thestatutory context and feminist social work identities. It isargued that in addressing these issues future work would beenriched if greater prominence were given to feminist practitioners'perspectives, experiences and understandings.     

Value Bases in Social Work Education

Correspondence to Elisabeth Lynn, Lecturer in Social Work, Centre for Applied Social Studies, 9th Floor, Chemistry Tower, University of Wales Bangor, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, UK. Summary In this paper the two values of social justice and personalcaring are identified as key ideologies within social work education.Their presence is traced within a historical ebb and flow oftheory and practice and it is argued that this dialectic isembedded in social and individual systems. Based on fieldworkresearch with social work lecturers and practice teachers, itis argued that anti-oppressive social work needs a reflexivetheory/practice model to provide an understanding of how structuralpower affects all aspects of an individual. This demands a workingsynthesis of the two values of Personal Canng and Social Justicewithin an understanding of a multiple approach.     

Personal Construct Theory and Psychological Changes Related to Social Work Training

Summary This paper summarizes Personal Construct Theory and its mostdeveloped experimental investigating technique, the Role ConstructRepertory Grid. Issues in professional training in adjacentprofessions are examined for relevant parallels to social workin ‘personal change’. The specific notion of emotionas change in the mode of information processing is introducedthrough the neuropsychological model put forward by Pribramand Melges. Personal Construct Theory is presented as congruentwith that model for dealing with uncertainty, and as particularlysuitable for examining personal change in social work training.Studies comparing the Personal Construct Systems of social workstudents through training, with professionally qualified socialworkers are reviewed in some detail. It is concluded that theprocesses involved in social work education are corrigible and,because of the nature of their characteristics, may lead a personto develop desirable, sensitive, articulate and imaginativeways of construing people and personal problems, or to oversimple,rigid, impersonal and finally incompetent modes of construing,Suggestions are made as to how an understanding of PersonalConstruct Theory can help social workers involved in training,to deal with this problem.     

Social Work and the Sociology of Knowledge

John Paley. Department of Social Policy, School of Policy Studies, Cranfield Institute of Technology, Cranfield, Bedford MK43 0AL. Summary The research literature on social workers' use of theory suggeststhat social work, conceived as a form of knowledge in action,is amenable to a sociology of knowledge approach. This papertries to illustrate the relevant parallels, and uses both empiricaland philosophical themes in the recent sociology of scienceto identify a strategy for social work research.     

User-Practitioner Transactions in the New Culture of Community Care

Correspondence to Nicky Stanley, Lecturer in Social Work, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK. Summary This article describes the findings of a research project whichexamined the views and practice of social workers undertakingassessments in one local authority following the implementationof the NHS and Community Care Act 1990. While the assessorsexpressed dissatisfaction with some aspects of the new systemof care management, overall they appeared to be taking the newculture on board. Managers were consistently more enthusiasticthan practitioners. Both groups saw needs-led assessment, userchoice and keeping users in their own homes as central objectivesof care management. The shadowing of ten community care assessmentsallowed the degree to which these objectives were realized inpractice to be explored. Users' experience of the new culturewas also studied. The user-practitioner transactions observedsuggest that those users who were able to articulate their ownneeds forcefully were most likely to be able to exercise choice.It is argued that the new culture of community care embodies‘consumer choice’ rather than ‘user choice’.     

Is Social Work a 'Non-Traditional' Occupation for Men?

Correspondence to Alastair Christie, Department of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Cork. Email: A.Christie{at}ucc.ie Summary The European Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commissionhave called for the increased employment of men in occupations,such as social work, where men are numerically under-represented.In Britain, men's employment in social work is contentious but,as yet, little discussed. This article draws on Williams' (1993,1995) concept of ‘non-traditional occupations for men’to explore the positions of men in social work. It focuses inparticular on continuities and dissonances between dominantconstructions of men's gender and professional social work identities.These are discussed in relation to particular areas of practiceand an agenda for further investigation is considered.     

Disability and Social Work: Applications from Poststructuralism, Postmodernism and Feminism

Correspondence to Barabara Fawcett, Department of Applied Social Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7 1DP, UK. Summary In this article it is argued that poststructural and postmodernperspectives have something useful to offer social work, providedthese orientations are informed by the ‘social criticalpower of feminism’ (Fraser and Nicholson, 1993, p. 428).A case study is used to consider the utility of applying feministpoststructural and postmodern perspectives. It is contendedthat these orientations not only serve to link practice to theoryin a different way and to open up new avenues for exploration,but can also be seen to make a contribution to the debate aboutthe current constitution of social work.     

Consumer Views of a Family Centre Drop-In

Correspondence to Katy Cigno, Department of Social Policy and Professional Studies, University of Hull, HU6 7RX Summary The family centre Drop-in is a phenomenon which has developed,often in a haphazard way, at the ‘soft end’ of socialwork, mostly in the voluntary sector. Nevertheless, the literatureand the results of a small case-study argue that it has an importantplace in the lives of a wide range of families and is a partof community support networks. For some users, it provides avital alternative to social work help, or an essential supplementto it. Users' views indicate that a Drop-in achieves its broadaims of helping to prevent family breakdown by relieving isolation,of providing a welcoming environment where people can make friendsand children can play, of promoting self-esteem through itsactivities and encouraging users to help each other. There arelimits to how many families can benefit at any one time. Userslike most the relaxed family atmosphere and being able to helpand be helped informally. They are most critical of gossip,cliquiness and dependency among the users. ‘It is exactly what I wanted. I loved going ... You mix.It's very important to have friends. When I could have half-killed[child] there was someone to take her off me. We helped oneanother. We got involved with each other and each other's children.’     

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.     

Social Workers' Attitudes to Lesbian Clients

Correspondence to Karen Hardman, Department of Applied Social Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX Summary Within British social work there is no model of good practicefor working with lesbian clients. As a prelude to the establishmentof such a model, this paper attempts to ascertain social workers'attitudes to lesbians using a thirty-item attitude (Likert)scale. The implications of social workers' attitudes for practicewith lesbian clients are considered from responses to case vignettes.