SETTING OBJECTIVES AND MEASURING ACHIEVEMENT IN SOCIAL CARE

Correspondence to Tony Bovaird, Public Sector Management Research Centre, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7EJ Summary This paper examines a systematic approach to formulating andevaluating policies for social work practice in social care.A hierarchy of aims and objectives is advocated, based on theassumption that a clear statement of desired outcomes in socialwork practice with groups of service users is required, togetherwith the establishment of indicators by which their achievementmay be measured. The purpose of the hierarchy is to generatean integrated policy for change and to give a full sense ofdirection to all staff involved, both in policy making and insocial work practice.     

Social Work Assessment Processes in Work with Ethnic Minorities-the Doshi Family

Summary The authors describe a framework for assessment which they developedin a book on practice theory (Curnock and Hardiker, 1979). Thisframework was used by them to guide the practice described withthe Doshi family and to analyse the social work processes involved.This paper concludes with an evaluation of the practice.     

The Influence of Child Protection Orientation on Child Welfare Practice

Summary This article reports the findings of the second part of a two-partresearch project examining the potential for social workersto make changes in their work with families and children. Whilstsocial workers in the United Kingdom have been encouraged toshift from a child protection to a child welfare orientationin their practice, such changes have been hampered by professionaland organizational concern to manage risk. The research exploresthe influence of a child protection orientation on practicein child welfare cases. The findings, from two file analysesand interviews with 26 social workers, indicate that such aninfluence is indeed apparent. This is evidenced in two ways;first patterns of practice in child welfare cases are similarto those in child protection cases. Secondly, while the majorityof social workers express an attitudinal desire to move towardsa child welfare orientation, they still prioritize the managementof risk in their practice. It is argued that social workersneed permission from their employing organizations to make changesin their practice. This, in turn, requires such organizationsto state clear goals in line with a child welfare orientationand develop holistic strategies to achieve these.     

The Professional Standing of Work with Elderly Persons among Social Work Trainees

Correspondence to Dr Howard Litwin, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work, The Hebrew University, Mount Scopus, 91905, Jerusalem, Israel. Summary A random sample of 93 students of social work in Israel werequeried regarding their perception of the professional standingof work with older people. The general ranking given by traineesto this field of practice was moderate to low. Relatively positiveevaluation of the status of gerontological practice, however,was found to be explained by: (1) a traditional view of therole of the elder in society; (2) the perception that peersattribute prestige to such work; and (3) having had a fieldpracticum in the area of ageing; and was inversely related tounderstanding of work with elderly persons as mainly indirectintervention. The implications of these findings for the promotionof social work practice with elderly people in an ageing societyare discussed.     

Foster and Residential Children's Perceptions of Their Social Environments

University of Oxford, Department of Social and Administrative Studies, Barnett House, Wellington Square, Oxford OXI 2ER. Summary This paper compares foster and residential children's perceptionsof their social environments (placements). The exercise formedpart of a larger examination of care practice in special fosterhomes and Children's Homes. The application of a combinationof quantitative and qualitative techniques showed that the fosterchildren's perceptions of their placements generally comparedfavourably with those of the residential children.     

A Comment on 'Family Structure as a Factor in the Adjustment of Adopted Children'

Summary Dr. Kraus's paper¹ suggests that ‘a criterion of acceptabilityof childless applicants for adoption should be their childbearingpotential’. This proposal, with its extremely seriousimplications for practice, is based on the results of a questionnairesurvey of couples who had adopted babies seven years earlier.Failings in the statistical analysis, however, cast considerabledoubt on the main finding.     

Adopted Children in Care

Correspondence to David Howe, School of Economic and Social Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ. Summary Four local authority social services departments were surveyedto determine the number of adopted children who were currentlyin their care. The biographical characteristics of these childrenand the reasons for them entering care are reported. The adoptivedimension is discussed as a possibly relevant factor in theassessment and treatment of these children and their families.It is concluded that appropriate practice in this field requiresspecialist skills and understanding.     

Child Placement Policy: Some European Comparisions

Summary There is consensus among European countries that the first aimof a social policy for families should be to enable childrento remain in their own homes. However, in all countries somechildren require placement apart from their parents, but thereis no agreement as to the best mode of care for these children.Some countries rely entirely on residential care, others almostentirely on family placements in the community. The articlecompares Sweden (high fostering) with Belgium (low fostering),and England and Wales, which is midway between the two, andsuggests that some European models are relevant to English practice.     

Connecting Anti-racist and Anti-oppressive Theory and Practice: Retrenchment or Reappraisal?

Correspondence to Charlotte Williams, Centre for Applied Community Studies, University of Wales, Bangor, Bangor LL57 2UW, UK. Summary In this paper the author offers a review of some of the majorcritiques of anti-racist theory and practice within social workand critically examines the trend towards anti-oppressive theoryand practice as the ‘way forward’. She argues thatthe uncritical acceptance of the move away from specificallyanti-racist perspectives towards the broader approach of anti-oppressivepractice may lead towards the retrenchment of all such criticalperspectives within social work rather than their regeneration.The author concludes that such a rigorous review will more fullyground the moves towards anti-oppressive practice as a paradigmfor social work.     

Social Work Education: Tackling The Theory--Practice Dilemma

Summary The integration of theory and practice has long been a topicfor debate and concern amongst social work educators. A longitudinalparticipant observation study of one cohort of social work studentsconfirmed that the ideal of theory—practice integrationwas also high on their own list of self-established priorities.Students' efforts towards attaining this goal were also hamperedby the perspectives which they themselves brought to bear ontheir training. Attempting to resolve the conflict between theirown perspectives and their perceived demands of professionaleducation students appealed to and reconstructed afresh variousmodels of theory application endorsed both by social work educatorsand practitioners. These models, however, are essentially contradictoryand pose serious problems for the development and maintenanceof social work standards.     

From Paradigm to Practice in a Special Probation Project

Summary Between January 1980 and December 1982, a team of probationofficers in South Yorkshire attempted a new approach to probationpractice. The project arose initially out of the ideas put forwardin Bottoms and McWilliams (1979) ‘A Non-Treatment Paradigmfor Probation Practice’, but the team members developeda version of the paradigm which in many respects differed markedlyfrom the original. In this paper, their statutory work is describedwith particular reference to their social enquiry practice andto their attempted separation of the care and control aspectsof probation orders.     

Guardianship of the Person in Scotland

Correspondence to Bill Whyte, Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Adam Ferguson Building, University of Edinburgh, George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LL. Summary There has been a renewed interest in recent years on the purposeof Guardianship but only limited empirical data on how it isbeing used under the current Mental Health legislation. Thispaper attempts to address both issues. The paper presents someof the findings of a Scottish study which examines the implicationsof this legislation and covers a range of issues including usesof Guardianship; a profile on the Mental Health Officers (ApprovedSocial Workers) involved and their role in assessment; who becamethe guardian and how they exercised their role; and broaderlegal issues. Unlike a recent paper (Evans, 1989) the authorsbelieve the legislative framework is inadequate to promote initiativeand good practice in this field and that there is a need fora new debate on the purposes of Guardianship with particularreference to the powers needed to care for and protect a rangeof adults with differing needs who might be considered ‘atrisk’ in the community.     

Institutionalization, Management Structure and Therapy in Residential Work with Emotionally Disturbed Children

Summary The author discusses the term institutionalization and attemptsto define it. From this point he examines residential socialwork from the premise that it must be treatment orientated ifit is to avoid the pitfalls of institutionalization. The needfor treatment to be contained within a flexible management structureis explored in detail and, following from this, five criteriafor the running of a therapeutic residential unit are outlined.The latter half of the article concentrates on how these theoreticalpoints have been developed in practice in the unit in whichhe works, amplifying their relevance by describing a typicalday of work for the author     

Towards the Use and Development of Games for Social Work Practice

Summary This paper reviews games that may be of use to social workersin their work with individuals, couples, families and groups.A typology of games is presented, which categorizes games accordingto their structure and their function. Games are seen as eitherunstructured or structured, and as stressing either cognitiveor behavioural goals. Selected games are presented in more detailas examples and others are presented in brief in an annotatedbibliography. Issues relating to designing games are discussedas well as issues in applying games to social work practice.     

Adult Learning: Implications for Teaching in Social Work Education

Summary The new Diploma in Social Work (DipSW) requires practice teachersand academic tutors to foster student empowerment while at thesame time ensuring practice competence. A model for achievingthese aims is that of adult learning. This paper traces thedevelopment of adult learning research and offers suggestionsfor effective teaching methods. It argues that the principlesof adult learning could provide a unified framework for professionaltraining and that, moreover, this educational approach couldbe used to benefit social work practice itself.     

Social work, individualization and life politics

Summary This paper (re)conceptualizes the fundamental concerns of socialwork in late-modernity as 'life politics'. Drawing on theoriesof reflexive modernity and risk society, the emergence of lifepolitics is placed in the context of processes of 'individualization',a transformation of intimacy, and a new kind of reflexivityand concern with risk which have moved to the centre of howboth institutions and selfhood are constituted today. The paperaims to move understandings of the radical potential of socialwork beyond a one-dimensional view of power and risk which arisesfrom an over-structural focus on 'emancipatory politics'. Atthe heart of late-modern life politics, expertise and lay people,in which social work increasingly takes the form of being amethodology of 'life planning' for late-modern citizens. Thepaper aims to advance forms of practice which take the lifepolitical domain, emotionality and the depth of social relationsas their primary focus, thus enhancing the capacities of (vulnerable)clients to practice effective life-planning, find healing andgain mastery over their lives.     

Feminism and Social work: Resistance or Dialogue?

Summary This paper seeks to explore some of the factors underpinningsocial work's apparent resistance to feminism and to dilineateways in which a more active relationship might benefit socialwork's women consumers. It argues that, by marginalizing feminism,social work has perpetuated individualistic explanations andresponses to women's specific needs and problems. Finally, insuggesting some practical strategies for making use of feministideas and experiences, particular consideration is given tosome of the contradictions which may be engendered for thosesocial workers who are actively endeavouring to integrate feministperspectives into their practice.     

Foster and Residential Care Practices Compared

Correspondence to Dr Matthew Colton, Department of Social and Administrative Studies, Barnett House, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER Summary This paper reports what is, remarkably, the first systematic,in-depth, comparative study of foster and residential care practices.The overall research objectives were: (1) to delineate and comparecare practice in special foster homes (i.e., homes accommodatingchildren traditionally considered too old or disturbed for fosterplacement) and Children's Homes for older children in localauthority care; and (2) if possible, ascertain whether the responsesmanifested by children in such settings can be related to thecare practices they experience. The approach adopted was essentially sociological. A lengthyperiod of field-work in two local authorities featured the useof a range of research instruments and included the collectionof data on the following: the management of recurrent–mainlydaily–social events; children's community contacts; theprovision of physical amenities; the controls and sanctionsused by caretakers vis-à-vis children; the roles of caretakersand their behaviour and attitudes towards children; and thecharacteristics of children, their behaviour towards caretakers,perceptions of their social environments and progress duringplacement. Quantitative methods were used in data analysis becausethey provide a useful guide to the import of observed differencesbetween foster homes and Children's Homes. Care practice in the foster homes was, overall, significantlymore child-oriented than in the Children's Homes. Moreover,the responses of residential children appeared to fall shortof offering justification for the ways that the lives of suchchildren seemed to differ from those of foster children.     

Cautionary Tales From Beginning Practitioners: The Fate of Personal Models of Social Work in Beginning Practice

Summary The relationship between professional education and beginningpractice is examined by considering whether the personal modelsof social work developed and reviewed by the individual duringsocial work education survived the transition from student toautonomous practitioner. Fifteen University of Queensland socialwork graduates were engaged in a task of making explicit theirpersonal models of social work, by way of repertory grid technique,in their first eight months of employment. The repertory gridwas used as a conversational tool to monitor the developmentof and changes in their personal models of social work. Thesocial workers were thus engaged in a process consciously reflectingon the meaning of, and the reasons for, these developments andchanges. Whilst the study found that personal models do survivethe transition to social work practice, it also highlightedareas of concern. On the whole graduates did not feel preparedfor work, and the initial period of practice was one of considerabledifficulty. Many experienced considerable difficulty in subsumingthe organizational context within their personal model of socialwork.