'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.     

Reforming Professional Training and Protecting Vulnerable Adults from Abuse: A Thematic Analysis of the New Social Work Degree's Prescribed Curriculum

Correspondence to Phil Slater, School of Health and Social Sciences, Middlesex University, Queensway, Enfield EN3 4SF, UK. E-mail: p.slater{at}mdx.ac.uk Summary This paper analyses the Prescribed Curriculum of the new Degreein Social Work in relation to the Department of Health themeof ‘protecting vulnerable adults from abuse’. Areview of post-war social policy first establishes the significanceof these terms, both individually and in varying combinations.Subsequently, the phrase as a whole provides the focus for acontent analysis of the three constituents of the PrescribedCurriculum, namely, the Secretary of State’s Requirementsfor Social Work Training, the employment-focussed National OccupationalStandards for Social Work, and the academically oriented BenchmarkStatement for Social Work. With the exception of ‘abuse’,the key terms are all registered, albeit unevenly. This presenceis subsequently enhanced via strategic considerations of ‘logicalimportance’ and ‘organising rubrics’. Finally,terminological variants of ‘abuse’ are traced, withparticular regard to the emerging language of ‘rights’.     

'Anti-Oppressiveness': Critical Comments on a Discourse and its Context

This paper identifies and aims to explain an apparent dissonancebetween the dominance in Britain of ‘anti-oppressive’social work discourse and the socio-political context surroundingits use; a context often claimed to feature excessive regulationand control. Pursuing this, some politically radical aims associatedwith ‘anti-oppressiveness’ are spelt out, and thedifficulty of achieving these in an unconducive climate is discussed.Then, a distinction made by Robert Merton between ‘latent’and ‘manifest’ functions is used to suggest thatthe manifest radicalism of ‘anti-oppressive’ discoursecan helpfully be distinguished from some latent largely unrecognisedconsequences of its use – not consequences with politicallyradical impact, but with a social meaning congruent with a climateof control. It is concluded that the ‘success’ ofanti-oppressive discourse might well be viewed as requiringmore of the kind of critical analysis that the discourse itselfwas supposed to espouse.     

Probation Practice, Effectiveness and the Non-Treatment Paradigm

Correspondence to Dr Peter Raynor, Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University of Wales, Swansea SA2 8PP. Summary This paper reports interim and largely positive results fromthe continuing evaluation of ‘Straight Thinking on Probation’,a substantial intensive probation programme in Mid-Glamorganbased on the work of Robert Ross et al. (1988) in Canada. Thepotential effectiveness of this type of programme is then discussedin relation to the influential model of the probation service'srole advanced by Bottoms and McWilliams in their 1979 ‘non-treatmentparadigm’. Are such programmes ‘treatment’,based on a model of offender pathology and therefore in conflictwith the paradigm, or are they ‘help’, based ona model of empowerment? An attempt to answer this question alsorequires consideration of how far the ‘non-treatment paradigm’was itself a response to perceived ineffectiveness requiringrevision in the light of new evidence. It is argued that suchrevision need not threaten the underlying moral philosophy ofthe paradigm.     

Mapping Child-Care Social Work in the Final Years of the Twentieth Century: A Critical Response to the 'Looking After Children' System

Correspondence to Paul Michael Garrett, c/o, British Journal of Social Work, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL Summary This paper explores aspects of the Looking After Children: GoodParenting: Good Outcomes system (LAC) (Parker et at., 1991).It is suggested that the scheme, to be used with children andyoung people who are ‘looked after’ by local authorities,needs to be subjected to greater critical scrutiny. The paperseeks, therefore, to situate the LAC system in a social andpolitical context and highlights how it also relates to thedominant operational modalities of social work interventionin the late 1990s. In addition, the paper explores how ‘troublesome’children and ideas centred on ‘parenting’ featurein the LAC discourse. The discussion concludes with an examinationof Action and Assessment Records (Ward, 1995b), the centrepieceof the LAC system.     

'Lifeworld', 'System' and Family Group Conferences: Habermas's Contribution to Discourse in Child Protection

Habermas’s critical social theory has been challengedon a range of fronts. However, the authors see merit in hismediation thesis as set out in the seminal text, Between Factsand Norms (1996). Adopting a pragmatist defence of the thesis,we review and demonstrate the effectiveness of what we believeis a coincidental expression of some of its main tenets—TheFamily Group Conference in Child Protection. Drawing furtheron Habermas’s work, we then proceed to re-work aspectsof the conference’s core processes, thereby accentuatingthe possibility of empowering dialogue between its key participants:the families (who embody the ‘lifeworld’) and thesocial work professionals (who represent the ‘system’).In the final section, we argue that moral practice in childprotection must be safeguarded by communicational proceduresthat explicitly address issues relating to the use of powerand the need for ‘recognition’ between subjects.     

Yes Minister: Reviewing the 'Looking After Children' Experience and Identifying the Messages for Social Work Research

Correspondence to Paul Michael Garrett, Centre for Social Work, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. E-mail: paul.garrett{at}nottingham.ac.uk Summary The heavily promoted Looking After Children: Good Parenting,Good Outcomes (LAC) project continues to exert a powerful influenceon social work in the UK and elsewhere. Despite the repeatedassertions that the documentation associated with LAC is embeddedin ‘objective’ research, this not sustainable onaccount of the failure of the researchers to interrogate theirown normative assumptions and judgements. Specific criticismscan also be levelled at the ‘community study’ connectedto the evolution of the Action and Assessment Records (AARs)which are the key part of the scheme. The system should alsobe viewed in the context of wider pre-occupations about ‘outcomes’.In addition, the project needs to be politically situated andthe researchers' relationship with the Department of Healthshould be more fully explored. In conclusion, it is suggestedthat the LAC experience contains important ‘messages’for the future of social work research.     

How to be Modern: New Labour's Neoliberal Modernity and the Change for Children programme

In England the New Labour administration is seeking to embeda ‘transformational reform agenda’ within children’sservice. Social workers, among others appear, however, to bewary of the agenda which is now rhetorically rooted in the EveryChild Matters: Change for Children programme (CfC). The mainsocial work practice elements of this programme are associatedwith the introduction of a Children’s Index, a multidisciplinaryCommon Assessment Framework and the role of Lead Professional.In terms of the promotion of this programme, the governmenthas maintained that the focal aim is to create a ‘modern’children’s workforce. However, the entire ‘transformationalagenda’ can be interpreted as reflecting New Labour’sneoliberal modernity. This is particularly apparent in the termsof the ideas associated with ‘flexibility’ whichare so central to the CfC programme.     

Beyond Social Constructionism: Critical Realism and Social Work

Summary Theories within the social and psychological sciences continueto shape social work practice. However, recent debates withinthese sciences on the shortcomings of ‘social constructionism’,and the attempt to overcome them through a critical realistposition, have so far failed to capture social work's attention.This paper provides a critical overview of these theoreticaldebates, highlighting the shortcomings of social constructionismfor social work. The critical realist challenge to social constructionism,as articulated by the British philosopher Roy Bhaskar, is consideredand its relevance to social work formulated in terms of a returnto ‘depth’ in practice.     

Unemployment, Age, Gender and Regional Suicide in England and Wales 1974-90: A Harbinger of Increased Suicide for the 1990s?

Correspondence to Prof. Colin Pritchard, Department of Social Work Studies, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO9 SNH. Summary The Department of Health's Health of the Nation aims at a substantialreduction in suicide; this is a ‘vote of confidence’in the effectiveness of the community psychiatric and healthservices. However, it will be shown that a number of socioeconomicchanges have occurred which may lead to increased suicide; forexample British male suicide rose in the 1980s, significantlyassociated with unemployment. Though female suicide fell substantiallyover the period, across the regions suicide rates for both menand women were worse amongst the ‘work age’ bands,16–44 years, than the older groups. In respect to therelatively poorer rates amongst younger women, this may be linkedto unemployment and their unfulfilled job expectations. If thesuicide targets are not met, it is feared that the ‘failure’will laid at the door of the community and health services.     

Irish Social Workers in Britain and the Politics of (Mis) Recognition

The article focuses on the perceptions of Irish social workersworking in ‘children and families’ settings in Britain.These respondents cannot be seen as representative of all Irishsocial workers in Britain, yet they do provide insights intofive significant themes: the approach to ‘race’and ethnicity in social work education; Irish identities inBritain; racism and stereotyping; children and families whoare Irish Travellers; and an agenda for the future. The discussionconsiders some of the issues raised in the context of what hasbeen referred to as the ‘politics of recognition’.     

Investigation or Initial Assessment of Child Concerns? The Impact of the Refocusing Initiative on Social Work Practice

This paper is based on a qualitative research study of socialworkers’ and parents’ experiences of attempts to‘refocus’ child protection practice in England sincethe late 1990s. A review of the research base for the refocusinginitiative is presented, leading to an exploration of one ofthe key changes arising from the initiative: the move away frominvestigations in ‘borderline’ cases towards lessintrusive initial assessments. Methods involved qualitativeinterviews with parents and social workers in twenty-three casesdrawn from two local authorities. The main conclusions are thatinitial assessments, as developed through the refocusing initiativeand the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need andtheir Families (Department of Health, 2000), provide a formof practice that offers benefits in terms of balancing childprotection and child welfare approaches, and in terms of relationshipswith parents.     

Notes on Theory and Practice in Social Work: a Comparative View

Please address reprint requests to Robert van Krieken, Department of Social Work, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia. Summary There are still a number of problems surrounding the relationshipbetween theories of social work practice and that practice itself.This paper examines the factors underlying those problems andemphasises their roots in the failure to examine the diversityof social work theories and practices. We refer to one attemptto resolve the problems—the distinction between ‘practicetheory’ and ‘theory of practice’—pointout some difficulties with it and suggest an alternative, three-folddistinction within theorising: between (a) materialist socialtheory, (b) strategic practice theory and (c) working concepts. As an example of how those distinctions can be used, we thenbriefly discuss the work of Oskar Negt and its introductioninto the Dutch welfare context, as it was the issues raisedby that which stimulated the ideas in this paper. We concludeby arguing that only this kind of perspective on theorisingcan produce ideas which are of real use to progressive socialwork practitioners.     

Looking Back: The View from Here

This article considers key developments in social work in thelast decade. From the vantage point of Australia, British socialwork (and the British Journal of Social Work) is seen in a particularperspective. However, some international comparisons are possible.Thus, the article focuses on two apparently contradictory developments:the ‘search for uncertainty’ in post-structuraltheory and the ‘search for certainty’ in evidence-basedpractice. It concludes that both, in different ways, describesocial work in the early twenty-first century.     

Including the Socially Excluded: The Impact of Government Policy on Vulnerable Families and Children in Need

This paper is based on a literature review undertaken for theOffice of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2004 (Buchanan et al., 2004)on the impact of government policy in England and Wales forchildren aged from birth to thirteen at high risk of socialexclusion as recorded up until May 2004. It describes the conceptof ‘social exclusion’; its meaning for children;the aims of government policy; the specific impact of governmentpolicy on vulnerable families and children in need (includingchildren needing child protection and all ‘looked after’children) as defined by the 1989 Children Act. The paper demonstratesthat although progress has been made, there are still majorareas of concern. The more discursive parts at the end of thepaper reflect the views of the author and later thinking, andwere not part of the original submission to the Social ExclusionUnit.     

Swimming with Dolphins: The Assessment Framework, New Labour and New Tools for Social Work with Children and Families

Correspondence to Dr Paul Michael Garrett, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. E-mail: paul.garrett{at}nottingham.ac.uk Summary Local authorities, in England, implemented the Framework forthe Assessment of Children in Need and their Families in April2001. The Framework is the first ‘official’ standardassessment model intended for use in the initial assessmentof all ‘children in need’ under Part 111, section17 of the 1989 Children Act. This new ‘conceptual map’needs to be understood in terms of previous policy documentsand earlier technologies of intervention related to child protectionand, more broadly, child welfare. However, it also needs tobe more expansively perceived, fixed and located as it relatesto other elements in New Labour's political ‘project’.The Framework's preoccupation with an ecological approach toassessments and with questionnaires and scales are likely tohave major implications for social work practice and for micro-engagementswith children and families.     

Disabled Children's Experience of Permanency in the Looked After System

Research with seven local authorities in England provided dataon the ‘care careers’ of 596 foster-children overthree years (Sinclair et al., 2005). One part of this studylooked at the experiences of disabled foster-children comparedto non-disabled foster-children. The research aimed to identifyif there were any particular difficulties in pursuing permanencyfor disabled looked after children. This article introducesa concept developed by the author from this work: the idea thatdisabled children may be at risk of experiencing a ‘reverseladder of permanency’; being less likely than their peersto receive permanent placements such as adoption and returnhome. The results of the study partially supported this hypothesis,reinforcing existing findings and highlighting some new ones.Foster-children with learning but not other impairments wereless likely to be adopted. All disabled children were less likelyto return home and therefore remained in foster-care for longer.Disabled children who were adopted, or who returned home, didso after a greater delay compared to non-disabled children.By contrast, children who were ‘clearly disabled’achieved a greater degree of permanence within the care system.The article concludes by considering the implications of suchfindings for policy and practice.     

Outline of a Critical Best Practice Perspective on Social Work and Social Care

Correspondence to Harry Ferguson, Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of the West of England, Blackberry Hill, Stapleton, Bristol BS16 1DD. E-mail: harry.ferguson{at}uwe.ac.uk Summary This article seeks to lay the foundations for a new, more positiveperspective on critical practice, research and learning in socialwork and social care. A ‘critical best practice perspective’seeks to move the literature beyond a ‘deficit approach’where the focus is on what does not get done (well), to createa perspective where learning occurs in terms of best practicewhich is set out as a model for developing systems and practicecompetencies. This requires a focus on the actual critical practicesthat are ‘best’ demonstrating the very practicethrough which positive outcomes were achieved. A detailed case-studyis offered drawn from a large scale research study which typifieshow a critical best practice perspective can provide for learningin key areas such as how to engage service users, advocate ontheir behalf, promote protection, establish empowering relationshipsand conduct longer-term therapeutic work in an antioppressivemanner. The research method uses critical theory as an interpretativeframework for reaching an operational definition of 'excellence’and what is ‘best’, which is drawn from the perspectivesof the range of stakeholders who construct practice. This requiresa broadening of the concept of evidence-based practice to includequalitative research methods and the experience of professionals,service users and the production of ‘practice-based evidence’.