The Changing Nature and Context of Social Work Research

Summary Social work research is constantly diversifying and expandingand this article explores its changing nature; including changesto epistemology and practice; and the critical influence ofthe wider economic, political, theoretical and practice changesoccurring to social work itself. The author discusses a numberof issues facing social work research: the enduring conflictsof ways of knowing, doing and valuing social work research;the role of practitioners as researchers; and the challengeto empower service users as self-determining researchers.     

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.     

Social Work Effectiveness Experiments: Review and Implications

Summary This paper takes the view that the findings and methodologiesof experiments seeking to test the effectiveness of social workare too little known and understood. Now is a particularly goodtime to attempt to remedy this since a new generation of studiesis available showing results which, in contrast to those earliertimes, are largely positive. A comparison between these firstand second wave studies is revealing and raises many implicationsfor future research and practice.     

Entry into Residential Care

Summary This paper examines the interaction between the organizationalstructure of social services departments and procedures foradmission into residential care. By drawing on research experiencea 'placements table' is proposed which contains the key operationaldecisionstaken by the department when the client becomes a resident.It is argued that, in accordance with the structure of the department,it is possible to suggest appropriate staff to make each keydecision in order that departmental criteria for admissionsmay be met.     

Gentlemen v. Players: Lay--Professional Relations in the Administration of Juvenile Justice

Summary The relationship between professional social workers and laypanel members in the Scottish children's hearing system is examined.We analyse the generation and containment of conflict in thecontext of the disposal of specific cases. Finally we suggestthe implications of our material for the status of social work,the accomplishment of juvenile justice, and the direction oforganisational research.     

The Use and Significance of School Reports in Juvenile Court Criminal Proceedings: a Research Note

Summary This research note examines the significance of a serendipitousfinding, arising out of a small research study into the makingof care orders in criminal proceedings in one juvenile court,that school reports may have a greater influence on courts decisionsthan has hitherto been realized, and questions the protectiongiven to defendants under the Magistrates Courts (Children andYoung Persons) Rules1 when such reports are regarded as confidentialto the court.     

Cutting Edge Issues in Social Work Research

Correspondence to Ian Shaw, Cardiff University, School of Social Sciences, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WT, Wales. E-mail: shawif{at}cardiff.ac.uk Summary Taking the panel report on social work submissions to the British2001 Research Assessment Exercise as a starting point, I commenton some of the central questions facing social work research.These include social work research methodology; social work'srelationship to science; the relationship between social workpractice and research; governance and research ethics; buildingresearch capacity; and establishing research quality. I outlineaction that is needed by social work academics and researchers,social work agencies and government departments.     

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     

Can We Afford not to Develop Social Work Practice?

Summary This paper outlines the main arguments for resources to be directedtowards developing practice methodology and skills. A reviewof recent research literature indicates that there are a groupof cases which take up much social work time and resources butthat this work lacks professional expertise and effectiveness.Outcome research in related fields is also reviewed. A synthesisof these studies' conclusions suggests that social workers couldbe effective though the essential skills are rare. The implicationsof these findings for the focus and nature of social work trainingare discussed.     

Discovering what children think: connections between research and practice

Summary This paper is concerned with children's involvement in decisionsand with what happens when adults communicate with childrento discover their thoughts and feelings. It is based on a studyof the participation of children aged between 8 and 12 in decisionswhen they are looked after by local authorities. The paper brieflydescribes the research and its main findings, before going onto describe aspects of the methodology in more detail. Thisleads to a discussion of the relationship between the methodsused in the research and those used in the social work practicethat was in part the subject of the research. The paper arguesthat, both in research and in practice, a commitment to involvingchildren in decision making must go with a determination tofind methods of communication that enable children to demonstratetheir competence.     

Social Work with Single Parent Families: Consumer Views

Summary The article describes a research project undertaken to determinethe satisfaction of a particular client group—single parents—withthe service they were given. The research examines five kindsof problems—legal, accommodation, financial, child care,and emotional-and concludes that problems were likely to arisein all these areas, and that, whatever the problem, the socialworker's ability to help solve it depended to a large extenton the quality of the relationship with the client.     

Listening to Children--Who Cares?

Summary The intent of this article is to reinforce the idea of listeningto children in care. It is the author's belief that when giventhe opportunity to be heard, children can provide observationsthat are both relevant and important. To illustrate this beliefthe article provides verbatim comments of children obtainedas part of a larger research endeavour. It concludes with observationsextracted from children's evaluations of a Canadian ‘WhoCares?’ conference held in 1979, the Year of the Child.     

Selecting Students for Social Work Training

Summary Research into the interview as an instrument of selection isconsidered and its use in relation to selection for social worktraining examined. An account is given of a research projectundertaken to compare selection decisions made on the basisof written applications with those reached after additionalinterviews. It was found that in the majority of cases the additionalinformation from interviews did not materially affect the decisionsmade. The implications of these findings are discussed     

Private Children's Homes

Summary The paper provides survey and intensive research material onthe private children's homes sector. It is shown that this sectoris currently in decline. Private homes are found to be shelteringchildren with long and complex care histories and to adopt adistinctive residential style. Although private homes providevaluable long term continuity, they are less likely to offerthe same range of community services as do residential settingsmanaged by the local authority and voluntary child care agencies.     

The Independent Social Work Agency: A Report on the First Year of an Experiment in Social Casework

Summary The authors present an account of their experiences in organizinga research project to explore aspects of the need and demandfor social work through the use of an independent fee-payingagency. Some of the problems encountered in setting up the projectand the agency are discussed, along with some observations onthe first year's work in the agency.     

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.     

Client Careers and the Structure of a Probation and After-care Agency

Summary This paper describes the results of a research project in whichthe first year's work of a newly-established Probation CourtIntake and Assessment Team was monitored. The subsequent changesin the practices of the probation officers are analyzed in relationto client careers and organizational boundaries; some implicationsfor social work practice are discussed.     

Towards a Conceptual Model of Community Social Work

Summary This paper examines different ways of conceptualizing communitysocial work. Firstly it looks at the conceptualization by areasof work and critically reviews the three-model formulations,and then it analyses the various dichotomous formulation foundin the literature. The conclusion reached is that a dichotomousformulation is both conceptually and practically preferable,and the dimension of directive/non-directive type of professionalintervention is the most comprehensive continuum. In conclusion,the paper attempts to show how dichotomous dimensions can beused to research or evaluate community work projects and interventions.     

The Private and the Public in Personal Models of Social Work: A Response to O'Connor and Dalgleish

Correspondence to Dr. R. Hugman, Department of Social Administration, University of Lancaster, Fylde College, Lancaster LA1 4YF. Summary O'Connor and Dalgleish have proposed an understanding of thedisjuncture between education and beginning practice. They discussthis in relation to individuals' models of practice. It is suggestedin this response that the individual basis of this analysisrestricts the extent of possible conclusions. A comparison withdifferent research findings is made, and it is suggested thatthere are implications for social work education and the collectiveresponsibility the profession has for beginning social workers.     

First Principles of Practice Research

Correspondence to Bruce A. Thyer, Ph.D., School of Social Work, The University of Georgia, Athens, G A 30602, USA. Summary Critics of applying conventional quantitative research methodsto the problems of social work practice research have ignoredthe considerable progress which has been achieved during thepast decade in scientifically documenting the effectivenessof social services. A set of First Principles of Practice Researchis outlined for use by researchers in the design and conductof practice research, and for use by the consumers of researchto evaluate the methodological rigour of practice experiments.The advocates of qualitative research are urged to provide theprofession with similar positive examples of research on theoutcomes of social work practice, and to develop explicit guide-linesfor the conduct of qualitative studies.