The Referral Process: A Study of Working Relationships between Antenatal Clinic Nursing Staff and Hospital Social Workers and their impact on Asian Women

P. A. lles. Open Business School, Open University School of Management, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA. Summary A Study of an intervention in a Bradford hospital antenatalclinic designed to improve working relationships between nursingstaff and hospital social workers is described. A statisticalanalysis indicated that referral rates from the antenatal clinicwere rather low, especially for women of Asian origin. Questionnaireand interview survey data established the importance of nursingstaff perceptions of both the social work role and of Asianwomen clinic users as important determinants of whether nursesmade a social work referral. Survey feedback to social workstaff led to the physical placement of a social worker at theclinic booking-in sessions, in order to improve working relationshipsbetween nurses and social workers and thereby hopefully improvereferral rates. This intervention was relatively unsuccessful,and this relative failure is related to the literature on interorganizationaldevelopment and inter-agency team building in order to identifyfactors which might make for success in inter-agency collaborativeprojects.     

Does Area Team Organization Make a Difference?

Correspondence to Roger Fuller, Senior Research Fellow, University of Stirling, Social Work Research Centre, Stirling FK94LA, Scotland Summary The paper describes early stages of a programme of researchdesigned to investigate the effects of different ways of organizingsocial work teams. Initially conceived as an attempt to studythe relative effectiveness of specialist and generic team organization,the focus has been broadened to encompass a range of wider andsometimes cross-cutting organizational variables. After a briefreview of attempts to specify organizational characteristicsand of the methodological problems they pose to the researcher,a preliminary study is reported. This compared services to theelderly delivered by teams exemplifying some of the more prominentorganizational types. The study tentatively identifies a numberof factors which distinguished between teams in social workactivities and in rudimentary measures of client outcome. Thedimensions of further work which would fill out these earlyfindings and explore further organizational effects are sketched.     

Social Service Teams and their Managers

Summary A study is reported of the perceived effectiveness of teamsof social workers and their managers. Prior studies are reviewedand shown to give disproportionate emphasis to the supervisionelement in the manager's task. It is shown that in the sampleof teams studied the correlates of perceived team effectivenesswere quite different in area teams from those found in socialwork teams. Social work teams required a manager who was primarilysupportive, whereas in area teams the manager's role was foundto be less important than were group process variables.     

Police and Social Work Relations--Problems and Possibilities

Summary The Barclay Report advocates a closer working partnership betweensocial workers and citizens; various policing policies are basedon similar foundations. Government policies place considerableemphasis on inter-agency work involving the police and the socialservices. In this paper, it is argued that co-operative inter-agencywork seems feasible between managers in the social servicesand in the police. When the perspectives of fieldworkers inboth services are considered conflict and suspicion seems toprevail. It is argued that once some of the myths surroundingthe practice of police and social work are pared away, a newbasis for the appreciation and development of inter-agency workmay be apparent.     

Inter-agency Approaches to Domestic Violence and the Role of Social Services

Correspondence to Gill Hague and Ellen Malos, Domestic Violence Research Group, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, 8 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TN, UK. Summary The development of inter-agency initiatives as a response todomestic violence is currently enjoying widespread popularity,and was the subject of a Home Office Circular in 1995 encouragingthis approach as one of the principal planks of government domesticviolence policy. The Domestic Violence Research Group in theSchool for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol has completeda national study of inter-agency approaches to domestic violence,supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and this paperexplores some of the themes identified in the research and therelevance of multi-agency domestic violence initiatives to socialworkers. Social services departments and voluntary sector socialwork agencies have a key role to play within inter-agency workof this type. The research indicates, however, that, while somesocial workers are active within inter-agency domestic violenceforums, social services could often take a more active rolewith firm commitment from management. It could be suggestedthat social services organizations cannot afford to be absentas the new policy direction offered by inter-agency initiativescontinues to grow in the future, which looks almost certainto happen. Some of the areas explored in the paper are: powerdifferentials between member agencies; the participation (andsometimes the marginalization) of Women's Aid and the refugemovement within multi-agency work; equalities issues; and theinvolvement in inter-agency projects of women and children whohave experienced domestic violence.     

Area Teams in Social Work Practice: A Programme for Research

Summary This paper critically examines assumptions underlying the beliefthat the organization of service delivery through a system ofarea teams has major advantages in the field of social work.It is generally felt that area teams are accompanied: (1) byimproved client access to service provision, (2) by a closeridentification with the local area on the part of social workers,(3) by decentralized organizational decision-making, and (4)by an increased sense of colleague support amongst professionalstaff. A review of some relevant literature casts doubt on thevalidity of these assumptions and reveals that the operationalacceptance of the area team principle has not been complementedby thorough investigations of organizational and other influenceson service delivery. In outline a programme of further researchis proposed. The paper attempts to broaden discussion on thissubject and place the basic philosophy of area teams for comparisonagainst a body of empirical research material.     

Professional Ideology, Middle Range Theories and Knowledge Building for Social Work Practice

Please address requests for reprints to Professor F. M. Loewenberg, School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, 52100 Ramat Gan, Israel. Summary More effective social work practice will require increased effortstoward knowledge building and theory development. Until a unifiedsocial work theory is available social workers will choose eclecticallyrelevant theoretical formulations from the large number of middlerange theories available to them from other professional disciplines.New middle range theories and innovative theoretical formulationsappear continually, resulting in a smorgasbord of theories,from which social work practitioners can choose. This articleexamines the effectiveness of an aclectic theory base for apractice profession. In the discussion of the findings noteis taken of the need for explicating social work's professionalideology as a next step in knowledge building.     

An Intake Team in Action in a Social Services Department

Summary This article describes the intake system in operation in a socialservices department of an inner London borough before the establishmentof a special intake team, and outlines the reasons why changewas felt to be necessary. The structure, functions and mainactivities of the intake team are described with some relevantstatistics and case material and an attempt is made at evaluationof the team's achievements. The study of this new intake system and of the intake team wasbased on the records of clients seen in April 1972 (when theteam had been operating for three months); on a follow-up studyin July of that year; on observations made during this period;on the many discussions with the team members, and finally ona number of informal interviews with social workers who werenot members of the intake team. The study was coloured by thememory of the author's own experience of the old system     

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.     

Open Records: The Client's Right to Partnership

Summary Many Social Services Departments have opened their files totheir clients or intend to do so. This reflects the incomingtide of concern about citizens' rights and client participation,but what effect might the opening of records have on the practiceof social work? The paper summarizes the findings of a small scale study inwhich a team of social workers opened their case recording toa selected number of clients. The workers’ and clients‘views of this process are described, along with the implicationsfor practice. The study suggests that a focus on shared recordingcan begin to alter the kind of work done by the social worker,helping to promote a partnership between the worker and theclient. Finally, the paper argues that a policy of client access enforcedonly as a right is prone to sabotage or a fall into disuse.A seven point training programme is outlined in order to helpsocial workers use Open Records as an opportunity to promotea partnership in their work with clients.     

Local Authority Intake Teams

Summary Amongst the many developments in social services organisationin the decade since Seebohm, specialist Intake Teams responsiblefor all initial referrals and short term work received by anArea Team, remain a popular form of local organization. Thispaper describes a small national survey of English local authoritiesto collect information on both intake teams and their long termcounterparts, and briefly outlines some of the major findings.The survey produced a broad picture of both the present structureof local authority fieldwork departments, and the personal characteristicsof social workers and their team leaders. The paper goes onto examine the relationship between intake and long term teams,particularly in terms of referral rates, relative caseloadsand the case transfer process; and concludes with an outlineof teams satisfaction with the intake system, and some indicationsof desired future developments.     

An Approach to Fieldwork Assessment

Summary Criticism has recently been made of the assessment of practicein social work education. Whilst acknowledging that some ofthis may be well deserved, the writers of this article describean attempt by staff at Leicester University's School of SocialWork to make the assessment of fieldwork practice more rigorous.     

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.     

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.     

Taking Social Work Seriously: The Contribution of the Functional School

Correspondence to: Professor Noel Timms, 157 Kingsway, Pens Wood, Kent BR5 1PP Summary This article explores a largely ignored account of the practicecalled social work, that was developed by what is known in theUSA as the Functional School of Social Work. Their views werehewn out of a fierce controversy within social work. This articleargues that a reconsideration of the Functional School is due:it presented an explicit psychology, though not sociology, ofhelping and centred the nub of practice in the social welfareagency, served by disciplined professionals. Reflection on thetheorizing and practice of the Functionalists illuminates presentconcerns over the knowledge and the value base of social workand leads to a reconsideration of the place of coherence ineach.     

How can we Measure the Effects of Client Participation on the Effectiveness of Social Work Intervention?

Dr A. S. York, Bar-Ilan University, School of Social Work, 52 900 Ramat-Gan, Israel. Summary This paper examines the concepts of client or citizen participationin community work and of effectiveness in social work and otherrelated fields. It surveys and summarizes the literature inthese two fields, focusing on how the two key concepts are empiricallymeasured. After examining the literature on the effects of citizenparticipation on community work intervention, the paper putsforward an operative model for both researchers and practitionersto measure how the participation of clients can make communitywork more effective and productive.     

A New Structure for Intake and Allocation in a Field Probation Unit

Summary From a background of practice and a post-qualifying fellowship,the author draws on the experiences of other Senior ProbationOfficers, as well as his own and his team members. In this article‘intake’ within the probation setting is taken asinitial agency impact as well as that part of team strategywhich has a bearing on allocating new work. Allocation and theconsequential deployment of resources are then seen as centralto the professional lives of team members. A structure is presentedwhich in practice pervades the totality of the team's life;most radical is the author's notion of allocating ‘workepisodes’. The model provides a structure for team membersto specialise in different forms of social work, and at thesame time allowing clients choice to be supervised without being‘sentenced to social work’. It also depends uponthe active use of a team as a group of interacting, interdependentprofessionals who share their work.     

Changing Patterns of Fieldwork: Organization: II: The Team Leaders' View

Correspondence to Dr. David Challis, Assistant Director, Personal Social Services Research Unit, Cornwallis Building. The University, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NF. Summary In an earlier paper we discussed the organization of fieldworkin Social Services Departments based upon a survey of headquartersrespondents. Here we discuss the findings from a survey of fieldworkteam leaders. A substantial trend towards client-group specializationwas noted, not only at team level but also in the caseloadsof individual workers. There was a trend away from patternsof generic working common in the early days after the Seebohmreorganization. This trend away from generic practice is discussedin the light of arguments about the relative efficiency andeffectiveness of alternative models of organization.     

What Lies Underneath? An Inter-organizational Analysis of Collaboration between Education and Social Work

Correspondence to Nadia Farmakopoulou, Neoxoriou 32, 162 31 Byronas, Athens, Greece. Summary This paper draws upon qualitative data from a study that examinesinter-professional and inter-agency collaboration in specialeducational needs assessments. It is shown that, despite theattempts of a number of government policies to intensify andenhance such interactions, collaborative activities in thisfield continue to be limited in extent and poor in quality.A number of possible explanations for these findings are exploredand analysed within an inter-organizational theoretical framework.Although effective and frequent inter-agency collaboration hasproven to be difficult, it is argued that this is not an unattainablegoal, and recommendations are offered in the last section.     

From Hollis to the Orange Book: Developing a Holistic Model of Social Work Assessment in the 1990s

Correspondence to Margaret Lloyd, School of Social Work, University of Manchester, Dover Street, Manchester M13 9PL. Summary Amidst questioning of its essential identity, social work iscurrently developing new procedures and training programmesin assessment, traditionally one of its core activities. Thedemand for this redevelopment has been created by the changingprofessional climate in both probation and social work practice,in particular the response to legislative changes such as theNational Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. This paperexamines the established model of social work assessment inhistorical context and identifies its shortcomings for practicein the 1990s. It argues that despite the apparently diverserange of assessment tasks now undertaken by social workers andprobation officers, there remains an identifiable, common setof skills. Moreover, unless social work anchors these assessmentskills in a conceptual framework, retaining a sense of its ownhistory, the essential character of social work assessment willbe lost amidst mechanistic procedures and competing philosophies.This paper suggests a typology for making sense of the rangeof assessment tasks in current practice, arguing that this mustbe rooted in a holistic theoretical and philosophical model.The term ‘social work’ is used in its generic senseto include probation practice.