Social Work: The Rise and Fall of a Profession?

228 Pages·2010·5.5 MB·English

by  Steve Rogowski

The rise and
fall of a
profession?
sTeve rogowski
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:40:58 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
SOCIAL WORK
The rise and fall of a profession?
Steve Rogowski
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:40:58 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
First published in Great Britain in 2010 by
The Policy Press
University of Bristol
Fourth Floor
Beacon House
Queen’s Road
Bristol BS8 1QU
UK
t: [phone]
f: [phone]
[email protected]
www.policypress.co.uk
North American office:
The Policy Press
c/o International Specialized Books Services (ISBS)
920 NE 58th Avenue, Suite 300
Portland, OR 97213-3786, USA
t: [phone]
f: [phone]
[email protected]
© The Policy Press 2010
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested.
ISBN 978 1 84742 448 8 paperback
The right of Steve Rogowski to be identified as author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.
All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of The Policy
Press.
The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of
the author and not of the University of Bristol or The Policy Press. The University
of Bristol and The Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or
property resulting from any material published in this publication.
The Policy Press works to counter discrimination on grounds of
gender, race, disability, age and sexuality.
Cover design by The Policy Press
Front cover: photograph kindly supplied by Fernando Rico
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Hobbs, Southampton foPrreosdMtuscatingxdroeoutdphefrrSocmoonwutreorllll-cemdeasnsoaugreceds
The Policy Press uses environmentally responsible print partners ©199C6erFtonreows.wtSSAwt-e.CfwsOcaC.or-dr0gs0h1i5p3C0ouncil
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:40:58 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Let’s drink to the hard working people
Let’s drink to the lowly at birth
Raise your glass to the good and the evil
Let’s drink to the salt of the earth.
The Rolling Stones, ‘Salt of the Earth’, 1968
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:40:58 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:40:58 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Contents
Foreword Ray Jones vi
Acknowledgements ix
one Introduction: the rise and fall of social work? 1
two The beginnings of social work to its 1970s zenith 27
three Thatcherism: opportunities and challenges 55
four New Labour: new challenges and (fewer) opportunities 83
five The professionalisation of social work? 109
six Managerialism and the social work business 135
seven Conclusion: the changing face or the fall of social work? 161
References 189
Index 209
v
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:41:04 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
social work
Foreword
But science is also now continually reshaping its history
retrospectively. It is starting to look back and rediscover
its beginnings, its earlier traditions and triumphs; but
also its debates, its uncertainties and its errors. (Holmes,
2008, p 468)
As with science, so it is with social work. And as with science, social
work is also a creature of its times. The ideological, political, social
and economic contemporary contexts are all influences on the
positioning of social work and the roles it plays. But this is not the total
story. Individuals sometimes swim against the contemporary tides
with a vision of what should be and how things could be different,
and sometimes they have an impact. This was the achievement, for
example, of the social reformers and social researchers of the 19th
century, challenging poverty and destitution and the negative impact
of the Poor Law. It could be so today with resistance to punitive
government policies towards young people, asylum seekers and people
with mental health difficulties, who are demonised by politicians and
by a press that is allowed to have so much power.
But a question is how to have a positive impact when swimming
against the contemporary current? Praxis, with practical knowledge
applied to action, should be a golden thread running through all that
we do as social workers with principles, politics and pragmatism all
playing a part in shaping practice. But note that it is principle that
comes first; the politics and pragmatism are about how best to seek
impact but the principles define what is to be achieved.
Within social work it is the value base that should underpin
all that we do. It is about challenging discrimination and tackling
disadvantage and deprivation, and about valuing people and
recognising their contribution and capacity as well as their problems
and maybe the difficulties they create for others.
And it is often analysis and then anger that drives action, with
an outrage about how some are left marginalised, stranded and
vi
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:41:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
foreword
victimised within an overall context of affluence and opportunity.
Those with position and economic power dominate, even when
their behaviour is exposed as immoral, as with the get-rich-quick,
self-interested bankers of the late 2000s. They ride the storm with
their media contacts and control, soon turning the story back to a
script about scroungers on benefits, ‘foreigners taking our jobs’ and
incompetent public sector workers.
This is the reality for social work and social workers working
alongside people who are marginalised but within a reality largely
defined and described by the rich and powerful. It is not a comfortable
or confident position, with abuse and vilification turned on social
workers themselves when a child dies in horrific circumstances
that in themselves are often the result of ingrained disadvantage for
generations of families and communities.
This book by Steve Rogowski has a subterranean current of anger
flowing through it, an anger based on experience and knowledge
gained while staying close as a social work practitioner to the
disadvantage and distress of those with whom he has worked for
over 35 years. It is a study rooted in political science and philosophy,
and economic and social theory, all with a platform provided by
Marxism. The analysis is about power and the impact on people. It
is well informed and insightful, being a book for close reading not
browsing, with a current of argument to be absorbed. Only dipping
the toe into the intellectual sea of ideas from page to page will miss
the ebb and flow of what has happened to social work over the
years. But the effort of reading rather than browsing this book is not
overly challenging. The volume has depth and breadth, is readable
and relevant, and is erudite and explanatory. It is riveting and realistic.
By the end of the book, like Rogowski, I was enthused and
energised to make a contribution within social work so that social
work itself can make a positive contribution to society. The messages
I took away with me were that social workers should collectively
seek to create a stronger voice to champion social work’s principles
and value base, and that this is best achieved by building a stronger
professional identity and professional organisation, with this profession
to be about sharing experience and expertise with service users, about
vii
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:41:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
social work
being allies alongside them and the collective and organised voices
service users have created.
As well as the message about acting collectively, there is the
potential impact of individual action. Social work is often given
little political attention. This can feel as though social work is being
neglected and ignored, but there is also a possibility here to act below
the political radar. The 1989 Children Act, with its focus in part on
working in partnership with parents where families were in difficulty,
was hardly within the mainstream of Thatcherite ideology, but it was
driven forward with little political debate by a small number of civil
servants and judges informed by academic researchers.
In addition, what we know from research about the views of service
users is that the social worker’s behaviour has particular importance.
Are they reliable, considerate, trustworthy, open and honest? It may
be that for people who are often denigrated and damaged by their
contacts with others, the positive experience of the relationship with
social workers has particular meaning. But on reflection, this is so
for us all, service users and social workers. We each and all value the
positive relationships in our lives. This book is rooted in an analysis
of power but within a concern throughout for people. Just like social
work itself.
Ray Jones, June 2010
Ray Jones is professor of social work at Kingston University and St
George’s, University of London. He is also a registered social worker
and was formerly director of social services in Wiltshire and chair of
the British Association of Social Workers.
viii
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:41:10 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Acknowledgements
The first people to acknowledge are those children, young people,
families, individuals and communities with whom I have tried to
make a positive difference.
Alan Bartlett encouraged and helped in the very early stages of my
entry to social work. Others I need to mention are from my social
work student days, notably lecturers/tutors David Thorpe, David
Smith and Peter Beresford, as well as fellow students. Over the years
other academics such as Audrey Mullender and Beth Humphries
have played a part.
As a practitioner, there are many people I could mention (as
well as many people I would not want to). Dave Boardman and
Mark Limmer were committed community workers, and Maureen
McGrath was a progressive health visitor. Betty Holden was an
inspirational welfare rights activist. Councillor Margaret Riley had an
understanding, and was therefore a supporter, of social work. Senior
colleagues like Gwen Swire, Bob Lewis and, later, Linda Priest were
all committed to social work and its values, and tried to ensure that
their staff had the opportunity to do their job as it should be done.
Then there is a range of practitioners and administrative/clerical staff
(the latter generally not considering themselves as ‘business support’
workers), only a few of whom can be named here – John Mullis,
Ann Tunnicliffe, Martin Richardson, David Wood, Denis Heyes, Cath
Coombes, Pam Jones, Leza Harrison, Jim Murphy, Gill Adams and
Gill Silversides. Some of these people have passed away and others
have retired, but, one way or another, they have all been a friendly
and supportive influence. These latter comments apply to many
current colleagues, even though they are often preoccupied with
bureaucracy being completed and processed as speedily as possible
– they know who they are. Finally, there are family and friends, who,
while they were always probably wondering what I was up to, have
managed to stay interested. Apologies to anyone I have missed out.
ix
This content downloaded from 103.215.225.82 on Thu, 27 Aug 2020 16:41:17 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms