Clarke Karen - Social Policy for Social Work: Placing Social Work in its Wider Context

LORRAINE GREEN AND KAREN CLARKE

polity

Copyright Lorraine Green and Karen Clarke 2016

The right of Lorraine Green and Karen Clarke to be identified as Authors of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2016 by Polity Press

Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press
350 Main Street
Malden, MA 02148, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, 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 publisher.

ISBN-13: 9781509506620

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Green, Lorraine Carol, author.

Social policy for social work : placing social work in its wider context / Lorraine Green, Karen Clarke.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780745660820 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0745660827 (hardcover : alk. paper)

-- ISBN 9780745660837 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0745660835 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Social service--Great Britain. 2. Social policy. 3. Public welfare--Great Britain. 4. Great Britain--Social policy. I. Clarke, Karen, author. II. Title.

HV245.G864 2016
361.610941-dc23

2015024620

The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

A number of people have helped us by commenting on draft chapters of this book. We would like to thank John Churcher, Ros Day, Sue Ferris, Caroline Glendinning and Nick Turnbull. Anna Churcher Clarke and Kirstein Rummery gave advice on specific issues. Thanks are due to the anonymous academic referees who reviewed the book for Polity and made some useful suggestions, and to Guy Davies, a Social Work MA student at Manchester University, who read the manuscript and gave us valuable feedback from a student perspective. Jonathan Skerrett, our editor at Polity Press, was both patient and encouraging, and Leigh Mueller was a meticulous and speedy copy-editor.

ADASSAssociation of Directors of Adult Social ServicesADPanti-discriminatory practiceAMHPApproved Mental Health ProfessionalAOPanti-oppressive practiceAPPGAll Party Parliamentary GroupAPSWAssociation of Professors of Social WorkASBOanti-social behaviour orderASYEAssessed and Supported Year in EmploymentBASWBritish Association of Social WorkersCAFCommon Assessment FrameworkCafcassChild and Family Court Advisory and Support ServiceCAMHSChild and Adolescent Mental Health ServicesCCETSWCentral Council for Education and Training in Social WorkCOSCharity Organization SocietyCPDContinuing Professional DevelopmentCQCCare Quality CommissionCQSWCertificate of Qualification in Social WorkCTOcommunity treatment orderDCLGDepartment for Communities and Local GovernmentDCSFDepartment of Children, Schools and FamiliesDfEDepartment for EducationDFESDepartment for Education and SkillsDHDepartment of HealthDPdirect paymentDVdomestic violenceDVLADriver and Vehicle Licensing AuthorityEBPevidence-based practiceECEuropean CommunityECHREuropean Convention on Human RightsECtHREuropean Court of Human RightsECJEuropean Court of JusticeECOSOCEconomic and Social Council of the United NationsEHRCEquality and Human Rights CommissionESPNEuropean Social Policy NetworkEUEuropean UnionFGMFemale Genital MutilationGDPGross Domestic ProductGPGeneral PractitionerGSCCGeneral Social Care CouncilHCPCHealth and Care Professions CouncilHRHuman ResourcesIASSWInternational Association of Schools of Social WorkICSIntegrated Childrens SystemICSWInternational Council on Social WelfareIFSWInternational Federation of Social WorkersIGOInternational Government OrganizationINGOinternational non-governmental organizationJUCSWECJoint University Council Social Work Education CommitteeLAlocal authorityLCSBLocal Childrens Safeguarding BoardMPMember of ParliamentNGOnon-governmental organizationNHSNational Health ServiceNICENational Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceNPMnew public managementOECDOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentOfstedOffice for Standards in EducationONSOffice of National StatisticsOUOpen UniversityPApersonal assistantPCFProfessional Capabilities FrameworkPFIPrivate Finance InitiativeRCTrandomized controlled trialSCIESocial Care Institute for ExcellenceSCRSerious Case ReviewSESsocio-economic statusSEUSocial Exclusion UnitSOPStandards of ProficiencySWTFSocial Work Task ForceTCSWThe College of Social WorkUDHRUniversal Declaration of Human RightsUKUnited KingdomUNUnited NationsUNCRCUnited Nations Convention on the Rights of the ChildUNHCRUnited Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesUNICEFUnited Nations Childrens FundUSAUnited States of AmericaVATValue-added TaxWHOWorld Health OrganizationWTOWorld Trade Organization

The role of social workers and the kinds of problems they work with are shaped by the broader policy context they work within. This policy context is in turn the product of political decisions based on competing ideas about the nature of society and what role the state should play in meeting the needs of its citizens. The context for social work practice is, however, not confined to the nation state, as developments at a supranational level also affect the social policies of individual nations. Globalization has undermined the control which individual governments can exercise over the economy, with implications for employment, for how need is categorized and met, and for the resources available to be spent on welfare services. International treaties and conventions such as the European Convention on Human Rights, or the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child and the requirements of EU membership such as equality legislation create new rights for citizens and obligations for governments, which are also relevant to social work practice. This book aims to give social work and social policy students, practitioners and educators a critical understanding of social work in the UK and the issues which it currently faces, by placing it within this broader political, economic and social policy context.

The first section of this introduction briefly examines what social work is and how it has changed over time in terms of its role, professional status and location. The second section examines social policy, its permeable and contested boundaries and its relevance for social work. The final section explains the structure of the book and briefly summarizes the different chapters and their contents.

Social work in the UK originated in nineteenth-century philanthropic and state responses to the increasingly visible social problems associated with working-class poverty in the context of accelerated industrialization and urbanization. These responses took a number of different forms. From the 1870s, in a precursor to casework, the Charity Organization Society (COS) worked with individual families to support them to help themselves out of poverty. A different kind of philanthropic activity, exemplified by the Settlement Movement, which began at around the same time, emphasized the potential of social action and a collective response to social problems that foreshadowed a community work approach within social work. Finally, the administration of the Poor Law by local government involved the assessment of individuals and families in terms of their eligibility for state support and the management of institutions such as the workhouse which catered for destitute people.