Social policy, poverty and social work

Late Victorian and Edwardian social reform has been studied in recent years in order to clarify that important transitional era when new state resources were being called upon to help redress the most glaring abuses which comprised the condition-of-England question. Most of these studies have emphasized the politics of social policy and have also subsumed the tangled and competitive world of philanthropy. But philanthropists were prominent in the politics and practice of social welfare. In his study of Edwardian social policy, Bentley Gilbert distinguishes three organizations as characteristic of “scientific social reform”: settlements (inspired by Canon Samuel Barnett), the Fabians, and the Charity Organization Society. His analysis of each concluded that “professionally-minded social work,” as represented by the C.O.S., least typified the transition from old to new attitudes about social policy. David Owen's examination of English philanthropy supports Gilbert's conclusions concerning the C.O.S., and less detailed surveys of social policy also cite that agency as representative of a philosophic individualism which rejected the policies necessary for reform. All agree that the charitable community called attention to many defects in the British social system, but they leave readers with the impression that it generally opposed state sponsored remedies for those ills.It is the concern of this essay to show that the “professionally-minded” world of Edwardian philanthropy was, like the state, developing new agencies and reorganizing its resources to help meet the massive and diverse welfare needs of the twentieth century.

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Social Work's Evolution in the United Kingdom: A Study of Community Care and Social Control

Families in Society The Journal of Contemporary Social Services ◽

10.1606/1044-3894.3889 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 90 (3) ◽

pp. 336-342 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

W. David Harrison

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Social Work ◽

Social Policy ◽

Social Control ◽

Social Services ◽

Community Care ◽

Social Changes ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Model Of Practice

Community social work was a model of practice that was advocated by many roughly from the late 1970s through the 1980s, in the United Kingdom. The approach faded as the field of social work and social services changed drastically in subsequent years. This study conducted in 2006 and 2007, follows up a 1984 study of community social work advocates to learn how the same people understood the changes that occurred over more than 20 years. A total of 9 of the original 30 participants discussed the important role of social policy and social changes that appear to have led toward more individualized, mechanistic, and often control-oriented services.

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Public Social Policy and Social Work Practice

Social Work ◽

10.1093/sw/3.1.3 ◽

1958 ◽

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Policy ◽

Work Practice ◽

Social Work Practice

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Practising social work

Social Work ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781447356530.003.0007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 97-114

Author(s):

Guy Shennan

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Policy ◽

Social Science ◽

Human Development ◽

Social Workers ◽

Social Science Knowledge ◽

The Social ◽

Research Interviews ◽

Work Education ◽

Work Knowledge

The chapter considers changes and developments in the content of social work education under the three headings of social science disciplines, understanding human development and relationships, and theories, approaches and methods for practice. At the start of the period under review, social science knowledge (primarily from sociology and social policy) and human development theories predominated, but as their research base and published literature have expanded, theories and methods for practice have become more prominent. The contribution to knowledge from research conducted by social workers themselves is acknowledged, as is the contribution made by experts by experience, both directly and through research interviews. The prominence of sequences on law for social workers is noted. The chapter concludes by asserting that the broad partnership of interests which should determine the content of the social work knowledge base is threatened by Government's much-expanded role, but that most social work programmes continue to ensure a balanced curriculum.

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Understanding Research for Social Policy and Social Work

Local Government Studies ◽

10.1080/03003930.2013.759701 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 157-158

Author(s):

Claire Lightowler

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Policy

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