Abstract
In the UK social work remains under the cosh of neoliberalism, and the ensuing managerialist constraints aimed at rationing resources and risk assessment/management. The focus is on bureaucracy and work being completed as speedily as possible with ‘people-processing’ dominating rather than the real needs of service users/clients. As those of a critical persuasion have consistently argued, this does not have to be the case (see, for example, Rogowski, forthcoming). Despite the often perceived doom and gloom arising from the current globalized neoliberal consensus, and all the anxieties and insecurities (not to mention the vast increase in inequality) it causes for the majority of people, there are some ways forward.
Karen Healy advocates a generalist mode for working with individuals, families, groups and organizations. As the blurb states, theories, methods and skills are the basis of social work practice and this book aims to provide an integrated approach. By and large it succeeds, providing social workers with an optimistic view of future possibilities, despite the very real constraints involved in current day to day practice.
After a section dealing with ‘the core of professional practice’ including methods and skills, six chapters cover work with individuals, families and groups, community work, policy practice (practice involving the design, implementation and evaluation/reform of policies) and organizational change. Readers in the UK will immediately be struck that social workers here no longer engage in group and community work, nor are they much influence in terms of policy practice and organizational change. Being at the forefront of neoliberalization, managerialism dominates, this meaning that what happens to social work is largely imposed from the outside by managers at the behest of politicians. Healy acknowledges the difficulties posed by managerialism, but she rightly points out that social workers can be involved in, and must celebrate, small incremental steps at working towards positive change within health and welfare organizations. After all, it is all too easy to become defeatist and timidly accept managerial imposed ways of working and thinking.
What I liked was the adoption of an explicit critical social work perspective, along with systems theory and a strengths standpoint; the latter focussing and building on users’ capabilities. Critical social work involves working in humane and compassionate ways with the disadvantaged and oppressed as well as working towards a more just society. Systems theory emphasizes understanding and enhancing the interaction between the individual and the systems that influence them such as family, health and welfare services, local community, wider society and so on. The strengths standpoint challenges colleagues and wider society to recognize the strengths and abilities of service users. All involve a move away from concentrating solely on apparently private troubles, instead taking into account wider structural issues.
The importance of values such as service to humanity and social justice, and how they inform the use of practice methods, is another emphasis of the book. This is especially relevant when the pressure is on social workers to identify with their organizations rather than the values of social work per se. Other important issues include the stress on theories, knowledge and values informing practice, critical reflection, and the importance of incorporating service users’ perspectives.
Admittedly writing this review from a UK perspective, I wish more could have been made of recent attempts here to revive the critical and indeed radical tradition of social work (for example, Ferguson and Woodward, 2009; Lavalette, 2011; Rogowski, forthcoming). Such work stresses, for example, that ‘another social work’ is available: one opposed to the rather limited and truncated one we have at present and that this has to be advocated and fought for.
Overall, this is an important book, one which provides a good overview of key social work methods and skills. Students and practitioners will certainly find it a good resource on which to build or consolidate their understanding of professional practice. Not surprisingly, however, I doubt if many neoliberalized managers will find it of interest.