Abstract
It struck me as I read this book that, with the 2008 financial crisis now almost a decade ago, for many social work students and newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) a large proportion of their lives has been dominated by anti-public sector discourse and economic austerity. Fenton’s welcome book connects with this and poses the question: given the hegemonic status of neo-liberalism and managerialism in social work in the UK, how can social workers remain connected with social work values and social justice? In answering this question, the book develops a practice model that unites an understanding of social justice with direct work with users of services.
In the initial chapters, Fenton links social work’s history, the neo-liberal shift to managerialism and individualisation and the broader societal context of the ‘othering’ of disadvantaged groups (e.g. the ‘Chav’ demonisation critiqued by Jones, 2011). The rest of the book builds up her practice model stage by stage, based around the core concept of an ‘ethics of care’, linked to a commitment to social justice. Fenton contrasts this with deontology, utilitarianism and virtue ethics, arguing that in comparison an ethics of care may be more effective in challenging poor practice.
In developing her practice model, Fenton argues that practitioners who carry out duties that conflict with their core values experience ‘ethical stress’. However, workers who challenge risk-averse managerialism and prioritise relationship-building may feel ‘ontological anxiety’. Having experienced both of these emotions as a practitioner, I found this formulation helpful to me in explaining my anxieties and its potential as an impetus for learning and action.
Fenton then turns to apply her model to practice. Examples are drawn from radical social work, anti-oppressive practice, critical social work and human rights-based practice. While the examples given were apposite, a weakness of the book for me was the limited space given to discussion of how practitioners (especially in Local Authorities) might deal with organisational and managerial directives to practise in a way that might be counter to their values. At what point does a ‘challenge’ to your manager become ‘defiance’? How do you negotiate the power dynamics within your organisation? What are your responsibilities as an employee? And, more bluntly, how far can you go before you risk being disciplined? A reading of Fitness to Practise hearings for social workers (e.g. via the website of the HCPC, the regulatory body for English social workers) suggests the potential for workers to get into deep water here and both students and NQSWs may lack the experience to navigate these complexities safely.
Interestingly, though, Fenton cites her research which suggests that younger and less experienced social workers had different expectations of their role compared to those of older colleagues. They had less interest in practising autonomously, and so may be less likely to challenge management expectations. Her research also found that younger social workers view organisational barriers to undertaking relationship-based work as a ‘technical’ rather than an ethical problem and as such experienced less ethical stress.
The most helpful element of the practical application was the focus on purposeful relationship-based practice as a tool for radical action. Given the increasingly short and target-driven nature of many social work interventions, the ability to build relationships and show empathy may be the area where social workers still have autonomy and effectiveness. Fenton links this well to social justice, for example the idea that through relationship-building practitioners can challenge their own prejudices learnt from being ‘steeped in the common-sense of neo-liberalism’ (p. 7).
Throughout the book, Fenton includes practice examples, exercises and research boxes which helped to reinforce the learning for readers and showed the practical application of the practice model. A revisited case study to illustrate the application of models was particularly useful. This is a clearly written book which explains complex ideas in an accessible way and will be helpful for students and experienced social workers struggling with the conflict between their core values and organisational imperatives to individualisation and risk-averse practice. This is somewhat ironic, however, given the research cited by Fenton that those students and newly qualified social workers may be the least convinced by the critique of neo-liberalism and by the potential for them to challenge managerialism through social justice.