The establishment (and disestablishment) of social work in Britain
The ambivalence of public recognition
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v15i1.312Keywords:
social work, ambivalence, sacrifice, ritual, UKAbstract
This paper presents a brief history of the development of social work in Britain, exploring some of the tensions that derive from gaining public acceptance and social establishment. This is analysed using the psychoanalytic concepts of ambivalence and displacement. The locus that social work enjoys as part of the establishment is shown to be ambivalent. The establishment of social work as an accepted public face of welfare is critiqued, showing both the benefits of acceptance and problems that arise from seeking social approval. The positioning of contemporary social work as sacrifice will also be considered.
It is in the role of ‘sacrifice’ that social work maintains its public face – carrying away the transgressions of society and being loaded with guilt by society (displacement) – but sacrifice also offers a way forward to maintain professional integrity by walking alongside the marginalised, disadvantaged, stigmatised and social work, offering itself as an expiation on behalf of the people with whom social workers practise
References
Abraham, K. (1988/1927). A short history of the development of the libido. In Selected papers of Karl Abraham (Douglas Bryan and Alix Strachey, Trans.). New York: Karnac.
Balls, E. (2008). Baby P.: Ed Ball’s statement in full, The Guardian, 1st December 2008. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/dec/01/baby-p-ed-balls-statement [accessed September, 2017].
Briggs, A., & Macartney, A. (1984). Toynbee Hall: The first hundred years. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Butler-Sloss, E. (1988). Report of the Inquiry into Child Abuse in Cleveland 1987. Cmd 412. London: London.
Chung, H., Taylor-Gooby, P., & Leruth, B. (2018). Political legitimacy and welfare state futures: Introduction. Social Policy and Administration. https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12400.
Croisdale-Appleby, D. (2014). Re-visioning Social Work Education: An independent review, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/285788/DCA_Accessible.pdf , accessed 5 August 2015.
Cullen, L.T. (2013). The First Lady Almoner: The Appointment, Position, and Findings of Miss Mary Stewart at the Royal Free Hospital, 1895–99. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. 68(4), 551-582. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhmas/jrs020
Davies, M. (2007). The Essential Social Worker: An introduction to professional practice in the 1990s. 3rd edition. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Department for Education (2018). Experimental statistics: Children and family social work workforce in England, year ending 30 September 2017. SFR 09/2018, 15 February 2018. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/681546/SFR09-2018_Main_Text.pdf
DfE/DHSC (Department for Education/Department of Health and Social Care) (2018). Social Work England: Consultation on secondary legislative framework. Available at https://consult.education.gov.uk/social-work-england-implementation-team/social-work-england-consultation-on-secondary-legi/. Accessed 3 July 2018).
Douglas, M. (1966) Purity and Danger: An analysis of the concept of pollution and taboo. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Durkheim, E. (1912/2001). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dwyer, S. (2011). Walking the tightrope of a mental health act assessment. Journal of Social Work Practice. 26(3), 341-353. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2011.629293
Freud, A. (1937). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence. London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psychoanalysis.
Freud, S. (1962). Totem and Taboo. New York: W.W. Norton (first published 1913).
Hargreaves, R. (2000). ‘A mere transporter’ – The role of the Approved Social Worker. Journal of Mental Health Law. 4, pp. 135-146. https://doi.org/10.19164/ijmhcl.v0i4.303
HCPC (2018). Statistics Current. Available at http://www.hpc-uk.org/aboutregistration/theregister/stats/
Henwood, M. (2018). Public suspicious of moves to join up health and care services. The Guardian, 12 June 2018. Available athttps://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2018/jun/12/health-care-services-integration-suspicion?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Social+Care+Network&utm_term=277844&subid=844068&CMP=social_care_network [Accessed 12 June 2018].
HM Government (2010). Building a Safe and Confident Future: Implementing the recommendations of the Social Work Task Force. London: DfCSF, DH, BIS.
Home Office (1945). Report by Sir William Monckton KCMG KCVO MC KC on the circumstances which led to the boarding out of Dennis and Terence O’Neill at Bank Farm, Minsterly and the steps taken to supervise their welfare, etc. Cmd 6636 London: Home Office.
Jenkins, D. (1992). Intimate Enemies: Moral Panics in Contemporary Great Britain. New Jersey: Aldine Transaction.
Jones, R. (2014). The Story of Baby P: Setting the record straight. Bristol: Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1t88xc0
Kettle, M. (2015). The tipping point: Fateful moments in child protection. Child and Family Social Work, First published: 24 August 2015, https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12253.
Klein, Melanie. (1975). A contribution to the psychogenesis of manic-depressive states. In The writings of Melanie Klein. London: Hogarth Press, 1975. (Reprinted from International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 16 (1975), 145-174.)
LSCB Haringey (2009). Serious Case Review: Baby Peter. Available at http://www.haringeylscb.org/sites/haringeylscb/files/executive_summary_peter_final.pdf [accessed 15 June 2018].
Locke, J. (1924/1690). Two Treatise of Government. London: J.M. Dent & Sons.
Munro, E. (2011). The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report
A child-centred system. Cm 8062. London TSO.
Narey, M. (2014). Making the education of social workers consistently effective: Report of Sir Martin Narey’s independent review of the education of children’s social workers, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287756/Making_the_education_of_social_workers_consistently_effective.pdf, accessed on 5 July 2015.
Parker, J. (2018) Social work, precarity and sacrifice as radical action for hope. International Journal of Social Work and Human Services Practice. (6)2, 46-55. https://doi.org/10.13189/ijrh.2018.060203
Payne, M. (2005). The Origins of Social Work: Continuity and change. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Porter, R. (2002). Madness: A brief history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Razinsky, H. (2016). Ambivalence: A philosophical exploration. London: Rowman and Littlefield International.
Robinson, K. (2006). Marx, Durkheim and Weber: Foundations of modern social thought. 2nd edition. London: Sage.
Rosenzweig, S. (1938). The definition of ambivalence. Psychology and Psychotherapy. 17(2): 223-226. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvc77hvc
Scull, A. (2015). Madness in Civilisation: A cultural history of insanity. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
Seebohm Committee (1968). Report of the committee on local authority and allied personal social services, Cmnd 3703. London: HMSO.
Shoesmith, S. (2016). Learning from Baby P. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Social Work Reform Board (2012). Building a Safe and Confident Future: Maintaining momentum. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175947/SWRB_progress_report_-_June_2012.pdf, [accessed 15 June 2018].
Social Work Task Force (2009). Building a Safe, Confident Future: The final report of the social work task force November 2009. London: DCSF.
Spicker, P. (2014). Social Policy: Theory and practice. Bristol: Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1t89dgr
Steinmetz, G. (2006). Bourdieu’s disavowal of Lacan: Psychoanalytic theory and the concepts of ‘habitus’ and ‘symbolic capital’. Constellations. 13(4): 445-60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8675.2006.00415.x
The Sun (2008). Baby P Petition, 13 November, p. 9.
Turner, A. (2018). ‘Over-optimistic’ social workers did too little to challenge neglect within family whose baby died, review finds:Community Care. Available at https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2018/06/11/over-optimistic-social-workers-did-too-little-to-challenge-neglect-within-family-whose-baby-died-review-finds/, [accessed 14 June 2018].
Turner, J., Hayward, R., Angel, K., Fulford, B., Hall, J., Millard, C., & Thomson, M. (2015). The history of mental health services in modern England: Practitioner memories and the future of research. Medical History. 59(4): 599-624. https://doi.org/10.1017/mdh.2015.48
Warner, J. (2015). The Emotional Politics of Social Work and Child Protection. Bristol: Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447318422.001.0001
Weisbrode, K. (2012). On Ambivalence: The problems and pleasures of having it both ways. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9419.001.0001
Worrell, M.P. (2015). Imperial homunculi: The speculative singularities of American hegemony (Drones, suicide bombers, and rampage killers, or, an excursion into Durkheimian geometry. In H.F. Dahms (Ed.), Globalization, Critique and Social Theory: Diagnoses and challenges. Bingley: Emerald, 217-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0278-120420150000033008