The reorganization of the economy and the State in this period of free trade and neo-conservatism has had major consequences for both State social workers and community practitioners. Both groups face government imposed scarcity on resources, and demands by the State to impose an agenda that is increasingly tied to social control. Social workers’ discontent is on the rise, and burnout is a common experience. At the same time, new oppositional movements and practices have begun to develop in the community. This book examines these themes as they are expressed in State social work and community practice today.
One of the major battlefields for State social work practitioners is that of youth protection. Waiting lists, press exposés, diminished resources, and a failure by State programs to contain child abuse have created a crisis. Both social workers and middle managers feel powerless in the face of these apparently unresolveable situations. Based on recent empirical work from Quebec and the United Kingdom, these roles are explored in detail.
“…takes a highly critical
view of social-services management and the controlling rule of
government bureaucracies.”
--Calgary Herald
Preface
Chapter One: Peter Leonard, Fatalism and the Discourse on Power: An Introductory Essay
Chapter Two: Wendy Thomson, Managing Whose Public Services?
Chapter Three: Linda Davies, Limits of Bureaucratic Control: Social Workers in Child Welfare
Chapter Four: Laura Mastronardi, The Inuit Community Workers’ Experience of Youth Protection Work
Chapter Five: Eric Shragge, Community Based Practice: Political Alternatives Or New State Forms?
Bibliography
Professors Davies and Shragge both teach at McGill University’s School of Social Work, Montreal.
First in the series of monographs, School of Social Work, McGill University.
The reorganization of the economy and the State in this period of free trade and neo-conservatism has had major consequences for both State social workers and community practitioners. This book examines these themes as they are expressed in State social work and community practice today.
180 pages, bibliography
Paperback ISBN: 0-921689-56-X $16.99
Hardcover ISBN: 0-921689-57-8 $45.99
L.C. No. 90-81638
ISSN: 1195-1850
