Politicians' and Researchers' Verdicts on Social Work

Abstract

Experimental research into the effectiveness of social work now shows some encouraging trends, regarding focus, contracts, support and with reference to innovations linking policy to practice. These findings have to be digested in a climate of political pressures which include politicians' desires to control social work, the influence of corporate management practices and the proliferation of helping professions. An appropriate response to research findings and political pressures is to develop an interdependent culture of research and practice in which researchers document political constraints and enable practitioners to use the strategies depicted in recent evaluations.