English Social Work at the Crossroads: A Critical View

Abstract

At the present time, social work in England finds itself at the crossroads. Against a backdrop of economic globalisation, it has been caught up in New Labour's modernising policy discourse that has recast social justice in terms of opportunity, inclusion, and “choice”. More recently, this has been extended by the introduction of a “respect agenda”, a reaction to the loss of community cohesion and the rise in antisocial behaviour. In the present article, two alternative paradigmatic responses are explored reflecting a debate between evidence-based practice (EBP) and critical practice (CP). These may be juxtaposed because they offer different visions of what social work could become in the future while providing two important reference points against which current practice may be judged. Whereas the former has been depicted as a “search for certainty” that largely complements the modernising discourse, CP works with both certainty and uncertainty in the quest for more emancipatory change. In practice, English social workers may manage such contradictions by looking down both roads and incorporating elements of both in their practice: adopting elements of EBP to justify their interventions and become more research minded while embracing aspects of CP to engage with structural issues that lie at the root of injustice.

Abstract

Keywords:

• Social Work
• England
• Evidence-Based Practice
• Critical Practice
• Emancipatory Change

Acknowledgements

Part of the policy analysis and section on CP has recently been published in a book (Stepney & Popple, 2008) and is included with the kind permission of the publisher, Palgrave Macmillan.

Notes

¹This was one of the UK's most serious cases of child abuse concerning an 8-year-old girl, Victoria Climbié, who was the victim of almost unimaginable cruelty. Victoria died of injuries inflicted by her great aunt and partner in the London borough of Haringey on 25 February 2000. This proved to be a landmark case because the subsequent inquiry by Lord Laming (Laming, 2003) recommended a new and more rigorous approach, outlined in the Green Paper Every Child Matters (DfES, 2004), which formed the basis of the 2004 Children Act. For details of the case, visit http://www.victoria-climbie-inquiry.org.uk/finreport