The Interpretation of Human Rights in English Social Work: An Exploration in the Context of Services for Children and for Parents with Learning Difficulties

Abstract

Human rights are a central part of a social worker's value base in contemporary practice, but the structures by which social work services are delivered can adversely affect practitioners’ abilities to uphold service user rights. This article describes the organizational development of social work services in England and the evolution of a rights focus for the practice of social work. It uses two cases, participation by children and young people looked after by the local authority and parents with learning difficulties, to determine what prevents the delivery of rights at practice level. We argue that the structures which are the product of historical development prevent workers delivering a service that is anti-oppressive and grounded in a rights-based approach to practice. This suggests that the recent changed arrangements for the delivery of social work offer the opportunity to address human rights within practice and reinvigorate the profession. The division of the profession between children's trusts and adult social services within separate local authority departments or care trusts should make dialogue between specialist social workers, which has been suppressed by internal structures, possible. Such a dialogue could contribute to saving the profession from the disintegration that its division threatens, while advancing the human rights agenda.

Keywords:

• Human Rights
• Social Work
• Child Care
• Learning Difficulty
• Advocacy
• Anti-discriminatory Practice
• Social Work Organizations

Notes

¹The term ‘learning difficulty’ is used here rather than ‘learning disability’ because it tends to be preferred by most people using these services. Other terms used include ‘intellectual disability’ and ‘intellectual impairment’.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ian Buchanan

Ian Buchanan works at the Open University. He spent the middle part of his career in social services departments, at the last of which he met Central England People First. He has been privileged to work with them and other self-advocates for 15 years. Robert Gunn has worked as a social worker and in youth justice before taking up his post at the University of York. He is especially interested in the policy context of social work and how the political philosophy of welfare shapes people's services