Two The best and worst of times: reflections on the impact of radicalism on British social work education in the 1970s
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Chris Jones
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the impact of radicalism on social-work education in Britain during the 1970s, and how the state responded to such radicalism. The 1970s was an extraordinary decade for British social work, with repercussions that have decisively influenced its subsequent development. The decade opened with social work being rewarded with its own state agency, with social work and no longer medicine as the lead profession. It ended with a nationwide strike of social workers in targeted areas of the country. The British welfare state, which had enjoyed a period of unparalleled growth since 1948, became a significant site of action. The most decisive response to the issue of difficult and querulous social workers was the creation of the Certificate in Social Services in 1975 as a parallel qualification to the Certificate in Qualified Social Work.
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the impact of radicalism on social-work education in Britain during the 1970s, and how the state responded to such radicalism. The 1970s was an extraordinary decade for British social work, with repercussions that have decisively influenced its subsequent development. The decade opened with social work being rewarded with its own state agency, with social work and no longer medicine as the lead profession. It ended with a nationwide strike of social workers in targeted areas of the country. The British welfare state, which had enjoyed a period of unparalleled growth since 1948, became a significant site of action. The most decisive response to the issue of difficult and querulous social workers was the creation of the Certificate in Social Services in 1975 as a parallel qualification to the Certificate in Qualified Social Work.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors iv
- Acknowledgements vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction 1
- Case Con and radical social work in the 1970s: the impatient revolutionaries 11
- The best and worst of times: reflections on the impact of radicalism on British social work education in the 1970s 27
- Social work and women’s oppression today 45
- The jester’s joke 59
- LGBT oppression, sexualities and radical social work today 79
- Radical social work and service users: a crucial connection 95
- Why class (still) matters 115
- International social work or social work internationalism? Radical social work in global perspective 135
- Rediscovering radicalism and humanity in social work 153
- Re-gilding the ghetto: community work and community development in 21st-century Britain 165
- Resisting the EasyCare model: building a more radical, community-based, anti-authoritarian social work for the future 187
- Bibliography 205
- Index 231
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors iv
- Acknowledgements vii
- Foreword ix
- Introduction 1
- Case Con and radical social work in the 1970s: the impatient revolutionaries 11
- The best and worst of times: reflections on the impact of radicalism on British social work education in the 1970s 27
- Social work and women’s oppression today 45
- The jester’s joke 59
- LGBT oppression, sexualities and radical social work today 79
- Radical social work and service users: a crucial connection 95
- Why class (still) matters 115
- International social work or social work internationalism? Radical social work in global perspective 135
- Rediscovering radicalism and humanity in social work 153
- Re-gilding the ghetto: community work and community development in 21st-century Britain 165
- Resisting the EasyCare model: building a more radical, community-based, anti-authoritarian social work for the future 187
- Bibliography 205
- Index 231
