Social Work and the Community by Keith Popple Paul Stepney

Author:Keith Popple, Paul Stepney [Keith Popple, Paul Stepney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, Public Policy, Social Services & Welfare, Social Science, Social Work
ISBN: 9781137206268
Google: j877AwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Macmillan International Higher Education
Published: 2008-07-15T04:18:22+00:00

The Reshaping of Social Work – A Paradox at the Heart of the ‘Third Way’

A number of questions can be raised in response to this analysis about the extent to which social work has been reshaped by New Labour’s ‘third way’ modernisation project. One way of approaching this issue is by recognising a central paradox at the heart of the ‘third way’ – how to balance measures for inclusion in the community, with those for enforcement through activation, social protection and raising standards. As we have already noted, the enforcement of moral standards and inclusion measures, whilst ostensibly strengthening communitarian obligations, can in fact weaken them if these are enforced in a punitive and authoritarian way.

This paradox points to a more fundamental reworking of the relationship between the state and its citizens underpinning the movement towards the new modernised but conditional welfare state. Social workers have been placed very much in the front line (or firing line) required to balance communitarian inclusion with enforcement and protection. According to Jordan (2001), the old universal welfare state in the UK was ‘bureaucratic, regulated and rule bound, whilst New Labour’s modernised welfare state is concerned with throughput, achievement (measured by meeting targets) and change. The old relied on control to try and restrain class conflicts, the new is built on motivation and mutual respect. The old claimed but failed to treat everyone equally, the new is premised upon choice, opportunity and responsibility (adapted from Jordan, 2001, p. 540).

The paradox highlights something of an Achilles heel in the ‘third way’ modernisation project and one that has already produced a serious problem with a very practical cutting edge. For example, in the UK the government soon found that it could not fully trust professionals working in the public sector or the trade unions. Many social workers were sceptical about the reforms, and some were seen to be too closely associated with the old order (commitment to old Labour-style socialism) or too sympathetic to transformational change and thus prone to question and challenge the new neo-liberal/communitarian orthodoxy. In the event, fragmentation and constraint became a by-product of reform, and the problem of professional autonomy was addressed by the introduction of performance targets, national service standards and a league table culture. Social services departments, where the majority of UK social workers are employed, were subject to periodic appraisal and awarded star ratings. Failure (signified by a zero star rating) could ultimately result in state services being taken over and run by a private company. This not unnaturally created tensions and further resistance from staff, resulting in variable compliance. Staff in the voluntary sector were subject to parallel scrutiny through the introduction of contracts and service agreements (Scott and Russell, 2001).

This problem according to Jordan with Jordan (2000) is that it produces yet another paradox where non or partial compliance creates an ‘implementation gap’ in ‘third way’ policy. At the heart of this gap is a more fundamental crisis of solidarity within the welfare state (Lorenz, 1997), which expresses itself as a more visible identity crisis amongst front-line social workers.

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