Richard Hugman

Power in Caring Professions

Professions, Caring and the State - Dimensions of Power - Hierarchy and Professions - The Struggle for Professionalism - Our Clients, Our Selves - Racism in Caring Professions - Gender in Caring Professions - Power in Focus

Professionalization in social work: the challenge of diversity:

Social work as a formalized occupation is global. Its origins are to be found in the industrializing western nations (especially Europe and North America) but over time it has developed in many other contexts around the world. As an occupation its boundaries have never been rigidly defined, and it has variously encompassed approaches ranging from highly individualized casework, through interventions in families, small groups and local neighbourhoods, to community development (Coulshed, 1991). The development of social work has also been marked by crises of identity, as it springs from the social circumstances in which it is practised, being formed by and in response to social policy. Recent major shifts in the pattern of social welfare in many parts of the world have created yet another set of demands on the current shape and future direction of professional social work (Bamford, 1990; Cnaan, 1994). Within this situation is the sense that the capacity of social work to define its methods and undertake analyses of the causes of the needs which it is charged with resolving is being called more and more into question. In many parts of the world social workers are being required to implement policies which confront their sense of their own skills and values, either in new forms of practice or else towards the resolution of-new areas of need. Furthermore, social workers are frequently confronted by societies which are increasingly diverse as a consequence of modernization and its aftermath (Hewitt, 1993). This can be seen in the demands of ’minority’ groups for more relevant responses to their needs, provided in ways which recognize their identity. Ethnic minorities, women, disabled people, lesbians and gay men, environmentalists and members of religious traditions, all may assert

Towards a borderless social work: Reconsidering notions of international social work

This article explores varied ideas describing the concept of international social work. Looking at international social work from the idea of glocalization, we explore how international social work is figuratively embodied in migrations. How we see ourselves in international social work not only forms a dialogue that problematizes power relations in the international social arena but also provides an instructive venture into considerations of borderless social work.

Ethics in a World of Difference

International statements about social work ethics have been criticized as imposing Western values in non-Western contexts. Two forms of this criticism can be identified in recent literature, one ‘strong’ in that it calls for each cultural context to generate its own relevant values, the other ‘qualified’ in that while it seeks basic common values it calls for these to be interpreted with cultural sensitivity. Such arguments raise a particular problem with the notion of human rights as a foundation for social work ethics. In response, the plurality of values is examined and the concept of ‘human capabilities’ is suggested as a basis for values that cross cultural differences. The implications of this notion are explored using the example of responses to domestic violence. It is suggested that such an approach could be fruitful as a basis for future international dialogue concerning social work ethics.

Exploring the Paradox of Teaching Ethics for Social Work Practice

Ethics is a central area for professional education in social work. The main educational strategies for the ethics component in social work programmes are often a combination of explicit attention to principles and implicit grounding in practice examples (such as ‘case study’ vignettes). These approaches equip students to recognise and respond to the complexities of ethics in practice. However, they may also encourage students to understand ethics as ‘rules of conduct’, in which there are ‘correct answers’ that can be learned and applied. This paper advances the view that it is more helpful to consider ethics as a ‘framework for thinking’ about the means/ends relationship in practice. It is argued that, as a consequence, the goal of ethics education should be to enable student social workers to grasp the inherently moral nature of practice and the ambiguities that follow from this. Such a position points to the paradox of social work education, that it involves teaching about things that cannot ‘exist’ separately from their being created in action. To explore this paradox in teaching ethics, the paper considers inductive approaches in learning as a way of responding to the ambiguities that are inherent not only in the subject but also in the experience of professional education.

Ageing, occupation and social engagement: Towards a lively later life

Abstract Recent critical work in social gerontology has established that the dominant popular view of old age as a time of steady decline and withdrawal from ordinary life is a social construction. This image is the product of urbanised industrial society, over more than a century, in which older people have often been characterised as passive. Later life has become constructed as time without occupation. This article examines recent challenges to such ‘negative’ modernist view of later life, that is based on a deficit model of ageing. Examples of occupation and activity in later life are discussed. At the same time, it must also be recognised that the construction of a more positive and ‘lively’ later life is not uniformly open to all sections of society. Structural divisions (of gender, race and culture, ill‐health and poverty) still create difference of opportunity, in which certain sections of society are advantaged. The resulting disadvantages must be addressed in social policy if society is to be ab...

Professional ethics in social work: living with the legacy

Until recently, professional ethics in social work has often been characterised in terms of a debate between Kantian and Utilitarian approaches. However, both these approaches are founded on a common basis in universalism and liberal individualism, which have been challenged by current developments in social theory. This paper examines the implications of such changes for social work ethics and considers how the profession can think about living with the legacy of earlier approaches.

Social Work and Case Management in the UK: Models of Professionalism and Elderly People

Discrimination against old age and work with elderly people are evident in the practices and organisation of caring professions, of which social work may be taken as an example because of its central role in community care provision. This article examines the implications for the status of professional social work with elderly people of recent proposals to develop the role of care manager in place of the case management model developed in Kent and elsewhere. It is argued that such a move derives from managerial concerns, which ignore the likely consequences for retrenching ageism and other forms of discrimination in services for older people. It is concluded that more careful consideration will be required concerning the context in which new professional models are being developed, if these discriminations are not to be reproduced and reinforced, as well as the benefits from case management systems being lost.

Culture, values and ethics in social work : embracing diversity

1. Introduction: Culture, Values and Ethics in Social Work and Human Services 2. The Implications of Culture for Social Work and Human Services 3. Professionalism and Ethics in Social Work and Human Services 4. Universal Values and Ethics 5. Cultural Difference in Values and Ethics 6. Pluralism and Ethics in Social Work and Human Services 7. Religion, Spirituality, Values and Ethics: Implications for Social Work and Human Services 8. Ethical Pluralism and the Democratic Urge 9. The Paradox of Value Difference and Ethical Pluralism 10. Embracing Diversity: Shared Humanity and Cultural Difference?

Older people and their families: Rethinking the social work task?

Abstract The place of aged care in social work has long been ambiguous, if not marginal. Social work (as do other comparable professions) often displays a reluctance to place practice in this field within the core of the profession that embodies aspects of ageism in contemporary society. Working with older people is frequently characterised as ‘mundane’, ‘routine’ and even ‘not “real” social work’. This paper examines the practice implications of the current policy context. Forms of ‘indirect’ practice are identified as central to social work in aged care, and the implications of this for the standing of aged care social work in the wider profession are discussed. It is argued that ‘indirect’ practices are core to the development of the profession and so should be seen as ‘real’ social work. In conclusion, it is suggested that unless social work affirms practice with older people and their families we will fail to be congruent with our own values.