It is heartening to hear Michael Gove acknowledge that his life was transformed by means of the ability of the social workers concerned in putting him for adoption (Gove calls for radical reform of social function, 12 November). Like David Cameron’s recognition in his conference speech that social operate is “a noble and demanding vocation”, Gove’s statement is in welcome contrast to the vilification of social staff in which politicians and the media too frequently indulge.
It’s hard to escape the conclusion, nevertheless, that Gove’s praise amounts to little more than a cover for attacking the social science and ethical basis of the occupation. He suggests, for illustration, that “idealistic college students” are currently being encouraged to see services users as possessing been “disempowered by society” and as “victims of social injustice”. In fact, the promotion of agency, self-determination and independent residing continue to be at the heart of social operate education and social function practice, not least in relation to current personalisation agendas. Social operate is an proof-primarily based profession, nevertheless. When very respected investigation scientific studies such as Wilkinson and Pickett’s The Spirit Degree present the extent to which inequality contributes to social difficulties – and when even a former Conservative prime minister laments the lack of social mobility in the United kingdom – then social staff need to have to recognise this in their practice. The alternative is the sort of victim-blaming and scapegoating of bad and disabled men and women that as well often characterises existing government attacks on folks on benefits.
The main issue dealing with the social work profession at existing is not dogma, but decreased funding, minimal political priority, excessive caseloads and expanding consumer demand. When the Institute for Fiscal Studies calculates that austerity policies will push an further 200,000 kids below the poverty line, and when much more than half a million individuals are forced to depend on meals banking institutions, then to propose that social difficulties are largely the result of people making “the incorrect alternatives” underlines the extent to which the world inhabited by Gove and his public-college colleagues is a really various one from that inhabited by most of us, specially those needing social function help.
Professor Iain Ferguson University of the West of Scotland
Professor Susan White University of Birmingham
Emeritus Professor Ann Davis University of Birmingham
Professor Brid Featherstone Open University
Professor Vivienne Cree University of Edinburgh
Professor Nigel Parton University of Huddersfield
Professor Imogen Taylor University of Sussex
Professor Mike Fisher University of Bedfordshire
Professor Brigid Daniel University of Stirling
Professor Tim Kelly University of Dundee
Professor Ian Butler University of Bath
Emeritus professor John Harris University of Warwick
Professor Peter Beresford Brunel University
Professor Michael Lavalette Liverpool Hope University
Professor Stephen Webb Glasgow Caledonian University
Professor Jim Campbell Goldsmiths, University of London
Professor Ravinder Barn Royal Holloway, University of London
Professor Jane Tunstill Royal Holloway University
Professor Jonathan Scourfield University of Cardiff
Professor Margaret Holloway University of Hull
Professor Jonathan Parker Bournemouth University
Professor Aidan Worsley University of Central Lancashire
Professor Nigel Thomas University of Central Lancashire
Professor Hugh McLaughlin Manchester Metropolitan University
Professor Brian Littlechild University of Hertfordshire
Professor Kirsten Stalker University of Strathclyde
Professor Shula Ramon Anglia Ruskin University
Professor Nina Biehal University of York
Professor June Thoburn University of East Anglia
Professor Roger Evans Liverpool John Moores University
Professor Jan Horwath University of Sheffield
Professor Elaine Sharland University of Sussex
Professor Kate Wilson University of Nottingham
Professor Marion Brandon University of East Anglia
Dr Terry Murphy Teeside University
Mo McPhail Open University (Scotland)
Linda Walker University of Dundee
Mark Smith University of Edinburgh
Di Bailey Nottingham Trent University
Ailsa Stewart University of Strathclyde
Neil Quinn University of Strathclyde
Beth Weaver University of Strathclyde
Evelyn Vrouwenfelder University of Strathclyde
Barrie Levine Glasgow Caledonian University
Vasilios Ioakimidis University of Durham
Di Bailey Nottingham Trent University
Simon Cardy Sophisticated social work practitioner, Wolverhampton
• Possessing run into near-catastrophe with training reforms based on striving to create the circumstances he benefited from, it really is alarming that Michael Gove is making use of the same recipe for social perform. Possessing worked in both schooling and social operate in excess of forty many years, I know that assuming every person responds as you do is generally naïve and stupid. We all have our personal preferred methods of studying and developing, and the skilled worker has to uncover the appropriate strategy for every single personal. Allow individuals who understand the perform define the required expertise, whilst Gove meets his political obligations to supply the needed assets. A excellent starting up stage would be to uncover out the dimension and complexity of the caseloads of the social staff he admires from his previous. As resources grow to be more and more scarce, every worker takes on far more cases. At the very same time, authorities ration assets by taking on fewer consumers all round. Whilst this can sound like an try to rebalance, in actuality only the more complex and time-consuming cases are left. I wonder how significantly time social employees get these days to invest on placements that are going nicely.
Roy Grimwood
Industry Drayton, Shropshire
Letters: Gove"s wrong choices over call for social work reform
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