social work

Growing up in social housing in Britain: A profile of four generations from 1946 to the present day

A look at the role of social housing for four generations of families since the Second World War. This study describes how housing for families has changed over time and explores the relationship between social housing, family circumstances and the 'adult outcomes' for children who grew up in social housing – i.e. their experiences when they are adults.

Joint inspection of services to protect children and young people in the North Lanarkshire Council area

The Joint Inspection of Children’s Services and Inspection of Social Work Services (Scotland) Act 2006, together with the associated regulations and Code of Practice, provide the legislative framework for the conduct of joint inspections of the provision of services to children.

How do health professionals deal with life and death decisions? Harsh realities : Programme 3 - BBC Radio 4 Science

Harsh Realities looks at how doctors, nurses, social services, and advisers take vital decisions about our lives. The third programme in the series looks at the legal minefield of assisted suicide and asks if it is ever morally acceptable for a doctor to help kill a patient. This programme is the last of three chaired by Niall Dickson, the BBC’s social affairs editor. In each programme Niall will be joined by professionals who have direct experience of the subject under discussion. In order to listen to this programme select programme 2 for audio access.

Mentoring (Radio 4 series: Woman's Hour)

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series looks at mentoring and if young people who are likely to fall foul to the law could be identified before they actually offend. The Community Service Volunteers has set up a scheme which has already proved successful. The Mentors and Peers (MAP) project matches young people with volunteer mentors who meet regularly for a period of six months. One such young person is 11 year old Bobby who is anxious to avoid the fate of elder brothers who have served prison sentences.

Councils adapt ICS to unlock its potential

The authors, from Dorset Council, explain how they are trying to get the best out of the Integrated Children's System despite its limitations. The ICS was intended to enable a single consistent approach to case-based information gathering, case planning, case aggregation and case reviews. As such, the easily generated and clear reports would help social workers collect, organise, analyse and retrieve information.

How should we define social work?

The Social Work Task Force has signalled its intent to come up with a new definition of social work to counter public misconceptions. Anabel Unity Sale reports that with the negative coverage that social work attracts, it is hardly surprising that the public is not clear about what social workers do, and that people are led to believe that professionals swoop in and steal babies from families, give older people with limited mobility a bath and then make their dinner.