The Clients of Social Work

Abstract

Since its modern origins in the middle of the last century, social work has been one of the many strategies developed and deployed by the ruling class and the state for intervening in the lives of the working-poor. Although the motives of individual social workers have always been rich and varied, and many have been genuinely moved by and concerned with the consequences of poverty for sections of the population, as an ‘institution’ social work has to be considered as one of the agencies of class control and regulation in Britain. That is not to say that social work is a pure product of the ruling class or that it has not been affected significantly by working-class pressure, but rather to identify social work’s prevailing intent in society.

New directions in social work will prove as under-productive as the old ones unless they are based on a clear understanding of [social workers’] … role in society.

(Beaumont, 1976, p. 74)