In the 1980s, although most social workers organised their time and described their work in terms of cases, research studies had cast serious doubts on the efficacy of working in this way. As a result, there had been growing anxiety about what social workers do, what they ought to do, and the training they needed. Task-centred casework was an approach to social work which proposed a solution to some aspects of this dilemma. Growing out of the surprising results of an American research study, it broke free from the traditional psycho-analytic approach to casework. It aimed at clarity of purpose, a concentration on the clients’ perceptions of the problems, openness about clients’ and helpers’ intentions and agreement about what is to be done and achieved within a specified time. Originally published in 1985, this book brings together three British studies that accompanied, and in some respects pioneered, the introduction of task-centred casework into the United Kingdom. The studies describe and evaluate task-centred casework with social services department clients, with young people on probation, and with men and women referred to hospital after poisoning themselves. The research suggests what task-centred casework can and cannot achieve, describes how clients experience it and seeks to define the skills it requires. The studies also provide some reasons why many previous studies of social work have failed to find evidence for social work effectiveness. The book uses much case material to illustrate methods of task-centred casework and its outcomes as seen by clients, social workers, and an independent outsider. It should still be of interest to social workers, teachers of social work, and social work students. More generally, it will be welcomed by all those who are interested in building social work on a surer basis than anecdote and fashion.

Originally published in 1979, Ends and Means in Social Work was the first book to provide research-based evidence on what social workers actually do, what they were aiming to achieve, and what sense their activities made, both in terms of their own subjective perspectives and those of their clients. The authors describe and analyse a series of surveys and action studies based on a year’s referrals and the long-term clientele of an area office. They aimed first to find out what the clients thought of and expected from the newly reorganised social services, and how social workers saw the changes and their new responsibilities. The second aim was to discover how social work skills and other resources were being used to meet different client needs. Third, the research was designed to enable social workers, by developing a new monitoring tool, the Case Review System, to become more explicit about both the ends and means of their activities. Widespread interest had been aroused by the Case Review System. It had raised intriguing questions about who gets what and why. On an individual level, the Case Review System can enable social workers to evaluate their practice by comparing plan with achievement; as an educational tool it can assist supervision; as a management tool it can provide aggregated data on client characteristics, the use of resources, and outcomes; as a research tool it can answer questions on the relationships between client characteristics, problems and social work practice, and provide longitudinal data on client careers. It is in response to insistent demands for a rounded account of this research project and its results that this book has been written. It endeavours to bring together all the aspects of the specific research studies and to discuss their wider implications for the organisation of the personal social services. Particularly valuable for students and practitioners alike will be the concluding discussion in which the evidence which emerged about the use of social work resources is subjected to critical review. Questions are raised about the current deployment of social work skills, and suggestions are made about how these skills might be redeployed, tasks defined more realistically, and how statutory functions could mesh more easily with voluntary activities.

In 1970 social workers were in great demand and their numbers were growing. At the same time questions were asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the methods they employed, their objectives and the effectiveness of their efforts. Previous studies undertaken in the United States to test the effectiveness of social casework had led to intense controversy between researchers and practitioners. Originally published in 1970, the field experiment described in this book was the first British attempt to assess the effectiveness of social work. A team led by a social worker, including a physician and a statistician, assessed the social and medical conditions of 300 aged applicants to a local authority welfare department and determined their needs for help. Half of these old people were randomly selected to receive help from trained caseworkers; the other half, also randomly chosen, remained with experienced local authority welfare officers without professional training. The social and medical conditions of the surviving clients were reassessed after an interval. Both sets of social workers had achieved much in alleviating practical needs. But the trained workers brought about more change in their clients’ activities, feelings and attitudes. The opinions of the old people about the services they received and the social workers who had carried them out added another dimension to this pioneer study which contributed to research methodology, helped to clarify operational goals in social work, made a beginning in measuring social work effort and enlarged our meagre knowledge of social work with old people at the time.

In the early 1970s general practitioners were well aware that they were being asked to deal not only with physical illness in their patients but also with the stresses relating to social and emotional problems. Increasingly often they were working together with health visitors and social workers in attempting to respond more effectively to these demands. Originally published in 1972, this study describes the attachment of a social worker to a group general medical practice in London, indicating why, for all social groups, the general practice is an appropriate point at which psychosocial problems may be identified and treated. The authors describe the nature and range of patients’ problems that come to light in the consulting room; how patients present their problems to the social worker; and the kind of help the social worker is able to offer. They explore the extent to which the general practice setting provides opportunities for preventive therapy and further describe how social work in general practice can most effectively be related to existing social services in the community, particularly to the reorganised personal social services. Their findings are supported throughout by illuminating case studies. The book also discusses the integration of the social worker into the general practice team, the problems that have to be solved and the mutual enlightenment that results. This emerges as an extremely encouraging and instructive experiment, which will immediately interest social service departments and social workers, doctors and nurses, both students and those in practice. The wide spectrum of social problems encountered and dealt with by the social worker in a general practice make it a particularly stimulating account.

Originally published in 1979, Ends and Means in Social Work was the first book to provide research-based evidence on what social workers actually do, what they were aiming to achieve, and what sense their activities made, both in terms of their own subjective perspectives and those of their clients. The authors describe and analyse a series of surveys and action studies based on a year's referrals and the long-term clientele of an area office. They aimed first to find out what the clients thought of and expected from the newly reorganised social services, and how social workers saw the changes and their new responsibilities. The second aim was to discover how social work skills and other resources were being used to meet different client needs. Third, the research was designed to enable social workers, by developing a new monitoring tool, the Case Review System, to become more explicit about both the ends and means of their activities. Widespread interest had been aroused by the Case Review System. It had raised intriguing questions about who gets what and why. On an individual level, the Case Review System can enable social workers to evaluate their practice by comparing plan with achievement; as an educational tool it can assist supervision; as a management tool it can provide aggregated data on client characteristics, the use of resources, and outcomes; as a research tool it can answer questions on the relationships between client characteristics, problems and social work practice, and provide longitudinal data on client careers. It is in response to insistent demands for a rounded account of this research project and its results that this book has been written. It endeavours to bring together all the aspects of the specific research studies and to discuss their wider implications for the organisation of the personal social services. Particularly valuable for students and practitioners alike will be the concluding discussion in which the evidence which emerged about the use of social work resources is subjected to critical review. Questions are raised about the current deployment of social work skills, and suggestions are made about how these skills might be redeployed, tasks defined more realistically, and how statutory functions could mesh more easily with voluntary activities.

In the 1980s, although most social workers organised their time and described their work in terms of cases, research studies had cast serious doubts on the efficacy of working in this way. As a result, there had been growing anxiety about what social workers do, what they ought to do, and the training they needed. Task-centred casework was an approach to social work which proposed a solution to some aspects of this dilemma. Growing out of the surprising results of an American research study, it broke free from the traditional psycho-analytic approach to casework. It aimed at clarity of purpose, a concentration on the clients' perceptions of the problems, openness about clients' and helpers' intentions and agreement about what is to be done and achieved within a specified time. Originally published in 1985, this book brings together three British studies that accompanied, and in some respects pioneered, the introduction of task-centred casework into the United Kingdom. The studies describe and evaluate task-centred casework with social services department clients, with young people on probation, and with men and women referred to hospital after poisoning themselves. The research suggests what task-centred casework can and cannot achieve, describes how clients experience it and seeks to define the skills it requires. The studies also provide some reasons why many previous studies of social work have failed to find evidence for social work effectiveness. The book uses much case material to illustrate methods of task-centred casework and its outcomes as seen by clients, social workers, and an independent outsider. It should still be of interest to social workers, teachers of social work, and social work students. More generally, it will be welcomed by all those who are interested in building social work on a surer basis than anecdote and fashion.

In the early 1970s general practitioners were well aware that they were being asked to deal not only with physical illness in their patients but also with the stresses relating to social and emotional problems. Increasingly often they were working together with health visitors and social workers in attempting to respond more effectively to these demands. Originally published in 1972, this study describes the attachment of a social worker to a group general medical practice in London, indicating why, for all social groups, the general practice is an appropriate point at which psychosocial problems may be identified and treated. The authors describe the nature and range of patients' problems that come to light in the consulting room; how patients present their problems to the social worker; and the kind of help the social worker is able to offer. They explore the extent to which the general practice setting provides opportunities for preventive therapy and further describe how social work in general practice can most effectively be related to existing social services in the community, particularly to the reorganised personal social services. Their findings are supported throughout by illuminating case studies. The book also discusses the integration of the social worker into the general practice team, the problems that have to be solved and the mutual enlightenment that results. This emerges as an extremely encouraging and instructive experiment, which will immediately interest social service departments and social workers, doctors and nurses, both students and those in practice. The wide spectrum of social problems encountered and dealt with by the social worker in a general practice make it a particularly stimulating account.

In 1970 social workers were in great demand and their numbers were growing. At the same time questions were asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the methods they employed, their objectives and the effectiveness of their efforts. Previous studies undertaken in the United States to test the effectiveness of social casework had led to intense controversy between researchers and practitioners. Originally published in 1970, the field experiment described in this book was the first British attempt to assess the effectiveness of social work. A team led by a social worker, including a physician and a statistician, assessed the social and medical conditions of 300 aged applicants to a local authority welfare department and determined their needs for help. Half of these old people were randomly selected to receive help from trained caseworkers; the other half, also randomly chosen, remained with experienced local authority welfare officers without professional training. The social and medical conditions of the surviving clients were reassessed after an interval. Both sets of social workers had achieved much in alleviating practical needs. But the trained workers brought about more change in their clients' activities, feelings and attitudes. The opinions of the old people about the services they received and the social workers who had carried them out added another dimension to this pioneer study which contributed to research methodology, helped to clarify operational goals in social work, made a beginning in measuring social work effort and enlarged our meagre knowledge of social work with old people at the time.