Age and Social Work in a time of Uncertainty

Simon Biggsbiggss@unimelb.edu.au

sbiggs@bsl.org.au

CCETSW Times

• Aug.1985 – Oct. 1989 Social Work Education Adviser: Mental Health, Inteprofessionality, Ageing

• Oct.1989 – Oct. 1993 Coordinator of U.K.

Programme: Community Care • • Oct.1993 – Aug. 1994 Head of Development

Department

Photographic Evidence

Confronting Ageing

Publications• 1986 The Registered Homes Act 1984: Staff Training Issues, CCETSW Paper

24, p 27.• 1988 Older People: A Resource Directory for Trainers CCETSW, Pp 96. (with

Hewerdine CW )• 1989 Avoidable Risk: Supervision and Management in Child Care Abuse

Cases. Trigger Video, CCETSW (with Ash E, And Mayhew R) • 1989 Confronting Ageing: A Group Work Manual for Helping Professionals.

CCETSW, Pp 88. • 1989 Residential Social Work: Models of Good Practice, CCETSW, Pp 20.• 1989 Interprofessional Collaboration. CCETSW• 1990-1994 Community Care Database Bulletin (Quarterly).),

CCETSW, approx Pp 100 per issue. (With Catlin S)• 1991 Assessment, Case Management and Inspection: A Practice

Teaching Curriculum, CCETSW, P p 32. (with Weinstein J )

Community Care Act

• Compared to the Children Act• A mechanism for ideological system

transformation rather than evidence based change

• From a New role for social work to The role for social work

• Consumer/User Involvement• CSP

Prime Ministers

Margaret Thatcher• 28th Nov 1990

John Major• 28th Nov 1990• May 2nd 1997

From 1985- 1994

• Community Social Work• Public and NGO

effectiveness & innovation

• Social work as a therapeutic enterprise

• Social work as advocacy• Critical theory on the

role of social work

• Case management• Private sector economy

& innovation• Monitoring and

managing• Social work as risk

reduction• Critical theory and the

rolled back state

Ambivalent CCETSW

• From (much misunderstood) tribune of social work and the disadvantaged

• To implementing the Tory line• The shock absorber• Everybody’s relative ....But nobody’s baby

Turning Points

• Supping with the Department• It ain’t going away• From grudging colleague to quality inspector• To scapegoat ‘race commissars’ and the Daily

Mail and ‘our social workers’.