ABSTRACT
Social work, traditionally defined as a women’s profession associated with voluntary work and the ‘labour of love’ (Graham, 1983), reflects the transposition of patriarchal relations from the private sphere to the public domain. It has a low professional status (Flexner, 1915; Heraud, 1979) and continues to struggle for its rightful place in the academy. Its dependency on the state for the funding of its practice has made it vulnerable to political exigencies and government dictat. The combination of a financially dependent status and association with ‘women’s work’ has endangered the serious evaluation of the activities undertaken by staff in social work education, training and practice (Dominelli, forthcoming).
