ABSTRACT
WE have seen the varied backgrounds from which psychiatric social workers come and the wide range of jobs into which they go after they have been trained. It is clearly impossible to follow them into each kind of work they undertake, but the main fields of activity can be studied. In this and the following chapter the work of the psychiatric social worker will be discussed under the headings of child guidance, the mental hospital and the local health authority. This discussion will be concerned with an historical account of the development of the work in each of the settings and a review of its main problems.
