ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the results of a small study of the relationship between social work and the law. It presents the method which demonstrates the usefulness of content analysis in learning the bearing of the legal problems of the families of adolescents upon social work programs. In casework practice with juvenile delinquents or their families, we should anticipate many meaningful linkages between social work and the law. Social work draws its repertory of substantive knowledge and principles of practice from psychiatry, sociology, psychology, economics, and other disciplines, including the law. In general, however, the social worker's need of a knowledge of the law and an understanding of the legal process has not been taken into account in formal training programs in graduate schools or in the supervisory and consultative departments in social work agencies. The chapter analyses systematically the legal content of casework practice with families, one of whose members is an adolescent who manifests delinquent behavior.
