ABSTRACT
In this Chapter Paul Stepney provides an overview of the policy and organizational context in which social work activities take place. At a time of high public expectations and political scrutiny, social work finds itself at a “policy to practice crossroads” and must operate within different models. The authors focus on the UK, US and Europe, with brief reference to Australia and Canada, to illustrate the way governments have modernized social service provision in response to globalization and the problems this creates. The chapter reveals how modernization has reformed social services by promoting consumerism, managerialism, and the extensive use of the market, and the impact this has had on the organizational culture of social work agencies and the working lives of practitioners. This helps to “ground” the discussion of theory and methods by providing a clear picture of how policy and organizational concerns influence and constrain what actually happens in practice.
