The social work profession and professional public relations

Many professional groups approach public relations with suspicion. More established professions may have come to expect automatic recognition by, and even a degree of deference from, the public. ‘Stooping’ to public relations may therefore appear demeaning and unnecessary. Social work has never been in that situation and indeed, in the current climate of public and political suspicion of ‘professional conspiracies’, professional organizations have been forced to learn the effective use of public relations. Social work has probably been less successful than, say, nursing or medicine in attracting public support and sympathy. The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) ¹ has clear public relations objectives. They are: providing membership and so sustaining the organization; publicizing policy initiatives that the Association wishes to pursue; responding effectively to external initiatives; promoting a positive image of social work in general and BASW in particular, and helping social workers to take pride in their profession. These objectives have to be pursued within the limited resources of the Association. This means, frustratingly, that BASW is generally more successful in responding to situations than in setting the agenda.