ABSTRACT
It may seem to the beginning social worker that social work history has little to offer in terms of understanding today’s practice. However, in the following extracts we will see strong continuities between the past and the present: some of the core features at the heart of social work remain for good and ill, although the context in which social work is practised has changed greatly. We will also see that a historical analysis encourages us to be open to different points of view; to be not too quick to judge others from the standpoint of our own, inevitably partial, culture, society and personal biography. The extracts are drawn from a chapter by Viviene Cree and Steve Myers, both UK-based social work academics, which explores three case studies from history. There is not space here to include all three, so a selection has been made from two of the case studies.
From Social Work: Making a Difference, Bristol: Policy Press/BASW (2008): 15–30.
