ABSTRACT
Following a gradual neoliberalisation, social work has been subjected to profound rationalisation based on processes of specialisation, standardisation and marketisation. This chapter shows how such rationalisation is enforced through an insidious re-organisation of social work itself, and highlights some detrimental effects on social work practice. It also shows how increased division of labour influences social work practice and work satisfaction. While a client-contractor model and specialised organisation have become common ways of organising social work, research points to harmful effects on social work practice. Budget governing is a technique that has been introduced by politicians to increase control over spending by fragmenting and decentralising budget responsibility and cost-awareness. Neoliberalism in social work and rationalisation in terms of markets, managers and machines, thus produce alienation, dehumanisation and compliance, albeit under the guise of equal and 'scientific' treatment, enhanced performance and cost-effectiveness.
