ABSTRACT
A proposition emerged that there is a potentially incomplete fit between the interests of a dominant class and the practice of state sanctioned social work and other welfare activities. This chapter explores ways in which such an incomplete fit can be exploited by social workers in order to provide positive help to the clients of social work. It argues that sociological theory and sociological imagination form invaluable weapons in the struggle for this critical and reflective social work practice. The chapter focuses on three areas of social work practice: work relating to poverty, work with children and families, and social work with those labelled as mentally ill. In each case it will be suggested that a sociologically informed practice presents workers with the possibility of transcending a view of social work as a series of cases and of practising in ways consistent with the needs of clients and the contexts in which they live their lives.
