ABSTRACT
R Race relations Central government has been involved with a developing immigration policy (immigration) since 1962, but before 1965 was little involved with the treatment of coloured people, apart from pursuing a policy of dispersal in relation to education. After 1965 two major policies were pursued in attempts to combat racial discrimination (discrimination) and to foster what were termed good community relations. The first policy centred on the Race Relations Board and the Community Relations Commission (united in 1976 in the Commission for Racial Equality); the second on local Community Relations Councils (which now exist in about a hundred areas) and; at least in its beginnings, on the Inner City Programmes. One of the most pressing problems to be faced in a wide range of social provision is the extent to which British society is seen and accepted as a multi-racial society. See also Inner city, Community relations, Unemployment. Little, A. (1977) 'The Race Relations Act, 1976', in Year Book of Social
Radical social work A radical is someone who works, more or less actively and consistently, for a basic or 'root' change in the governance, including the governing ideas, of any general social system. The change could be either in a 'leftward' or 'right-wing' direction, but usually in 'radical social work' the former is intended. So Galper, after reviewing some attempted definitions, states that 'radical social work is social work that contributes to building a movement for the transformation to socialism by its efforts in and through the social services. Radical social work, in this understanding, is s'ocialist social work' (p. 10). However,
RA TIONALITY
those who are called or call themselves 'radical social workers' share neither the same political philosophy nor the same vision of an altered social work practice: they are as likely to be anarchists as Marxists, Christian Socialists as followers of different kinds of mystical tradition. Nor is radicalism necessarily associated with any particular mode: a radical casework, aiming, for instance, at raising the consciousness of poor people about their true class situation, is as conceivable as radical community work. Particular problems arise from grasping the connections between radical theorising and a radically changed practice, and appreciating the degree to which sOjcalled traditional social work possesses radical tendencies. See also Marxist theory. Galper, J. (1980) Social Work Practice: a Radical Perspective, Prentice-
Rationality In ordinary, everyday language we refer both to means to achieve objectives and to the objectives themselves as rational: the means were sensible and appropriate, as was the goal. Within the specialised languages of philosophy and sociology, 'rational' has a special place, and we sometimes speak of rationality as the single characteristic differentiating human from animal nature. It is sensible to take a clue from this, and not seek for an exclusive definition of rationality. Rational behaviour, then, may be taken to refer to the adoption of what the actor believes to be the most efficient means to his ends and to what is actually the most efficient means; his ends can be related to long-term goals or to the goals the actor ought to seek. In a welfare context, particularly one in which a comparative approach is made between social provision in different social cultures, one of the crucial questions concerns the extent to which criteria of rationality are universal. Lukes argues that some criteria are applicable in any context. The distinction between rational belief and rational action, and the use of the id~a of rationality to assess social choices, are also significant for welfare discourse. See also Irrationality.
