The article considers the impact of the NHS and Community Care Act (1990), and the redefined role of `care manager', upon social work. It draws from a three-year ethnographic study of five area teams; one based in inner London and the others, including a hospital team, based in the north of...

This critical commentary assesses the consequences and impact of forms of seemingly widespread, constructive and altruistic service user and carer participation (SUCP) within social work. In particular, and whilst drawing from Gramsci's understanding of hegemony and Levitas's critical...

The paper explores the experiences of a small group of agency care managers, based in local authority Social Service Departments (SSDs). Utilizing a method influenced by ethnomethodology, it considers attempts by agency staff to construct order in their disparate worlds of work. It was...

This paper considers the transformation of state social work over the past two decades. During this period, it is argued that a steady yet radical process of privatization has ensued which has had a considerable impact upon the experiences of ‘service users', informal carers and social work...