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Book Review
Social Work and the Third Way: Tough Love as Social Policy
Bill Jordan with Charlie Jordan
ISBN: 0-761967-21-4 2000 242 PB pages London: Sage Publications
Liz Beddoe
Social Work and Human Services, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Bill Jordan is a veteran contributor to the literature of social work and social policy. His interests in the field are broad and amongst his formidable list of publications are key works on the impact of globalization (Jordan 1998), poverty (Jordan 1996) and social work practice (Jordan 1979). In this publication, he is joined by his brother who is involved in the non-governmental sector developing training for social regeneration projects.
This book addresses in considerable detail the impact of the New Labour government on social policy in the United Kingdom and more specifically, the kind of social work practiced within the 'Third Way' policy environment. The authors utilise the term 'Tough Love' to describe the values underpinning the Third Way approach to social policy, with its emphasis on work, taxation and individual responsibility, social inclusion and the retreat from an explicit focus on poverty. Thus, the book can be read alongside many others, including those that address issues for policy and practice in New Zealand and Australia (see for example, Rees & Rodley (1995); Kelsey (2000); Cheyne, O'Brien & Belgrave (2000)) and in the UK, (Powell (2001) and Harris (2003)).
The central themes are the implementation of the 'values' of the Third Way, the importance of the focus on social inclusion, its partial success and the impact of these matters on the profession of social work. The Jordans argue that social work has suffered under the New Labour government as the struggle to address social exclusion has floundered in a sequence of approaches that arrived with Thatcherism, and were embedded within managerialist discourses. Despite the potential for innovative projects to address poverty and inclusion, especially through social regeneration and community development, the prevailing emphasis in social work is surveillance, risk assessment (Kemshall 2002), care management and rationing of services through the development of rigid technical assessment tools.
Social Work and the Third Way will be of greatest interest to educators and researchers in social work and social policy. Sociologists with an interest in professional practice in health settings will find another perspective on the impact of policy on everyday practice. Social workers in health settings share concerns with other health professionals about ethical and moral independence and the primacy of service consumers within the managerialist discourse.
The book asserts that social work under New Labour has tended to become bogged down in services where the role is overly prescribed and reliant on pre-determined, pre-packaged service delivery. Part One examines the major themes of the book with a variety of examples from policy and practice. Part Two looks specifically at sectors, including local authority adult and children's services and services for people with disabilities. Part Three considers the relationship of social work to the economy and to the state. The final chapter Frontline practice explores some hopeful possibilities for a way out from the impasse for social work in the UK.
The Jordans (p304) challenge the prevailing orthodoxy of evidence-based practice that stems from the 'top down policy prescription and accountability' package, suggesting that this 'positivist pursuit of what works' is an attempt to detach social work practice from the social relations in which practice encounters occur. The point is well made that social work theory (and much current research) is increasingly focusing on the importance of communication and meaning in both naming problems and finding solutions, as a counter to the obsession with technical and prepackaged responses beloved by managerialists.
The authors (p210) advocate an inclusive and reflective practice utilising value-based research, partnerships with service users, and recognition of issues of power and justice. They draw on the interactionist tradition in sociology to assist social work to understand how practitioners 'construct an informal order between the partners [in practice encounters] ...and give the participants the sense that a moral bond encompasses them, to which they make themselves accountable' (pp211-12).
Social Work and the Third Way is written in a highly accessible style. For the academic reader it draws widely on a variety of disciplines, perspectives and sources. There is also richness in the inclusion of illustrative case studies and vignettes. These examples, whether from the media, public documents or real or imaginary encounters, lighten what might be otherwise a dry account. It communicates a firm belief in the potential of social work that has a strong moral purpose (social justice) and the humanity and creativity to engage effectively with fellow citizens. This is a significant contribution to the policy literature and provides a useful account of the impact of 'Third Way policies on professional practice in health and human services.
References
Cheyne C, O'Brien M and Belgrave M (2000) Social policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand: a critical introduction, Auckland: Oxford University Press.
Harris J (2003) The social work business. London: Routledge.
Jordan B (1979) Helping in social work. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Jordan B(1996) A theory of poverty and social exclusion. Cambridge: Polity.
Jordan B (1998) The new politics of social welfare: social justice in a global context. London: Sage.
Kelsey J (2002) At the crossroads: three essays. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books.
Kemshall H (2002) Risk, social policy and social welfare. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Powell F (2001) The Politics of social work. London: Sage.
Rees S and Rodley G (1995) The Human costs of managerialism. Sydney: Pluto Press.
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