Social Work with Families

Perceptions of Social Casework Among Clients of a Family Service Unit

Eric Sainsbury

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781032533704
• eBook ISBN: 9781000920550
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Marriage & Family Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Originally published in 1975 and based on a study of the memories and perceptions of twenty-seven families known to a Family Service Unit, and of their most recent social workers, this book was an important contribution to our knowledge of consumer opinions of the social services at the time. In particular, it draws attention to factors relevant to the evaluation of social work practice and to the definition of success.

The family members describe for themselves, by means of extracts from tape-recorded interviews, what it feels like to have problems, to be referred for help – in short, to be a 'client'. They give an account of the help they have received and define the personal attributes and activities which they have found helpful and appropriate in social workers.

This book would have been of special value to social workers, to social work students, and to all those concerned with social policy and administration. Today it can be read in its historical context.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• General editor’s introduction
• Acknowledgments
• 1 The origins of the study
• 2 Meeting the families
• 3 Referral, intake and help at the point of crisis
• 4 Continuing help
• 5 Memories of the duration of contact in relation to the families’ preferences for particular social workers
• 6 Relationships between families and social workers
• 7 Changes in the families’ lives
• 8 ‘Good’ and ‘successful’ work
• 9 Summary, conclusions and suggestions
• Appendix I Outline of guided interviews with the families
• II Schedule for interviews with the social workers
• III The families interviewed
• IV Major subjects discussed in interviews
• V Recollections of the length of contact
• VI Selected transcriptions from the interviews with families
• Bibliography
• Index