Social worker-turned-academic Martin Webber believes the role of the professional is often muddied by the emphasis on psychological interventions rather than social solutions. He spoke to Natalie Valios
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t seems that every few years a social care organisation is tasked with re-defi ning social work. In 2008, the General Social Care Council, Skills for Care, the Children’s Workforce Development Council and the
Social Care Institute for Excellence produced their social work ‘roles and tasks’ statement, only to be superseded a year later by a new defi nition from the Social Work Task Force. And, yet, ask a member of the public what a social worker does and you are likely to be met by either a blank face or the words ‘they remove children’. This lack of understanding has dogged social workers in a way unknown to doctors, teachers and the police. But the need for a defi nition may not be the most important factor, says Martin Webber, lecturer in social work at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. In his view, it would be more valuable for social workers to be able to clearly communicate what they do and their realm of expertise. A good example of this, he says, is the
recent BBC2 programme, Protecting Our Children, which follows Bristol City Council’s
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child protection team. ‘It helps that part of the profession says “this is what we do”. It is a positive portrayal,’ he says.
Martin himself laughed at the idea of
becoming a social worker when a friend suggested it at university. ‘I didn’t see myself in that role, partly because I didn’t know what a social worker was and, like anybody who doesn’t know, you are imbued with prejudice because of what you think it is,’ he recalls. After investigation, he changed his mind:
‘I was interested in where we have come from as a society, and the clues that history give us as to the future and how we can progress as a society. Within that, I was interested in people’s lives and how they are aff ected by politics and power. For me, inequality has always been the most pressing concern. Social work seemed to be a profession that had something to say about it.’ Throughout his training Martin realised
there was an identity crisis in social work, and to this day says it is still an enduring question and for me it is unresolved. One reason for this became clear when he