Aldgate J, Healy L, Malcolm B, Pine B, Rose W and Seden J (eds), Enhancing social work management: theory and best practice from the UK and USA, Jessica Kingsley in association with the Open University and the University of Connecticut, London, 2007, 320pp. ISBN 978-1-84310-515-2

✍ Scribed by Lester Parrott

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 37 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0749-6753
• DOI: 10.1002/hpm.893

✦ Synopsis

Changes to the organisation of social work over the past 20 years have created significant challenges for managers within the Personal Social Services (PSS). Successive governments particularly in the UK and USA have been determined to revolutionise the means of managerial control and service delivery within welfare services. Increasingly systems and procedures imported from the private sector have been at the forefront of this transformation. This book is therefore a timely contribution to enable managers to both understand these recent changes and provide some practical guidance to administer them effectively.

The book is organised into 12 chapters being written in turn by authors from the UK and the USA. The book begins with Harris considering the broader historical and policy context that has led to the advancement of new management techniques in welfare services. This he does well if a little uncritically in my view given his previous work on management within social work which has been more questioning (Harris, 2005). For Harris, management has become a complex enterprise that challenges managers to chart their way through often-uncertain terrain caused by the shift towards new public management within social work. Factors of importance in this process are increased competition between the public and independent sectors, increased scrutiny from government fuelled by the monitoring of performance. Chapters 2-4 concern particular aspects of management dealing in turn with issues of leadership, improving performance and ethics. Each of these chapters deals in a very positive way with the problems set and suggests helpful strategies for managers to adopt. For example, Healy and Pines chapter on ethics identifies a range of tools that can assist managers to constructively reflect upon ethical issues. However, no mention is made of the General Care Councils Code of Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers, a surprising omission given its relevance here. Barnes chapter on improving performance is helpful in suggesting positive ways to manage change through a focus upon 'Appreciative Inquiry' which ask managers to consider how to appreciate the current strengths within organisations and build upon them rather than focusing upon a problem-focused approach which has the danger of over-emphasising what is not working in an organisation. However, I would have appreciated a more critical reflection on how managers are to respond to the new performance framework and perhaps beg the question as to what usefulness they may or may not have in service improvement, for a more critical approach see Webb (2006). Chapters 5-8 consider direct management issues ranging from managing diversity, health and safety issues, managing across interagency boundaries and finally managing care environments. Malcolm's chapter on managing diversity is particularly useful. His emphasis upon diversity competence for managers in dealing with different groups of employees is particularly apposite.