Read articles selected by BJSW's past editors for free
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the British Journal of Social Work in 2010, we made a number of papers from the journal freely available for a limited time. These papers were hand-picked by editors old and new for their significance to the field.
Eric Blyth and Helen Masson
Editors from 2004 - 2010
Emotional Intelligence, Emotion and Social Work: Context, Characteristics, Complications and Contribution
T Morrison
‘Dr. Tony Morrison’s paper is a well downloaded paper already (it was, for example, in the top 10 HTML accessed papers in 2009) and so is deserving of this 'accolade'. However, choosing this as our editors’ choice is also something of a tribute to Dr. Morrison who was killed in a tragic accident in Canada on February 6th 2010. Tony Morrison and his work were known globally and very well respected and there may well be many readers interested in accessing his paper if they have not done so already.’
Eric Blyth and Helen Masson
Mark Drakeford and Ian Butler
Editors from 2000 - 2004
Trust and Confidence, Possibilities for Social Work in 'High Modernity'
Carole Smith
Voices from the Front Line: State Social Workers and New Labour
Chris Jones
‘Carole Smith’s article makes a compelling case for a revival of trust as the basis for worthwhile social work practice, while setting out in a clear-eyed account the way in which, under New Labour, the search for 'confidence has hijacked social work'.
Chris Jones’s paper comes from the first Special Issue under our editorship, designed to reflect on the first full term of a New Labour government. It does so in a compelling way, capturing the usually-neglected views of front line workers who vividly articulate the fate of those left out by a policy which makes welfare dependant on the ability to work, and in which social work is pressed into service as part of New Labour's authoritarian turn.
Both of these articles may prove as relevant over the next few years as they were a decade ago.’
Mark Drakeford and Ian Butler
Audrey Mullender
Editor from 1996 – 1999
Breaking the Rules: A Group Work Perspective on Focus Group Research
Cohen, M. B. and Garrett, K. J
‘I was proud to publish this paper because it uses social work theory and practice wisdom to advance a mainstream research method. I think that direction of influence is relatively rare.’
Audrey Mullender
Richard Hugman and David Smith
Editors from 1992 – 1995
Probation practice, effectiveness and the non-treatment paradigm
Peter Raynor and Maurice Vanstone
‘Like the 1979 paper in the BJSW whose arguments it develops, this paper has had an enduring influence, and has been widely cited by scholars interested in the potential of social work with offenders to amount to more than surveillance and enforcement of penalties’
David Smith
Problematics of Government’, (Post) Modernity and Social Work
Nigel Parton
‘My reason for choosing this article is that this was a ground-breaking paper in the analysis of the development of social work as a profession, because it took the insights offered by postmodernist theory and applied these critically to social work and its organization in the UK. At the same time, it avoided the relativistic pitfalls of some
postmodernist thinking of its time, in that it provided a basis for understanding and responding to structural developments.’
Richard Hugman
Ron Walton
Editor from 1981 – 1984
Social Work and Chronic Illness
Pauline Hardiker and Vicky Tod
‘During 1981-84 there was a conscious effort to encourage and stimulate critical thinking which linked social theory, research and social work practice. The paper by Hardiker and Tod is an excellent example which draws on the sociology of medicine, attempts to categorise types of illness and disability and uses this analysis to inform a group of case studies. It is one of a number of papers during 1981-84 which focussed on social work practice in primary care and mental health. How to articulate social work practice in health settings remains an important issue as the numbers of older people and people with disabilities grows.’
Ron Walton
Martin Davies
Editor from 1977 – 1980
Theory and Practice in Social Work: A re-examination of a tenuous relationship
Brian Sheldon
A comment on Theory and Practice in Social Work
Bill Jordan
‘Brian Sheldon's paper and Bill Jordan's response elegantly and readably debate issues that are still highly pertinent more than 3 decades later.’
Martin Davies
Phyllida Parsloe
Editor from 1975-1977
The Probation Officer as Social Worker
Robert Harris
'As a former probation officer, I always regarded myself as a social worker first and foremost. When I worked in the Devon Probation Service that was what I was allowed to be, but by the 1970s things were changing. Readers may be interested to see something of the nature of the debate in 1977, when the possibility that the Probation Service might continue as a social service was still being discussed.'
Phyllida Parsloe
Olive Stevenson
Editor from 1971 – 1974
The Child as a client of the Social Services Department
Joan Vann
‘We did not heed the message of this article at the time of the "Seebohm" reorganisation. There have been 40 years of intractable difficulties in developing good services to children in need of safeguarding. We should ponder Joan Vann's wise comments and consider our responses to her questions in the context of our current dilemmas and opportunities for change. The crucial issue is the balance between genericism and specialisation, in both training and practice.’
Olive Stevenson
