Building a safe and confident future: Social work reform in England and late modernity

Martyn Higgins

doi:10.1921/jpts.v14i2.965

Authors

Martyn Higgins London South Bank University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1921/jpts.v14i2.965

Abstract

Since 2009 social work has undergone significant changes. However, it remains unclear whether these reforms have reached a conclusion. There appears to exist a state of continuous reform, which may impede the opportunity to embed reform into social work education and practice. This paper aims to apply the theoretical model of late modernity to social work in England. Using this approach may offer a way to understand social work reforms as a feature of contemporary societies rather than a situation unique to English social work. The paper applies late modern thinking on risk, pedagogy and ambivalence to make sense of the change process in social work. Finally, a proposal to engage critically with social work reform is sketched out. The key message of this paper is that social work reform in England can be seen as a response to the dilemmas of late modern society. It attempts to eliminate risk in social work education and practice. However, this goal is doomed to failure and social work reform can be seen as stuck within a cycle of reform and change.

Keywords: social work reform, late modernity, risk, pedagogy, ambivalence, irony

Author Biography

Martyn Higgins, London South Bank University

Associate Professor, School of Health and Social Care

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