Social workers haunted by skilful laymen

Press, 23 August 1977, Page 6

Social workers haunted by skilful laymen

I The spectre haunting professional social workers today is the non-professional (lay person, or amateur, the i professor of social work at Victoria University of Wellington (Professor J. McCreary) told 300 social workers at the opening of a fiveday convention in Christchurch last evening. The convention is run by the Social Service Council of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch, to mark its jubilee. “The spectre can be symbolised as the little old lady in tennis shoes with a warm heart who is able to deal with sensitivity and understanding with the problems of her fellow human beings, in a way in which the coldblooded. over-educated social worker is incapable of doing,” Professor McCreary said. This was not an attack on volunteer workers—the survival of some voluntary agencies depended on them—but the implication was that the educated, or professional social worker had nothing more to offer than the volunteer, and in some senses less. There was a public prejudice in favour of volunteer workers. The social worker was also faced with conflict where he was expected to be a punitive instrument, fulfilling

I agency policy, as in the cat i of the Department of Soc<a , Welfare, or the probatioi service. Professor McCrear said. This was counter i productive, and had create, an increasing, unfavoured stereotype of the social wor I ker. It prevented him fron (helping a client find his ful potential, as a punitive atti •tude—seen in the propose, I lowering of the Domesti Purposes Benefit—required ' more judgemental approaci [by the worker. ( New Zealand had a Gev (emment of self-confesae, j conservatives, whose inten I tion was to discourage in creasing trends towards self motherhood by calling sol’ mothers who were not wid ows, “deviants,” “drop-outs.' or “residuals.” and attempt ing to get rid of them, firs by ensuring that they wen never as w’ell off as th« “normals,” and second, tha punitive measures were intro duced to discourage ths “deviation.”

“A Domestic Purpose: Committee has just proposer such measure*. I do not agret with them, or with the Gov emment. but both are consistent with a conservative policy of welfare administra tion, said Professor Me Creary.