BU Research Blog

Jonathan Parker, Professor of Society and Social Welfare has a new paper published today in the Journal of Comparative Social Work.

The paper explores the ambivalent position social work enjoys as both a needed public service and a hated interference in private life. The utility of this ambivalence is manifest in the blame attached to social workers, rather than other professionals, when things go wrong. Social work fulfills a need in society that goes deeper than the surface-level aspects of helping and supporting. It offers a useful scapegoat to detract from wider political and governmental failings.

The paper is published under a creative commons license and can be accessed following this link https://journals.uis.no/index.php/JCSW/article/view/312.