The January 5th issue of New Society contained a very interesting article "Satisfaction in Social Work" by John Haines of Nottingham University.

In this paper, John Haines analyses what happens to social workers after they have completed their training. He examines at some length what motivates social workers and notes the attitude of various Government publications on this question. He emphasises that “a critical examination of social work practice may provide some clues to its current difficulties." Although it is difficult to get exact figures, a study done by Sylvia Watson, published by the journal Social Worker, indicated that in the child care service the wastage rate is high. More than 160 child care officers were lost to the profession in the year 1963-64. Furthermore, these losses consist in part of new entrants to the service. In : fact, Mr. Hines says, "the impression, then, is that quite a large number of people who go into the career in social work, usually with a strong motivation for it, are no longer to be found in their original post after even as few as two or three years," : Mr. Haines then goes to examine what is wrong. He notes the various factors which destroy the social workers original idealism: lack of planning, an image of social work "divorced from reality", competitircn from "fieldwork replacements,", the sheer volume of work, etc. However, he concludes this section by noting that "working conditions are md. Hours are too long, with little organised compensation for late evening work. In some places a social worker is made to feel guilty if she takes a couple of hours off in the daytime to go to the hgirdresser or to do some shopping." “he net result is a vicious circle whereby "the manpower shortage increases the burden on the workers, which in turn tends to ageravate the lack of staff." John Haines' conclusion is that "Social workers should not be afraid to demand more for themselves, using their experience and knowledge as evidence to convince the general public of their case...." He wants the profession to be united: "the fragmentation in social work resulting from piecemeal development" has made it diffic ult for the social workers to "speak with a united voice. His passing shot provides a backing for the campaign against the starving of the welfare services in this country: "In comparison with the vast national expenditure on such requirements as defence or education, the cost of the improvements in the social work services would be minimal. What is needed is adequte pressure from social workers and their leaders in order to provoke government and local authorities into action...." This has a familiar ring to those of us who have seen the effects of the Government operating a completely wrong order of priorities in expenditure and effort. It is good that a spokesman for this profession should put forward the idea that social workers should fight for their rights. In the past, governments have exploited the idealism and illusions of such sections of the commnity to exploit them and use them for ameliorative activities. As the sacial workers become more class conscious and go on to organise, the old pattern of do-gooders will disappear forever. Instead the social workers will be powerful allies for all those who seek to use the lessons of the obvious hypocrisy of this and other governments to explain the need for a complete social change in this country. -