Table Of Content4 Transforming Social Work Practice
Sociology and
Social Work
JO CUNNINGHAM
STEVE CUNNINGHAM nm
‘aa nga.
Sociology and
Social Work
JO CUNNINGHAM AND
STEVE CUNNINGHAM
Series Editors: Jonathan Parker and Greta Bradley
Fist published in 2008 by Leaing Matters td
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ep ned in 2008
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
AN AW BW DN
Poverty and social work service users
Social exclusion, saciology and social work
Families
‘Community
Moral panics
Education
Laoking back, looking forwards: The relevance
of sociology for social work
References
Index
wl
105
22g
51
176
283
393
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Kate Ledge, Di Page end Jonathan Pater fom Learning
ties, for ther encouragement nc regular prompting,
Thanks also ge te the very mary students we have Laugh, pest and present, for their
neverencing enthusiasm ane wilingness to share thai vias ard experiences,
And last but by no means last, huge thanks lo Hemry fa hs patience wile we ha
been writing this ok: Nomnal parenting will raw be resumed with much vigour.
Dedication
This beok s dedicates to htke Filey, former colleague of outs at the Univesity af
Central Lancashire, who as both a passionate aclacete of sociology ard a shied
sacial wher, Mike ce from motor neurone csease atthe age of 46. This buok is
Mike with ford memories ané ch affection, and Yor his amily with out lowe
Introduction
Sociology hes been laught in Bish universes for over 109 years. As well as being
Ueiveed asa ‘sund-alane, specialist subject, an element nf sacoleseal content can
be faund on the syllabi of numerous degree courses. Stcology also eften features
stangly on many prolessional traning programm, ineluding secountercy, teachin,
Jurnali, health professions, and, of couse, socal work. The pupularty and ils
fence of soco.ogy to «uch # wide range of discplines and professions serve to
emphasise its importance and staring as an acavemic subject in unveils. Is
antracion stoms from is core subset matter. Sociology seeks to provide us with
‘eplaratians for abreal range of socal phenomera ar serital trends, Hence, soco-
logica eszarcn can provide accountants with indications as ta how carsumers may
react to increases in prices, af variations in tox rates. It can provide teachers wity an
Uuncersansing af way cheren trom aenvved backgrounds terd te do less well at
cipal than ther 2etter-at counterprts. Secology can assist n showieg journalists
how inaccurate macia representations of particular sucil yroups van lad to stereo
{yping and stigmateasion. In adcition, it e2n hely hullh professionals undersiand
shy Societys characterised by socsl class vanations in if expecarc. health and
rmortalty, We examine the relevance af socialugy tu socal work iv greater cetal ia
Chapter 1
‘though the atractions of sociology are widely acknowledged within academia
tacay, tis Fae not alias buon the case. For istance, on 22 August 1902, The
Tinnes publisted a eter fram a cumexporens ident‘ ony as @ Socoiotst, The
letter lambested the dish educations! establishment for rs ‘ale to acknowwesige
the portant rale the rerging acedernic distin of sociology coalo perform Ia
facilitating an understanding of the socal problems that cripoed the county at the
turn af the twentieth cantury. This os atime, It shoul! ae remermhered, when the
pioneering poverty surveys o' Charles ooth and Seebohm Rowntree were laying bare
the depth ef urban squaler and poverty, arovoking the consciences of piicians and
socal reformers. Ta author of he eller 0 Te fines made reference a this growing
auareness cf the plight of the urban poor, but feated England as falling oehind
‘ther ravians in grasang the explanatory potential ol sacielogy. This vas, ths aurnor
ft, pertcularly unfortunaze in the liyht of ovetshaming evidence that socal pro
blers were nat inevitable oF untecatalls
The time fas now arsved ven an oft schoo! economist wha held fo the
iremodiable character of Soca eis soaked upan much as woutd fe a
physician wh should reiterate the view that once prevaid that olaques and
pestonces are wholly beyond the reach of human art to arrest, remove oF
prevant. Those who perceive these deeper truths of society, whatever they
may cal thcmslves, are sociologists, and their aurer and isportance are
mnercasng very roid.
(Quite how rearers of The Tes acted to the revelation that socinlagsts wore, 25 a
species, on the vorgo of multiplying cacrmausy in number is nor atagethce cle.
Neither da ve knows what the response was oa secan lester to The Tees, pl shec
(on 2 September 72 1903, which pleaded for ts readers to donare €10,000 fr the
setlirg up af 2 school of soeningy = Londan. The reaction, we suspect, was nat one
Of enarmous enthusiasm. Nonetheless, a school of socalngy, which went under the
rome the London School of Ecanamics (LSE), was created very soon after. OF couse,
the LSE has lovay evolved inte a cludel ef frtlass socal scence research anc
teaching, jusfiaby attracting plaudits fram quveenmente and academics around
the woikd ts days of having ta nay for ils funding an pleas fer cash in national
newspapers are lony yore, However, things did no initally go particularly saethly
for this errbyonie school of sociolayy. The LSE's fist annual repent, for example
talked eboul the ned ta digel the fog af indie that seemed to surround its
endeavours Secioogy, the report vert un, aslo! grestnt papular andthe calibre
ofthe stugents they were attracting Was nat alogethet good. Many of ther stents
vse ineined ta pessimism and elslsionment, unabe to grasa the exqlenatary,
Ihorating potential of sociological rescrch ancl teaching (The Fines, 7 Dacembur
1908,
‘These cal, passionate detances of the diealine de have somerhing oa contempor
ary resonance ta” us. The cifieultes the IS pioneers experienced in getting socilogy
taken seriously enund fair ra us ae sorolages tac. fr although the
noes widely aceated in academia it nas akaays struggled to get ise taken seriousy
‘ut there’ n che el" urd. Indeed, sve socialagists have often fend ourselves at
the but of wat we nthe trade’ regard as umvarrantes jokes and humour By Way of
example, some of you may remectber the Bris Telecom ‘ology acert show in
1988 starving Waureen Lipman as Beatie, the doting grandma, She ecewed a phone
call ror he" disvaught grandson, who tld her that he hed failed al is exams, For
those of you wha di not gee the adr, here isan extrac rom
Beottetreceving the phone call whilst baking a cake}: Anthony? Ooh,
congratulations vo your exain ees
Anthony (sat sulkng an the bottom of hi stairs at Home: Gracama, J fed
Beattie its dow, shocked: Wher do you mean, you fled?
Anthony: J mean ! aed (he then goes through all the zal’ acaderic subjects he
bos fleet
Beatte: You didn’ pass anything?
Anthony: Pottery (he says this sulky)
Beale ther spirits pick up Potery’s very useful... Anthony, peuple wil ati
ne plates! Anything else?
Anthony: Sociology! the akmost spits tis out, the tone of his woice ilustrating the
Tack of worth he alacws to the subjec.
Beatin (unaware ofthe "useessness" 0 sociology quaifiativn: An ‘ology’ He
‘ets an ‘logy and ho says he's fated? You get an ‘aogy’ end you're ascent
‘The jake, oF cause, was on poor Bratie, who ws daft enough te even think that an
‘ogy’ vasa saris subjct end warty of congratulation Indeed, in rthony’s eves
ecology care even fuller down the geccng order than po:tery, as evidenced by
the fact that he mentioncd it as.
1s wl as having to respond te edule, sociology Aas also een erties for con
ciguting to "pol breakdown and as being 2 bastion of unhingec, rican. oft wing
Feelutionaries. In 1966, “or xaraple, tne Pope bam sociology for generating mara
luncertzinty, desenbing tae sucaly very cinngerous and secusing Ie of uaderminng
the Catnelc fan (The Times, 4 Dacernber, 1960), At the same time, the stl of
soclology as blamed for ercauraying caniaus Fats, antiVietvam war process, she
Inter inthe 1370s, it aslinked to a propensity to comraittettorst acts, Te dsp ne
es been a aarticur target for cunseratves an the ‘rg’ of the poltical vie,
many of whom see it a5 a destabilising influence, One such corrmestator, David
Marsind, once sad that sociology studonts were being systematicaly desig for
effective work and trained Yop delicate intent ary detau; 0 be ential saboreurs
ff entan ast, and as mast people want to ne ited in Bosley. 1387). Tey were
imvarably being \aughl, argued another rign-wng commentatay, by 20 ignorant
rate os in jrgon, fred by doctine and profocnaly fost ro alf fons of author
and power (Scruton, 1988
Cnainly, sociologists have often been motivated as much by 2 desire to change
socety a5 they have ta explain it, and inthis sense they are afte chven by passion
‘and a deat sense of purpose, Ka Mare, one ofthe Tourd ng fathers of socialeay
‘vas deeply moved by the explotion and endemic paverty suffered by the werking
asses in the sineizenth century, ania nis work he sought to set aut the path
towards a society nat would be tree of socal ard economic ills. Mery secalogits
see, While not necessary suoscibing to War's idea, have been influenced by 4
Silay desire to intiate progressive change. tis pushes ths chal often leeds to
chaiges of politcal aiss and subjectvty. However, a you wll swe as you werk your
‘say though ths tod, “here is no one ‘tet, er ‘core’ explanation fr sail ard
economic arablems, There ave sitferent, competing inteeprelsinns and ther> wre as
mary influential socilogists of the ‘ight’ as there are ofthe ‘aft. Rathor than this,
being @ hancicap, for us as teachers of socnlogy this i ane of the subject's most
cendeaing features. Hep ng stents negotiate these diferat explanations far scil
phenomena, watching them grepple with intenpretatons af social prob ems ith
"ich they were previously unfamiliar, and seeing therm challerye Ui preconceived
ens is fasenating and rewarting. Indeed, while weting this uve, we inadverlenlly
clseussecl between oursches our on first encaunters with socilogy.Alhough w2
cliscoveredl the scipine at diferent peindsin aur lies, tsimpec and inlaunes upon
hoth of us was the same, Seciology opened up a ree cuticak on the world fous,
challeng ng saker-targyantes assumptions tat we had Feld for yeas, and providing
tations of soil phenomena ths; he\ped us situate our vierports and expe
Hast ofa, though, our passion for socolugy stems from Ue fact tat it of es us, 25
social vnrkes, sights inta and exalznations fur the problems that we have 1 deal
with on a day-tocay basis. Surely, as professionals who are oasioned atthe front
line’ ofeHorts to ceal with povery, socal exeusion, educational dadvantage, unem-
pluymers, youta offending, community brkeown and other social ily there is 2
compelling care for us to take an incest in attempts to explain these chenomers.
Of course, that isnot ea say that sceiology can find all the ansivers to all the social
rable and issues that we cscuss in ths kook, At the very last though, we hope
Ihat it ean inform yaur understanding of the issues and hep you develo a soca
logical imagination tick an ir tun hep shape your practice. As social workes, you
will be working with wherable, marginalised individuals and grouas of people, and
‘ve fee! shar it is cuca that you can see beyond crave, inaccurate and st‘cotypieal
representations, wtih aio ackoanladge what are often the social causes of oppres
Chapter 1 of the book begins by exolaining the etevance of suciology to social work.
‘As well s swing you atertoa to the structures an influences that shape people's
capariences and ife énances (such as seca class, scilisabn, education, gender,
race ard region), we introduce you toa range of core penpetives thet socilagits
use te eclain society, including functionals, Macism, symbole interaction sm and
rostraedernis,
Chapter 2 movesan to sia mine the extent and nature of povertyin the UK. As we will
shove, social work sence users are among the most impoverished pesple and far
many of them povery defines thar lives, Here we examine te extent of poverty,
ane oyplaantons that have been advanced to account for it, We also assess the
role of socal wark in relation to poverty
Chapter 3 focuses onthe concopt of social oxlusin and ts relevance to socal work
‘The chapter considers the evolution of te conceat and lacks atts influence on policy
debates in the UK. r goes an to assess diferent intrpretations ef sail exclusion and
‘amines the relative influence of cach of these on recent poly and practice
She family sone the caveinsttucinsin socety anit i often the site of secial work
Ineweniers. In adeition, the fail, oF more accurately family breakdown, has been
popularly parvayed as the cause of a range of soca ils, Chapter & exis these
sims by looking at recent trends infamy ie and assessing different secologial
ard ferinist perspectives an the family. In addition, i considers the possibilities for
veloping a feriist approach to social work practice.
Uke ‘tne family’, the ‘sommurity’ often figures prarinenly in debates about social
Problems, wolore and social work, Chepter § examines sorological perspectives on
‘community. 1 logks at diferent definitions af ‘community’ and assesses the impli
‘ions of each for seta! werk practic, The chaater also considers the assumptions
undevpining recere initiatives thes have been geared towsrds esting ‘communi
in deprive! ans
‘The problems faced by mary groups of sodial watk serie users con sornetnes be
ompaunded ay the marginalisation and stigma that result fom inaccurate, exagger
alud levels of concer surounsing the “arat they af sald to pose, Chapter 6 looks
atthe socolagical concept of moral gars. assessing its potenti! for helping us ta
Caplin the exaggerated levels of concera that sometimes suroured certain social
