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Book Reviews : Authority in Social Casework Robert Foren and Royston Bailey. Pergamon Press. 45s

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
DOI10.1177/026455056901500207
Date01 June 1969
AuthorArthur Hunt
Published date01 June 1969
Subject MatterArticles
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BOOK REVIEWS
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Authority in Social Casework
Robert Foren and Royston Bailey. Pergamon Press. 45s.
A’T A TIME when legislation projects a substantial transfer of power from the
courts to local authorities and when caring services are increasingly expected
to regulate the affairs of individuals and their families, it is imperative that
social workers acquire a far greater understanding of the nature and therapeutic
potential of authority than they have generally displayed. Because this book
undertakes an examination of concepts of authority, of attitudes towards
control and of agency function, its publication is both timely and highly relevant
to contemporary discussion prompted by the Seebohm Report and the Children
and Young Persons Bill.
The authors, both possessing extensive experience in the probation and
after-care service, introduce their work as &dquo;an approach to an approach&dquo;.
It is an impressive approach and provides what is to date the most com-
prehensive survey of social casework theory concerned, directly or indirectly,
with the abuse of authority and the discreet use of control. The source material.
on which most of the discussion pivots, is widely drawn from British and
American casework literature, and it must be assumed that it is the specific
focus on social casework which excludes from the invaluable index and chapter-
notes reference to such original thinking as that of Fromm, Comfort and Storr.
The first section of the book briefly considers concepts of authority and
attitudes towards control. The social and psychological processes which influence
perception and expectation of authority roles are acknowledged, and the careful
attempt to overcome the persistent confusion surrounding such terms as &dquo;per-
missive&dquo;, &dquo;directive&dquo;, &dquo;self-determination&dquo; and &dquo;authoritarian&dquo;, should prove
to be of very great help to...

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