Book Reviews : Support Systems in Social Work Martin Davies Routledge & Kegan Paul, £2.50
| Published date | 01 December 1977 |
| Date | 01 December 1977 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455057702400412 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
148
but
sadly
he
was
back
in
prison
be-
forc
the
book
was
published.
How-
ever,
Jimmy
Boyle’s
book
does
end
on
a
more
hopeful
note
as
he
de-
scribes
his
creative
activities
and
ex-
periences
in
the
special
unit
at
Bar-
linnie
Prison.
Royalties
from
his
book
will
be
used
to
set
up
a
Trust
Fund
to
help
socially
deprived
children.
Perhaps
also
the
fact
that
these
two
books have
been
written
and
published
is
a
hopeful
sign.
If
they
serve
no
more
than
to
open
up
channels
of
communication,
they
will
have
achieved
something
of
lasting
and
positive
value.
DAVID
MATHIESON
Support
Systems
in
Social
Work
Martin
Davies
Routledge
&
Kegan
Paul,
£2.50
This
book
by
Martin
Davies,
begins
by
outlining
a
specific
project
and
ends
with
an
analysis
of
systems
theory.
On
the
project
volunteers
were
used
by
two
voluntary
agencies
to
provide
a
support
system
for
chil-
dren
with
learning
difficulties.
It
is
a
well
written
book
in
three
sections,
each
of
which
is
to
do
with
helping
but
can
be
read
as
an
essay
complete
in
itself.
As
a
whole
Martin
Davies
argues
his
case
for
a
recognition
of
what
is
in’
effect
indigenous
help,
i.e.
help
which
is
indigenous
to
society
itself.
Social
workers
are
not
necessarily
more
helpful
to
the
society
they
seek
to
serve
merely
by
the
creation
of
a
framework
in
which
they
proliferate.
It
is
their
ability
to
create
a
suppor-
tive
society
which
is
crucial,
not
their
ability
to
substitute
for
a
society
which
has
ceased
to
be
so.
The
use
of
vol-
unteers
is
one
aspect
of
such
crea-
tion,
one
viable
proposition
in
a
host
of
impossible
tasks.
A
proposition,
be
it
said,
which
brings
social
workers
into
an
area
where
the
art
of
the
pos-
sible
is
no
longer
easily
mastered
or
even
recognised
as
an
art
form.
K.
L.
HOWE
The
Southfield
Papers,
No
7
(contain-
ing
articles
about
hostels
and
penal
establishments).
Obtainable
from
frank
C.
Foster,
OBE,
11
Winston
Park,
South
Molton
EX36
3AY.
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