Social Work Competencies: Core Knowledge, Values and Skills
| Date | 01 June 1996 |
| Author | Brynna Kroll |
| Published date | 01 June 1996 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059604300213 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
102
education
staff,
lecturers
in
social
work
and
counsellors,
and
that
is
both
a
strength
and
a
weakness.
It
allows
for
an
appreciation
of
the
breadth
of
work
that
is
developing
in this
field,
and
for
inspiration
to
be
drawn
from
accounts
of
the
variety
of
ways
in
which
issues
of
masculinity
have
been
tackled.
Luke
Daniel’s
polemical
scripts
for
the
introductions
that
he
gives
to
each
violent
men’s
group
that
he
runs
could
be
published
separately
as
mentors
for
the
emancipation
of
the
human
race.
Kevin
Murphy’s
essay
on
the
work
at
the
Camberwell
Probation
Centre,
whilst
less
rousing,
acts
as
a
sound
account
that
any
probation
officer
could
use
in
the
development
of
a
men
and
offending
group.
However,
the
quality,
though
generally
high,
is
not
maintained
throughout,
and
this
breadth
stretches
some
of
the
material
very
thinly,
noticeably
in
Jane
Mordan’s
dated,
contradictory
and
somewhat
patronising
account
of
parenting
classes
in
Deerbolt
YOI.
The
fallacious
and
heterosexist
notion
of
young
men
ceasing
to
offend
simply
because
they
have
become
fathers
is
largely
upheld
along
with
such
banal
insights
as
’Plan
the
course
carefully’
and
’Listen
to
everyone’s
point
of
view’.
Editorial
discretion
should
perhaps
have
been
exercised
a
little
more
ruthlessly.
There
also
seems
to
be
an
automatic
presumption
in
favour
of
groupwork.
Some
consideration
of
how
to
work
individually
with
men,
beyond
Andrew
Cooper
and
Steven
Trevillion’s
s
contribution
on
boundary
setting
on
office
duty
with
angry
male
clients,
would
have
been
helpful.
There
is
also
a
sense
running
throughout
the
book
of
permission
seeking
from
mainstream
academic
feminism.
Several
writers,
particularly
Dave
Morran,
talk
of
the
distrust
women
colleagues
had
of
men
working
with
men,
and
the
compunction
the
men
felt
under
to
work
within
a
particular
feminist
framework.
I
may
be
reading
between
the
lines,
but
there
is
a
critical
tone
that
is
not
quite
overt.
I’d
hoped
more
of
the
writers
would
feel
free
to
express
that
criticism,
challenge
the
by
rote
application
of
sometimes
flaky
feminist
assumptions,
and
be
that
little
bit
bolder.
Trefor
Lloyd
has
the
courage
to
articulate
some
of
the
difficult
debates
at
the
heart
of
this
area
work,
and
questions
not
only
the
dubious
motives
of
some
workers
but
also
the
whole
validity
of
fitting
a
masculinity
approach
into
a
conventional
anti-discriminatory
framework.
Indeed,
his
final
essay
may
have
served
better
as
an
introduction
to
the
volume.
Sexual
politics
is
equally
the
province
of
men
and
women.
But
the
work
men
do
with
men,
to
show
the
limitations
of
a
traditional
gender
system
for
both
sexes,
may
take
a
different
direction
from
the
one
some
feminists
would
like.
This
book
contributes
to
the
development
of
that
work
in
a
readable
but
thorough
way
that
will
be
of
great
interest
and
use
to
people
working
in
this
field.
But
the
measure
of
the
work
itself,
accounts
of
it,
and
our
own
confidence
with
gender
politics
as
a
whole,
will
be
when
men
within
the
Probation
Service
can
openly
criticise
feminism
from
the
validity
of
their
own
considered
gender
insights.
Maybe
Working
with
Men
’97
will
have
that
confidence.
I
hope
it
becomes
an
annual
publication.
Stephen
Hornby
Trainee
Probation
Officer,
UEA
Social
Work
Competencies:
Core
Knowledge,
Values
and
Skills
Antony
Vass
(Ed)
Sage,
1996;
pp240;
£11.95
pbk
This
book
represents
a
brave
undertaking
-
to
make
the
subject
of
social
work
competencies
interesting
and
dynamic.
The
blurb
on
the
back
cover
suggests
that
competencies
will
be
shown
in
practice
as
problem
solving
devices
and
I
began
reading
with
high
hopes
of
a
practical
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