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CASE CRITICAL: THE DILEMMA OF SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA. Ben Carniol Reviewed by Freda Bradley In his introduction to this pithy little book Ben Carniol states that he intends to write about "the realities of social work" and that he wants to capture the experiences of "those who receive and those who deliver social services." Having said this, he goes into a cursory, flying historical review of the roots of social work and social welfare in Britain, then in Canada in the late 1980's . He does some analysis of social work perspectives over the years and quotes in a homely fashion from disillusioned front-line social workers and some clients. He does a "patriarchal capitalistic" analysis of social assistance and the social change. Case Critical is a montage of current, critical or radical thought in social work schools bolstered with an impressive number of quotations from literature and research. Carniol's analysis of women in the welfare system, both as receivers and givers of service, is excellent. To accomplish this he leans heavily on Helen Levine of the Carleton University School of Social Work, whom he credits in the preface. Levine is the strongest feminist social work writer in Canada. He attempts to credit the women's movement and its effect on social work, but with little analysis. In the beginning he sets up social work and social workers; "social work claims to offer effective help to the troubled and the needy. It is one of society's answers to the problems of poverty and social distress." Having erected his straw dollie, he acknowledges that social work has been a selected area of women's work as women "do the cleaning up of male-defined and male-controlled society in the home or in welfare offices." At the end he preaches to us to participate in mass action of social movements! He then falls short of analyzing the victim and blaming the victim. As a reader, I couldn't help wonder what social movement he saw himself belonging to and what toilet he felt he was paid to clean. While talking about the "personal is political" it was impossible for me to tell where he locates himself. Perhaps this is why his book had the aura of lip service radicalism. The chapter entitled "Social Work and Social Change: Fighting Back" was both incomplete and uninspiring. He talked about coalitions but seemed not to know about networking. He seemed to have no knowledge of the struggle of women's alternative services to attempt "social interventions" and the struggle to unlearn bureaucratic competitive styles. Many areas were left untouched: housing, daycare services, worker co-ops, education and training programs for women. The area of social work and consciousness raising was unexplored. Strategies for change were not examined. Further, although this book states itself as examining the dilemma in Canada, there was, except for cursory references to the U.S., no international context for comparison and contrast. There was not even a whisper about the International Federation of Social Workers, an organization in which the Canadian Association of Social Workers is active. If you are a social worker who hasn't looked at the literature for a while, if you are from another field and want to have a fast look at social work or social welfare with a feminist, somewhat radical perspective, then this is the book for you. As a woman who has both received and delivered services over the years, I can't help muse, "white middle-class men still write books; social action, social change is done by women." I'd rather read a book by Helen Levine. Freda Bradley lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and has been a practicing social worker for 16 years. She has worked in Montreal, lectured at the Maritime School of Social Work, and been active in the social action committees of the Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers, in her union, and in other social change groups. |
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