Social work - a profession?

British social work is in a beleaguered state. Externally, it has been bureaucratised. Consequently, it has lost much of its internal sense of identity as a profession. This shows in an inhibition of individual judgement, and in the loss of the sense of possession of an inherited body of knowledge. Such a loss renders unavailable existing knowledge which is needed to tackle contemporary concerns - for example, the question of how to work in 'partnership' with the family as enjoined by the 1989 Children Act; or of how the new orthodoxy of empowerment philosophy is to be critically evaluated and integrated. I argue that amongst relevant models of social work intervention, the place of the treatment model has to be restored. Perhaps, ultimately, only professional self-regulation may restore the necessary conditions for offering effective professional service. Meanwhile, the endeavour to negotiate greater autonomy at a local level, and the recovery of a sense of professional history and inherited knowledge, could contribute much to restore the sense of professional identity essential to responsible practice.