From Menzies Lyth to Munro: The Problem of Managerialism

This is a theoretical discussion paper that applies concepts from Menzies Lyth's seminal study on the organisation of the nursing service within a London general teaching hospital to the current context of child protection social work. Menzies Lyth argued that, in the absence of constructive outlets for work-related anxiety and emotion, prescriptive rules and working procedures had developed within the nursing service, as a way to defend against the anxiety inherent in the nursing task. Drawing on this analysis, and with reference to the findings of the Munro Review of child protection and other academic literature, this paper argues that prescriptive and tightly defined risk and performance management techniques have developed within the child protection system in an attempt to defend against the uncertainties of cases, fears of making the wrong decision and of public criticism. Unexpected consequences of the managerialist approach within child protection, highlighted by the Munro Review, are compared to the ‘secondary anxieties’ identified in Menzies Lyth's research. Recommendations made by Munro and the Social Work Reform Board for more supportive and containing contexts for child protection social work are also discussed.