Work and Social Support: Social Workers’ Assessments of Male and Female Clients’ Problems and Needs

This study investigated how social workers assess single mothers’and fathers’needsin the areas of paid work and social support. It found that social workers conform togender “heteronormative” expectations. A father’s problems are assessed as beingmore closely linked to paid work than are a mother’s, whereas a mother’s problemsare assessed as being related to difficulties in the area of social networks.