As part of Community Care’s 50th anniversary, we’ve spent much of this year reflecting on the pivotal events that have shaped the social work profession over the past five decades.
This has included in-depth interviews with key sector figures, such as Herbert Laming, Eileen Munro, June Thoburn and David Howe, and Professor Ray Jones’s ‘Social work across the decades‘ series, which explored defining moments in social work from each decade since the 1970s.
These pieces have made clear that appreciating the history of social work – including the impact of legal reforms, serious cases, political change and social movements – is crucial to understanding the profession today.
And so we hope the below timeline we have compiled will serve as a guide to understanding the profession’s rich and transformative history.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 
Hampshire County Council 
Oxfordshire County Council 
South Gloucestershire Council 
Wokingham Borough Council 
Webinar: building a practice framework with the influence of practitioner voice 
‘They don’t have to retell their story’: building long-lasting relationships with children and young people 
Podcast: returning to social work after becoming a first-time parent 
How managers are inspiring social workers to progress in their careers 
Workforce Insights – showcasing a selection of the sector’s top recruiters 
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Many thanks for this. It’s sobering to be reminded in such a stark way that for all the evolved legislation, enhanced training, layers of management and Chief positions, social work remains vulnerable to inertia and stagnating practice developments. Who in any social work position can honestly demonstrate that safeguarding is more robust now than it was at the time of the Colwell report? Who can say that people with disabilities or chronic conditions are better served with more choice now? Who can say with conviction that social workers are better trained now than when they qualified with a Certificate? Us social workers do the best we do not because the buraucracy supports us to, education prepares us better and resources enable creativity, but because of our own diligence and qualities.
I wouldn’t have minded Scotland being totally excluded if this had been made clear but ‘Social work through the decades: a timeline – we look back at the significant events that have shaped the social work profession over the past decades’ gives no indication of this and indeed there is no reference to the fact that since 1999 health and social care has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament / Government and therefore none of the legislation referenced since that date applies in Scotland
Dear Ruth,
Thank you for your comment, which makes a very fair criticism. Due to the starting point being the Seebohm report, this ended up being focused on England and Wales, but we should have made that clear and, of course, recognise how much we have omitted, both from Scotland and Northern Ireland. I have amended the article to make that clear but also very much take on board your comment.