social work law essay

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Social Work and the Law by Allan E. Barsky LAST REVIEWED: 25 May 2011 LAST MODIFIED: 25 May 2011 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0024

“Social work and the law” refers to the interface between the practice of social work and the legal system, including statutory law, case law, legal institutions (courts, prisons, etc.), and legal professionals (attorneys, judges, paralegals, forensic experts, and alternative dispute resolution professionals). Law plays a number of important roles in the practice of social work. First, from an ecological perspective, the legal system is a vital part of a client’s social environment. Many social work clients are involved in legal systems, such as child protection, criminal justice, or mental health. Social workers need to be aware of the laws that regulate each system in order to help clients navigate their way through these systems more effectively, and to be able to advocate for law reform to improve the goodness of fit between clients and their socio-legal environments. Laws also govern many relationships of interest to social work clients, including landlord/tenant, employer/employee, physician/patient, vendor/purchaser, spouse/spouse, and parent/child relationships. Thus, knowledge of the law should provide practitioners with a practical understanding of their clients’ rights and responsibilities in a broad range of social relationships. Second, hospitals, schools, social assistance, correctional institutions, mental health facilities, and other social agencies are regulated by organization-specific laws. Organization-specific laws may dictate who is eligible for services, standards for record keeping, confidentiality, and other client rights. Social workers need to understand these laws in order to ensure that their agencies comply with the laws, and to be able to advocate for changes in the law to promote greater social and economic justice. Third, the profession of social work itself is regulated by various laws. Most states have licensing or accreditation laws that regulate the practice of social work, including who may practice and what standards of practice are legally enforceable. Social workers should also be aware of malpractice (tort) laws that identify when a social worker may be legally responsible for causing harm to a client if they perform their professional duties in a manner that falls below a reasonable standard of care. Finally, some social workers practice in forensic settings, providing investigations, evaluation, expert testimony, and treatment for clients involved in court or other legal systems. Such settings include probation, parole, prison, child custody evaluation, and involuntary committal to mental health institutions.

The resources listed here provide overall introductions to social work and the law, as well as to law and the legal system more generally. For basic overviews and explanations of legal terms, some of the older materials may be sufficient. For specific laws and how they apply in specific circumstances, readers should refer to the most current sources. Madden 2003 and Alexander 2003 provide two of the more recent and comprehensive introductions to social work and the law. Stein 2004 offers one of the most accessible introductions to the legal system and the philosophy of law.

Albert, Raymond. 2000. Law and social work practice: A legal systems approach . 2d ed. New York: Springer.

Provides a clear explanation of the legal system, including judicial and legislative processes, as well as areas of law most relevant to social workers. Information on rapidly evolving topics such as same-sex marriage has become dated.

Alexander, Rudolph. 2003. Understanding legal concepts that influence social welfare policy and practice . Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Describes laws pertaining to child welfare, mental health, professional liability. Designed to help readers understand the relevance of laws to social welfare policy and practice (with emphasis on macro issues).

Brayne, Hugh, and Helen Carr. 2010. Law for social workers . 11th ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

Comprehensive textbook on the British legal system, including laws related to a social worker’s obligations in working with the legal system, children, families, people with mental illness, homeless people, and other people who have been socially excluded.

Madden, Robert G. 2003. Essential law for social workers . New York: Columbia Univ. Press.

Provides a good overview of the legal system and uses case examples to demonstrate the application of law to various issues related to social work practice (particularly clinical/micro practice). Excellent information on child welfare, contracts, advance directives, and malpractice.

Martin, Peter W. 2010. Introduction to Basic Legal Citation .

Online resource that explains norms for citing legal sources, including statutes and case law.

National Association of Social Workers Legal Defense Fund. Legal Issue of the Month. Washington, DC: NASW Legal Defense Fund.

Practice-oriented series of articles to inform social workers of legal issues, rights, and responsibilities. List of titles and order information available online .

Schroeder, Leila Obier. 1995. The legal environment of social work . Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers Press.

Provides a good overview of the legal contexts in which social workers operate (particularly child welfare, family, mental health, and social security laws).

Stein, Theodore J. 2004. The role of law in social work practice and administration . New York: Columbia Univ. Press.

Provides social workers with a good overview of the legal system, legal terminology, and the history and philosophy of law. Chapters on specific areas of law are relatively basic, perhaps designed for social work students rather than practitioners.

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Social work and the law

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The relationship between social work and the law remains strongly contested. The law can be problematic in terms of its purposes and outcomes. The law can be used for social engineering, the promotion of particular ideologies and the preservation of power structures. Certain social groups are overrepresented in prisons, care and psychiatric hospitals. How should social work respond?

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Further reading.

Braye, S. and Preston-Shoot, M. (1995) Empowering Practice in Social Care (Buckingham, Open University Press). This book explains the core components of community care policy and its application to social care practice within a value base that promotes partnership and empowerment.

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Braye, S. and Preston-Shoot, M. (1997) Practising Social Work Law , 2nd edn (London, Macmillan). This book explores the tensions and dilemmas in the complex relationship between the law and social work, and offers guidance to practitioners and managers for legally competent social work practice.

Hill, M. and Aldgate, J. (eds) (1996) Child Welfare Services. Developments in Law, Policy, Practice and Research (London, Jessica Kingsley). This book reports on research critically analysing child-care legislation, policy and practice.

Jackson, S. and Preston-Shoot, M. (eds) (1996) Educating Social Workers in a Changing Policy Context (London, Whiting & Birch). This book examines the relationship between social work practice, policy and education, providing innovative and creative responses to the challenges presented by the contemporary policy context.

Kaganas, F., King, M. and Piper, C. (eds) (1995) Legislating for Harmony: Partnership under the Children Act1989 (London, Jessica Kingsley). This book provides a critical analysis of the concept of partnership, a key component of social policy and practice guidance.

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Braye, S., Preston-Shoot, M. (1998). Social work and the law. In: Adams, R., Dominelli, L., Payne, M., Campling, J. (eds) Social Work. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14400-6_5

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THE IMPORTANCE OF LAW TO SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION AND THE LINK BETWEEN SOCIALWORK AND HUMAN RIGHTS

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Article Contents

• Five policy practice principles
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Social Work and Policy Practice: Understanding the Role of Social Workers

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Ankur Saxena, Sneha Chandrapal, Social Work and Policy Practice: Understanding the Role of Social Workers, The British Journal of Social Work , Volume 52, Issue 3, April 2022, Pages 1632–1642, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcab073

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The social work profession is a practice-based profession that promotes social justice and advocacy for marginalised individuals. In spite of the fact that the policy practice is considered as crucial component of social work practice, the real participation of social workers in policy practice seems very less. It has a potentially significant influence on social work profession, both as a field of study and an area of practice. History is filled with an evidence showing that the policy practice paved the way for the development of social work profession as people used different social work skills to campaign for the formalisation of the social work profession. Social workers have been held up as exercising substantial power to influence policy being policy implementers (Schorr, A. L. (1985) ‘Professional practice as policy’, Social Service Review, 59(2), pp. 178–96; Scott, W. R. and Davis, G. F. (2007) Organisations and Organising: Rational, Natural, and Open System Perspectives, Upper Saddle River, Pearson Prentice Hall). Social workers having practice experience make them excellent advocates because they understand clearly the challenges confronted by their clients, including clients’ presenting problems, holistic environmental factors, and client strengths that can be drawn on so as to assist them. This article throws light on linkages between social work and social policy, policy practice in social work and role of social worker as a change agent in policy practice.

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ISBN : 9781914171826

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This contemporary and creative textbook takes the fear out of learning law, and enables students to apply it to their social work practice with confidence.

Social Work Law is an exciting textbook that supports students who are often intimidated by law as a subject. It helps them remember all the relevant Acts and legislation, and illustrates how the law can be applied in practice.  Learning features such as mindmaps, end of chapter tests, and personal reflection boxes provide powerful tools for understanding and recall. It also explores key study skills to help students with essay preparation and taking a social work law exam.  

Mapped to modules and based on teaching needs, it supports lectures too with up to date content and worked examples to follow throughout.

Accessible and engaging, this introduction guides readers through the modern professional and legal context of Social Work, equipping them with the tools they need to be able to think critically and adapt to whatever situation they may encounter in their practice. 

Whether a qualifying student on an undergraduate degree course, an Social Work degree apprentice, or a newly qualified social worker, this is the go-to textbook for being able to understand , think critically, and apply law to your social work practice.

Chapter 1: Introduction to using this book

Chapter 2: Introduction to the English legal system and social work

Part One; Law relating to children

Chapter 3: Child legislation part one – Child in need or risk of significant harm?

Chapter 4: Child legislation part two - When children become looked after

Chapter 5 Child legislation part three – Children in the criminal justice system

Part Two: Law affecting children and adults

Chapter 6: Chapter 7: Children and adults - Mental Capacity Act 2005

Chapter 7: Deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS) and Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) - Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019

Chapter 8: Children and adults - Mental Health Act 1983/2007

Chapter 9: Children and adults – Legislation pertaining to disability/impairment seen and unseen

Part Three: Law specific to adults

Chapter 10: Adult care: Care Act 2014

Part Four: Practice related study skills

Chapter 11:  Study skills: Applying the law to your social work practice

Chapter 12: Conclusion

Dr Michelle Evans  is a published author, filmmaker, placement link lecturer, senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy and senior lecturer at London South Bank University (LSBU) where she is module lead teaching law for social workers at masters’ level.  Michelle takes great pride in finding innovative and interesting ways to engage and teach students to enable them to not only reach their full potential in terms of assignment grades but to take academic learning and apply it in social work practice, increasing the students' personal professional expertise.

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Your Reviews on this book

"Learning about the law in Social Work can be daunting for students. Having resources to support learners to manage their anxieties and to facilitate their learning is essential.  Dr Evans and Ms Harvey have developed a unique resource that seeks to make learning about the law in social work more accessible."

"This highly readable book is a great guide for students seeking to understand the range of relevant legislation. The use of case studies really brings the law to life, making it easier to understand and remember. The materials are attractive and colour coded, which enables students to link the law more clearly. The study skills chapter, designed to help students with law essays and law exams, is particularly innovative and helpful. An authoritative but accessible guide that should be required reading." 

“This book contains all that Social Work students will need to gain a clear understanding of relevant law current to practice.  Students are often riddled with anxiety when their law exam is looming.  This textbook offers a differential learning approach suitable for learners of all styles and needs.  I have been educating and training students and qualified staff for 26 years and consider this publication’s content with its various activities and information highly relevant to students  to embed law confidently and appropriately in their placements and future practice… This is a great resource and well worth the investment.”

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Essay: Why is the law important for social work and social work service users

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• Subject area(s): Social work essays
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• Published: 29 November 2019*
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The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines Law as “a rule or system of rules recognized by a country or community as regulating the actions of it’s members”. The law can impact on social work in different ways across and within client groups. The aim of this essay is to consider the importance of law for social work and social work users taking into consideration the relevance of social work values.

Social workers have to make decisions and choices in their everyday practice based on both their own values and the values requirements as set out by the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW). These choices and decisions must also be made in line with policies, procedures and laws.

“A distinction may be drawn between  social work law , which includes those powers and duties that expressly mandate social work activity, and  social welfare law, comprising statutes with which social workers must be familiar if they are to respond appropriately to service users needs, but which do not permit or require specific actions by them” (Preston-Shoot et al.,1998a, cited in Social Work Themes, Issues and Critical Debates).

It is essential for social workers to have knowledge of the relevant statutes and laws so that they know what powers they have available to them within the legal framework.

“If practitioners do not know where they stand legally they cannot begin to do their job properly” (workbook p18).

For example, any social worker working with children must be aware of the Children Act 1989. The aim of the act is to simplify the law relating to children, making the law more appropriate by making it child centred. It promotes a “no order principle” in that it is deemed to be in the children’s best interests for matters to be agreed between parties rather than to involve the courts. However, there are a variety of orders contained within the act and the courts will make an order when it is satisfied that making one is better for the child than not making such an order. All child protection work must be carried out within the context of the Children’s Act 1989 and it is imperative that social workers involved in this field have sound knowledge of the orders it contains to be able to practice more effectively and within the law. The Children Act 1989 has areas which correlate to both ‘public’ and ‘private’ law. Private law covers issues such as divorce or disputes over which parent a child should reside with. Public law sets duties for the local authority to provide services for a child ‘in need’ or ‘at risk’.

“The same fundamental principles apply in both private and public law; that is, the welfare of the child is paramount” (workbook 2 p.18).

The Children’s Act 1989 seeks to offer greater protection to children. However, there may sometimes be conflict between social work values and the law, for example the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

The course reader (p220) describes the principal aim of the CDA 1998 (s.37) as the “prevention of offending by children and young persons”.

“Since the introduction of the CDA 1998, youth justice policy in England and Scotland has diverged with an apparently greater focus on a ‘justdeserts’ approach to child offending in England” (Social Work, Themes, Issues and Critical Debates p.276).

This could create a dilemma for the social worker who within the Children Act 1989 sees the support of the child as the main priority, a child in trouble is often a child in need.

Many service users are in some way disadvantaged and may have had to deal with poverty, social exclusion and/or discrimination. Professional social work values are part of the core competencies (CCETSW), these are defined as “having a clear set of values which actively informs your social work practice, particularly concerning promoting the intrinsic ‘worth’ or ‘value’ of another human being” (K111 aids to practice card). Valuing something means that we know its worth “this is essential in social work precisely because many service users are seen by society as ‘undeserving’ or as ‘worthless’. Indeed, some service users have this view of themselves” (K111 aids to practice card, valuing). Knowing that there are laws and regulations in place ensuring that they have rights may empower service users, Bray & Preston Shoot (1995:48 cited in Social Work, Themes, Issues and Critical Debates p.38) state that empowering a person will give them “more control over their lives, to have a greater voice in institutions, service and situations which affect them”.

“Sometimes the demand to be treated in a fair manner coincides with legal requirements, for example, the laws prohibition of racist behaviour and practices supports the demand that all people are treated with respect. All service users have the right to expect to be treated in a non-discriminatory way and to be informed about their rights” (workbook p11).

The course reader states that “the law can also be seen as a champion of the unprivileged and dispossessed” and Williams (as cited in course reader p.15) “sees the law and the language of rights as playing a part in the fight against discrimination:

“for the historically disempowered, the conferring of rights is symbolic of all the denied aspects of their humanity: rights imply a respect that places one in the referential range of self and others, that elevates ones status from human body to social being”.

Social workers may have contact with service users from a wide range of cultural, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds and so must be committed to anti-discriminatory, anti-racial and anti-oppressive practice. They have a responsibility to “identify, analyse and take action to counter discrimination, racism, disadvantage and injustice, using strategies appropriate to role and context and to respect and value uniqueness and diversity”(CCETSW 1995 p.19 workbook p62).

The law can be a useful tool when countering discrimination, the Race Relations Act 1976 states that “it is generally unlawful to discriminate against a person on grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origin or nationality”. The Children Act 1989 also “requires that any services provided for children by the local authority should be responsive to religious, racial and cultural needs”(workbook p.64). ” While you will find legislation preventing discrimination on the basis of race, sex or disability, you will not find similar legislation promoting anti-oppressive practice”(workbook p 12). Dominelli defines anti-oppresive practice as “practice that aims to provide more appropriate and sensitive services by responding to peoples needs regardless of their social status”(dominelli 1993:24 as cited in p6 Social Work Themes, Issues and Critical Debates). In order to empower service users and enable them to maximise their interests it is essential to be aware of the relevant laws available pertaining to discrimination and “practice in a manner that does not stigmatise or disadvantage either individuals, groups or communities”(workbook p22). The law also ensures that there is legal accountability and that the social workers are meeting relevant standards of practice and working in a lawful, safe and effective way. This could aid the service users if they needed to complain or challenge decisions that have been made. Also, “Some social workers have acquired a competence in operating in the court system and are thus able to advance the interests of service users”(reader p12). If the social worker has knowledge of the laws and entitlements they are more able to provide advice and advocacy.

In conclusion, the law provides a structure for social work with guidance, direction, the “framework within which individual social workers have to act (px111 reader) and “the framework within which social work knowledge is applied ( reader p.18). It provides social workers with the powers (authority) and duties (something social work is required to do by law) (workbook p41) they need to do their job properly as professionals. According to CCETSW “Social workers assist people to have control of and improve the quality of their lives, and are committed to reducing and preventing hardship and disadvantage for children, adults, families and groups. They intervene in the lives of people whose life chances may have been adversely affected by poverty, ill health, discrimination and/or disability” (K111 Aids to Practice Cards). The law enables them with the powers to intervene to both protect and serve their service users, helping to fulfil basic human rights through just legal processes. Social workers need to be committed to keeping up to date with the law and using the laws to achieve the best outcomes for the service users, “legal values can accord with social work values and can help social workers to work in a positive way to support and empower service users”(workbook p25).

Bibliography

Pearsall J, The Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2002), 10 th  Edition, University Press

K269 Social Care, Social Work and the Law, England and Wales

Adams. R, Dominelli.L, & Payne, M, 2 nd  Edition Social Work, Themes, Issues and Critical Debates, Palgrave

K111 Social Work Practice Learning (stage 1, 2002, Open University, Milton Keynes), Aids to Practice Cards

Cull, L. & Roche, J. The Law and Social Work, Contemporary Issues for Practice, 2001, Palgrave

K269 Law Cards (2003), race relations children act crime and disorder act

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4 Why do social workers need to know the law?

Understanding the law is crucial to the role of the social worker. There will be many situations where a social worker’s knowledge will be vital in making and explaining decisions and processes chosen with regards to service provision. Being able to interpret and explain what a social work department has a duty to provide and what it has the power to provide are key skills for a social worker.

Social workers need to know whether they have a duty (that is, they have to do something) or whether they have a power (that is, they have discretion). In a world where resources are finite, the emphasis may be on doing only what has to be done, and even this will vary according to the philosophy and approach of different social work departments. In the next section you will consider a framework to assist with such decisions.