Your article on social exclusion (cover story, 27 September) is timely, and goes into depth to do the subject justice. But now we have to bite the bullet. What are we going to do to challenge the marginalisation of our profession from the debate about social care and social justice provision?
The failure of the government's project is rooted in its attempt to de-politicise social investment and to demonise those professional groups who in past were associated with social justice struggles - especially social workers. As Bill and Charlie Jordan have observed (Social Work and the Third Way: Tough Love as Social Policy, Sage, 2000), this government makes a virtue of its disdainful stance towards social workers, its suspicion of the public sector and its top-down process of implementation. Perhaps the only silver lining is that social workers cannot be blamed now that the government's much vaunted projects are exposed as the pitiful sops they are.
Social work desperately needs now to look to new alliances: with the unions, whose battle with Tony Blair about privatisation will not be delayed long; and with the churches, who tried so hard to sustain the inner-city poor during the Thatcher years only to be betrayed by this cynical and mean-spirited Labour government.
But above all we must ally ourselves with service users and the poor themselves. Many social workers could be organised around a campaign giving a vision for the future informed with a sense of moral purpose, and based on social truths instead of the gibberish of media management and propaganda.
This fight needs to start soon. As the world enters war and recession, we need hope and compassion for humankind to be at the forefront of our minds, instead of the obsession with money and materialism.
It is only by remaining true to the most fundamental values of social care that we can restore decency and fairness, and only by rejecting the warped and cowardly concept of "tough love" can we keep that faith.
Martin Wall
Malvern
Worcestershire
Researching exclusion
I welcome your focus on social exclusion (27 September), which remains a core concern for many social workers.
I am currently doing a piece of research, funded by the Association of Directors of Social Services research group, on social exclusion and the use of the Mental Health Act 1983. I am examining the relevance of the concept of social exclusion to decision-making in Mental Health Act assessments. One early conclusion is that people with severe mental health problems are excluded from society to a much greater extent than those with no diagnosis. According to the government's definition of what it means to be socially included, many are excluded from labour markets, housing markets, financial markets or affluent neighbourhoods.
To address this, the social exclusion unit needs to review government policy as it affects the social exclusion of people with mental health problems. And to make its current policy effective, the perspective of social workers who are tackling the problem of social exclusion on a daily basis cannot be ignored.
Martin Webber
Kingston, Surrey
Start by valuing people
I recently attended a very good conference on 'Valuing People' exploring issues raised by the recent white paper. I was a little surprised following the afternoon tea break by the exodus of half the conference (I counted) who all presumably usually only work five and a half hour days and therefore had good reason to miss the workshop run by people with learning difficulties, who had travelled from Newcastle for the event.
Gabby Rolfe
London
Men can be victims
While agreeing with your article on the help needed for women who are victims of domestic violence ("Domestic matters", 20 September), it is important that medical professionals and social workers make sure that claims are genuine, rather than fabricated and used as an excuse to oust the father or husband. There is also a danger of paying far more attention to violence against women than is paid at the moment to domestic violence against men.
The number of men abused by women is far greater than professionals such as social workers and solicitors realise. It is extremely rare for these men to get any help from professionals. In many cases, the men who abuse women have been abused by mothers or other female relatives when they were children. By ignoring this, social services are contributing to domestic violence.
If only social services and lawyers realised that both men and women abuse both the opposite sex and children, they would make far more progress in stamping out domestic violence against men, women and children.
John Bell
Co-director
Both Parents Forever
Cafcass is right
Imagine the rightful public outcry if social workers refused to take on new cases because they were in dispute about employment conditions. But children's guardians, formerly guardians ad litem, get away with this disgraceful and uncaring action (News, page 4, 20 September).
This argument turns on the desire by a powerful lobby to keep hold of their inflated salary cheques and maintain their professional status; which provides a powerful and privileged position in the court room with limited responsibilities outside. Children's team managers and their skilled social workers are never paid as much as full time fee earning children's guardians, but have enormous responsibility. The whole episode is distasteful and Cafcass is right to break down this sinecure.
Peter Davis
Coventry
