Trying to read the writing on the wall: Immediate and imminent impact of national policy

Abstract

The role of social work within the developmental welfare system is under siege and it is the responsibility of social workers and the institutions that train them to take seriously the challenge that has been presented in more than one fonim for many years. There is no doubt any longer that the principles of developmental welfare are here to stay and that they offer for the citizens of the country the potential of access to a welfare system that is equitable and that will promote human development. There are very few who would argue against the values embedded in the White Paper and by extension in all policy documents. Many would also support the idea that social work along with the re st of society - has, at times, failed to meet the most important developmental challenges of the country. What this paper wishes to explore is the sense in which these accepted and acceptable positions have been taken on board to the detriment of social work only. It appears to me that the demands for transformation - and the lack of recognition of existing transformtion -processes are more often than not directed at one profession only. In addition the solutions presented are more often than not directed at the development of "other" professions without ever -adressing the issues associated with the possible failure of these groups to meet the same challenges in the same eras in which social work is said to have failed.