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© British Association of Social Workers

Informal Welfare, Social Work and the Sociology of Welfare

JOHN OFFER

Dr John Offer gained his B.A. (1972) and Ph.D. (1979) from the University of Keele. Since 1977 he has been a lecturer in Social Administration and Social Work at the New University of Ulster. He is also co-director of a DHSS-funded project on Informal Welfare based at the University.

Summary

This article seeks to inject some important but neglected considerations into discussions about the nature of informal welfare and the notice social workers should take of it. Following a sketch of how both sociology and social policy have regarded informal welfare, it is argued that a sociology of welfare which is sensitive to the definitions held by participants indicates that social workers would be wise to seek to ‘tap’ informal welfare very cautiously. It is also argued that such sociology needs to be accorded a more prominent place in social work training courses.


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J. Offer
On the need for a sociology of poverty: comments on the state of research on poverty in the United Kingdom
Social Science Information, June 1, 1985; 24(2): 299 - 307.



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