© British Association of Social Workers
Specialism, Genericism and Others: Does it Make a Difference? A Study of Social Work Services to Elderly People
Roger Fuller has since 1986 worked at the Social Work Research Centre, University of Stirling, where he is senior research fellow and deputy director
Lecturer in sociology at Glasgow Caledonian University
Correspondence should be addressed to Roger Fuller, Social Work Research Centre, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA
Summary
A previous paper published in this journal (Fuller and Petch, 1991) described a preliminary feasibility study designed to investigate the effects of organizing social work teams along specialist or generic lines. The main study which developed from this work is here reported. The study, using modified case review forms, compares the way samples of referrals of elderly people (n=1232) were dealt with at initial assessment and for up to a year subsequently by 15 social work teams of contrasting organizational approach. The latter include specialist and generic teams, and comparisons are also drawn with teams adopting a self-styled community social work approach. Although the organizational agenda has moved on since the study began, the issues are of continuing relevance for the implementation of community care, particularly in view of its growing focus on specialist services. While not arguing that there is any one optimal model of team organization, the paper sets out some of the measurable consequences of opting for the various models; in particular, it emerges that the strengths of specialization are more clearly apparent in certain aspects of their engage ment with clients than in others and at certain stages of that engagement than at others.