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© British Association of Social Workers

Ambiguities in Decision Making: Social Work's Response to ‘Glue-Sniffing’ in Scotland

ELIZABETH JAGGER

Dr Elizabeth Jagger is a lecturer in sociology in the Social Science Department of Glasgow's Caledonian University. She teaches courses on popular culture and sociology of the body. She has previously conducted research in the field of drugs and the family; and on dating advertisements. She is currently working on a project concerned with ‘bodywork’; that is, investigating practices concerning the health, hygiene and beautification of the body by young people

Correspondence to Dr Elizabeth Jagger, Social Science Department, Park Campus, 1, Park Drive, Caledonian University, Glasgow G3 6LP

Summary

This paper examines how social workers make decisions about which cases of ‘glue-sniffing’ require intervention, in the context of a government policy which construes the problem primarily within the arena of parental responsibility. Using data from interviews with social workers and research on ‘glue-sniffing’, it shows that social workers were frequently reluctant to deal with cases. It explains that this has to do with factors such as organizational priorities, lack of resources and, in particular, the ambiguous status of ‘glue-sniffing’ within their own professional discourse. It concludes that the complex interplay of these factors means that government policy is not translated into practice in any simplistic manner.


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