BJSW Advance Access originally published online on July 11, 2005
British Journal of Social Work 2005 35(7):1163-1174; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch209
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Postmodernization: A Phase We’re Going Through? Management in Social Care
Dr John Lawler is Lecturer in Public Sector Management, University of Leeds. He previously worked as a local authority social worker, then Teaching Fellow at University of Bradford Management Centre. His research includes management development in social work; management and leadership in public sector organizations; user and caregiver views of services, and organizational change. He has published in each of these areas.
Dr Elizabeth Harlow is a Senior Research Fellow and a member of the Salford Centre for Social Work Research, based at the University of Salford. Prior to this, she worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bradford where she taught child development and child care practice as well as organization and management theory to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Her research interests include: gender, organizations and career; new public sector managerialism; and the changing nature of social work. She has recently published in the journals European Journal of Social Work, Journal of Social Work and Practice. She has co-edited two collections: Management, Social Work and Change (with John Lawler); and Information and Communication Technologies in the Welfare Services (with Stephen Webb).
Correspondence to John Lawler, Management and Leadership Group, Institute for Health Sciences and Public Health Research, University of Leeds, 71–75, Clarendon Road, Leeds LS2 9PL, UK. E-mail: J.A.Lawler{at}Leeds.ac.uk
This paper considers the challenges facing managers of social care services in public sector organizations in the UK. Some theorists might argue that these challenges are the manifestation of a new postmodern era. It is argued here, however, that society is not fully postmodern: indeed modernity continues with some of its features (such as a concern with rationality and reason) heightened and intensified. Social trends associated with this transitional phase of postmodernization have been highlighted in the literature and here they form the framework for discussing social care management today.
Keywords: Social care management, postmodernization
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