The research which informed this book was carried out at a particular moment in the history of anti-discriminatory social work developments, when the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW) incorporated anti-racist learning requirements in the Diploma in Social Work (Paper 30) (1989) (the professional social work qualification awarded after two years of education and training). This was an initiative which acknowledged the manifestation of racism in the social work arena, and made it a compulsory requirement that issues of ‘race’ and racism should be addressed in all aspects of social work education and training. These were radical developments which signalled a serious commitment by a state welfare organisation to tackle racism. For the first time, while they were undertaking training in social work agencies, students and their practice teachers (work-based supervisors) were given the responsibility for implementing anti-racist learning requirements.

The research project, which was instigated by the Department of Social Work at the University of Central Lancashire, initially set out to explore how far CCETSW's anti-racist learning requirements were achieved, and what barriers, if any, there were to implementation. It sought, through detailed information from students themselves, to identify as clearly as possible, any difficulties associated with dissemination and anti-discriminatory practice which they experienced while on placement in social work agencies. Interviews were carried out with a sample of black and white students in order to facilitate a comparative analysis to explore if there were similarities in experiences, or if ‘race’ and racism were more dominant factors in determining the experiences of black students. As practice teachers (qualified social workers within agencies) are responsible for supervising students, they too were interviewed to assess the impact they had on the placement experiences of students. In this respect, the research was concerned with contributing to a deeper understanding of racial exclusion and discrimination within the personal social services, at a time when anti-racism was becoming a fundamental part of CCETSW's legislation regarding social work education and training.

Interviews were undertaken with first and second year students and their respective practice teachers. In-depth semi-structured taped interviews were carried out with 20 students in a variety of social work settings. Each student was interviewed three times during the first year of the research project (1991) and half of the group were then interviewed again during the second year of the project (1992).