Introduction

Social work is an activity that is essentially about relationships. A wide range of such relationships are involved between social work, the social worker and the state, society, communities, the family, the individual, collectivities, difference and equality. It is the nature of such relationships which signifies the form and purpose of social work. This is why historically social work has been conceived as both a liberatory and regulatory force – and indeed why it may sometimes be identified as both at the same time. It may not only serve to support or restrict human and civil rights. It may also privilege the state and its service system, or seek to prioritise the rights, needs and interests of the service user. All depends on the nature and purpose of its relationships. The relationship that has most often been considered is that between social work and the state. But the relationship of ultimate importance for social work, which defines its role, process and raison d’être, is that between it and service users.

This chapter focuses particularly on the relationship between radical social work and service users. It explores how this relationship has developed and changed since the inception of radical social work a generation ago, in the 1970s, and how it might need to be explored and further developed, if radical social work is to be sustained and best support the rights and needs of service users for the future. While much if not all of the original writing about radical social work was by people involved in the production of social work – as academics, practitioners, educators and so on, this chapter has a somewhat different origin. It comes primarily from a service user perspective. That is to say that I write primarily from my direct experience of using mental health services, including social work and my resulting involvement in service user organisations and movements. However, I also write as someone with an academic involvement in social work as a social work educator and researcher in a British university. It is helpful to be clear about our affiliations and perspectives because these undoubtedly affect our understandings of these issues.