History in the Making of Contemporary Social Work

Social work today operates within a moral and institutional landscape in
which certain policy ideals have come to seem almost beyond dispute.
Central among these is the expectation of self-reliance in two closely related
senses: economic independence through paid work, and the ability to
mobilise one’s own network before turning to public services (Bredewold
et al., 2018). Together, these expectations define what counts as “responsi-
ble” citizenship and shape how professionals are expected to interpret the
lives of those they support: work becomes proof of worth, informal care the
preferred safety net, and public assistance a residual last resort.