Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T07:56:31.021Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Faith-based Organisations and UK Welfare Services: Exploring Some Ongoing Dilemmas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2012

Sheila Furness  and
Philip Gilligan
Sheila Furness
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Care, University of Bradford E-Mail: [email protected]
Philip Gilligan
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Care, University of Bradford E-Mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Faith-based organisations (FBOs) have delivered services to vulnerable people for many years. They are frequently characterised by values also to be found within social work, notably a commitment to social justice. In the context of recent attempts by governments, notably in the USA, United Kingdom and Australia, to ‘roll-back’ the state, to ‘marketise’ and ‘privatise’ welfare services, FBOs are increasingly called-upon to tender for and volunteer to provide public services, including ‘social work’. In the United Kingdom, as elsewhere, religious beliefs are central to how many people conduct themselves, especially in response to personal crises and challenges. The authors’ previous research indicates that religious beliefs and traditions may have a profound impact (for good or ill or for both) on the actions of both individual service users and practitioners, but that social workers and agencies (whether faith-based or not) are often ill equipped to respond appropriately. They acknowledge both the positive contributions to public welfare of many faith-based organisations and the potential dangers inherent in relying on such agencies for services to vulnerable people. The authors argue that evaluations need to consider the effectiveness, appropriateness, ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ of individual faith-based services in their particular contexts, and that their contribution needs to be analysed in relation to the varied nature and variable impact of such services. Social work has often struggled in its aim of challenging and addressing the structural causes of inequality as its efforts have been channelled towards meeting the needs of the individual. Current policy proposals provide potential opportunities to review and assess the contribution of neo-liberal approaches to welfare and to promote alliances amongst those members of different FBOs and other welfare providers to agree more collective, community-based approaches with an agreed agenda of creating a fairer society.

Keywords

Social workvalueswelfarefaith based organisationsdilemmas
Type
Themed Section on Social Policy and Religion in Contemporary Britain
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , October 2012 , pp. 601 - 612
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainsworth, D. (2011) ‘Big Society Bank “will start up with £300m”’, Third Sector Online, http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/Article/1054672/Big-Society-Bank-will-start-300m/ [accessed 09.03.2011].Google Scholar
Alcock, P. (2010) ‘Big Society or civil society? A new policy environment for the third sector’, Third Sector Research Centre, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, http://www.tsrc.ac.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=PwhvBXnPGAU%3D&tabid=716 [accessed 26.02.2011].CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Backstrom, A. and Davie, G. (2010) ‘The WREP Project: genesis, structure and scope’, in Backstrom, A. and Davie, G. with Edgardh, N. and Pettersson, P. (eds.), Welfare and Religion in 21st Europe (Volume 1): Configuring the Connections, Farnham: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Backstrom, A., Davie, G., Edgardh, N. and Pettersson, P. (eds.) (2011) Welfare and Religion in 21st Europe (Volume 2): Gendered, Religious and Social Change, Farnham: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Bailey, R. and Brake, M. (eds.) (1975) Radical Social Work, London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Banks, S. (2004) Ethics, Accountability and the Social Professions, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BBC (2011) ‘Cuts “destroying big society” concept, says CSV head’, 7 February, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12378974 [accessed 28.03.2011].Google Scholar
Biestek, F. (1961) The Casework Relationship, London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Blair, T. (2001), ‘The strong society – rights, responsibilities and reform’, speech at Newport, 30 May, http://politics.guardian.co.uk/election2001/story/0,9029,498758,00.html [accessed 28.03. 2011].Google Scholar
Bochel, H. (2005) ‘Ethics, risk and social policy’, in Bochel, H., Bochel, C., Page, R. and Sykes, R. (eds.), Social Policy: Issues and Developments, Harlow: Pearson Education, pp. 193–216.Google Scholar
Boeck, T., Fleming, J., Smith, R. and Thorp, L. (2009) Volunteering and Faith Communities in England, London: Volunteering England, http://www.volunteering.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B1A72CD0–2C8C-467D-8EC9–7A0A87C04477/0/FaithandVolunteeringYear1ReportVolunteeringandFaithCommunitiesinEngland.pdf [accessed 26.01.2011].Google Scholar
British Humanist Association (2006) ‘Written evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights’, memorandum from the British Humanist Association: The Law on Freedom of Religion or Belief, BHA, London.Google Scholar
British Humanist Association (2008) ‘Believing we can: promoting the contribution faith-based organisations can make to reducing adult and youth re-offending’, Response from the British Humanist Association, http://www.humanism.org.uk/filegrab/?ref=3995&f=BHA-Response-to-MoJ-Third-Sector-Strategy-Annex-A.pdf [accessed 16.04.2012].Google Scholar
Butler, P. (2010) ‘Cuts to children's services like “Armageddon”’, The Guardian, 8 September, http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/sep/08/childrens-services-spending-cuts [accessed 28.03.2011].Google Scholar
Butler, I. and Drakeford, M. (2001) ‘Which Blair project? Communitarianism, social authoritarianism and social work’, Journal of Social Work, 1, 1, 7–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butrym, Z. (1976) The Nature of Social Work, London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cameron, D. (2011) ‘PM statement on disorder in England’, Statement to the House of Commons, 11 August, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110811/debtext/110811-0001.htm [accessed 22.05.2012].Google Scholar
Cnaan, R. A. and Newman, E. (2010) ‘The safety net and faith-based services’, Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 29, 4, 321–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, D. (2005) ‘Crime and justice policy’, in Bochel, H., Bochel, C., Page, R. and Sykes, R. (eds.), Social Policy: Issues and Developments, Harlow: Pearson Education, pp. 131–51.Google Scholar
Craig, G. (1998) ‘The privatisation of human misery’, Critical Social Policy, 18, 54, 51–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, G. (2002) ‘Poverty, social work and social justice’, British Journal of Social Work, 32, 6, 669–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dalrymple, J. and Burke, B. (1995) Anti-Oppressive Practice Social Care and the Law, Maidenhead: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Davies-Kildea, J. (2007) ‘Faith in action: a study of holistic models of care, for highly disadvantaged people, which have been established in faith based communities’, Salvation Army, http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/salvwr/_assets/main/lib60633/faith%20in%20action%20report.pdf [accessed 02.01.2011].Google Scholar
Day, P. R. (1981) Social Work and Social Control, London and New York: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
Department for Communities and Local Government (2010) Ensuring a Level Playing Field: Funding Faith-Based Organisations to Provide Publicly Funded Services, London: DCLG, http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/15073411.pdf [accessed 16.08.2011].Google Scholar
Department for Work and Pensions (2010) Universal Credit: Welfare that Works, London: The Stationery Office, http://www.cesi.org.uk/Resources/CESI/Documents/Universal%20Credit%20-%20%20welfare%20that%20works.pdf [accessed 28.03.2011].Google Scholar
Dinham, A. and Lowndes, V. (2008) ‘Religion, resources and representation: three narratives of faith engagement in British urban governance’, Urban Affairs Review, 43, 6, 817–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dinham, A., Furbey, R. and Lowndes, V. (eds.) (2009) Faith in the Public Realm: Controversies, Policies and Practices, Bristol: The Policy Press.Google Scholar
Dominelli, L. (2002) Anti Oppressive Social Work Theory and Practice, Basingstoke: Palgrave.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dominelli, L. (2004) Social Work Theory and Practice for a Changing Profession, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Farnell, R., Furbey, R., Shams Al-Haqq Hills, S., Macey, M. and Smith, G. (2003) ‘Faith’ in Urban Regeneration?: Engaging Faith Communities in Urban Regeneration, Bristol: The Policy Press.Google Scholar
Ferguson, I. and Woodward, R. (2009) Radical Social Work in Practice Making a Difference, Bristol: The Policy Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fook, J. (2002) Social Work Critical Theory and Practice, London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Forsythe, B. and Jordan, B. (2002) ‘The Victorian ethical foundations of social work in England: continuity and contradiction’, British Journal of Social Work, 32, 7, 847–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furness, S. and Gilligan, P. (2010) Religion, Belief and Social Work: Making a Difference, Bristol: The Policy Press.Google Scholar
George, V. and Wilding, P. (2002) Globalization and Human Welfare, Basingstoke: Palgrave.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilligan, P. (2006) ‘Well-motivated reformists or nascent radicals: how do applicants to the degree in social work see social problems, their origins and solutions?’, British Journal of Social Work, 37, 4, 735–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilligan, P. (2010) ‘Faith-based approaches’, in Gray, M. and Webb, S. (eds.), Ethics and Value Perspectives in Social Work, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 60–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, M., Coates, J. and Yellow Bird, M. (eds.) (2008) Indigenous Social Work Around the World: Towards Culturally Relevant Education and Practice, Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Guttmann, D. and Cohen, B.-Z. (1995) ‘Israel’, in Watts, T. D., Elliott, D. and Mayadas, N. S., International Handbook on Social Work Education, Westport: Greenwood Press, pp. 305–20.Google Scholar
Harris, M., Halfpenny, P. and Rochester, C. (2003) ‘A social policy role for faith-based organisations? Lessons from the UK Jewish voluntary sector’, Journal of Social Policy, 32, 1, 93–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heins, E., Price, D., Pollock, A., Miller, E., Mohan, J. and Shaoul, J. (2010) ‘A review of the evidence of third sector performance and its relevance for a universal health system’, Social Policy and Society, 9, 4, 515–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hope, P. (2007) ‘The role of the third sector in transforming Services’, Speech to the ModernGov. Conference, 30 October, London: Cabinet office.Google Scholar
Jochum, V., Pratten, B. and Wilding, K. (eds.) (2007) Faith and Voluntary Action an Overview of Current Evidence and Debates, London: National Council for Voluntary Organisations, http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/sites/default/files/UploadedFiles/NCVO/Publications/Publications_Catalogue/Sector_Research/Faith_and_Voluntary_Action_0.pdf [accessed 21.01.2011].Google Scholar
Jones, C., Ferguson, I., Lavelette, M. and Penketh, L. (2004) Social Work and Social Justice: A Manifesto for a New Engaged Practice, http://www.socialworkfuture.org/index.php/swan-organisation/manifesto [accessed 18.02.2011].Google Scholar
Jordan, B. (2001) ‘Tough love: social work, social exclusion and the Third Way’, British Journal of Social Work, 31, 4, 527–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kartupelis, J., Argent, M., Geary, S., Hewetson, R., Littlefair, A., Lovatt, R., Whitehead, C., Lyall-Grant, F. and Ni Luanaigh, A. (2005) Faith in the East of England, Cambridge: East of England Faiths Council.Google Scholar
Lavalette, M. (ed.) (2011) Radical Social Work Today: Social Work at the Crossroads, Bristol: The Policy Press.Google Scholar
Lavalette, M. and Ioakimidis, V. (eds.) (2011) Social Work in Extremis: Lessons for Social Work Internationally, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Low, N., Butt, S., Ellis Paine, A. and Davis Smith, J. (2007) Helping Out: A National Survey of Volunteering and Charitable Giving, London: National Centre for Social Research and Institute for Volunteering Research.Google Scholar
Macey, M. and Carling, , , A. (2011) Ethnic, Racial and Religious Inequalities: The Perils of Subjectivity, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, C. (2006) Challenging Social Work: The Context of Practice, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaughlin, K. (2008) Social Work, Politics and Society: From Radicalism to Orthodoxy, Bristol: The Policy Press.Google Scholar
Milbourne, L. (2007) ‘Remodelling the Third Sector: advancing collaboration or competition in community-based initiatives?’, International Social Policy, 38, 2, 277–97.Google Scholar
Mullaly, B. (2007) The New Structural Social Work, Ontario: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mullaly, B. (2010) Challenging Oppression and Confronting Privilege, Ontario: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Northwest Region Development Agency (2009) Faith in England's Northwest: How Faith Communities Contribute to Social and Economic Wellbeing, Warrington: Northwest Region Development Agency, http://www.faithnorthwest.org.uk/assets/_files/documents/dec_09/faith__1260360339_FaithEnglandsNorthwest3_Final.pdf [acccessed 11.08.2011].Google Scholar
O'Brien, M. and Penna, S. (1998) Theorising Welfare Enlightenment and Modern Society, London: Sage Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ondari, W. O. (2001) Poverty and Wealth: A Christian Perspective, http://www.aiias.edu/ict/vol_28/28cc_343–362.htm [accessed 18.03.2011].Google Scholar
Payne, M. (2005) The Origins of Social Work Continuity and Change, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Payne, M. and Askeland, G. A. (2008) Globalization and International Social Work Postmodern Change and Challenge, Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Pettersson, P. (2011) ‘Majority churches as agents of European welfare: a sociological approach’, in Backstrom, A., Davie, G., Edgardh, N. and Pettersson, P. (eds.), Welfare and Religion in 21st Europe (Volume 2): Gendered, Religious and Social Change, Farnham: Ashgate, pp.15–59.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. (2007) ‘E Pluribus Unum: diversity and community in the twenty-first century – The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture’, Scandinavian Political Studies, 30, 2, 137–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riots Communities and Victims Panel (2011) Five Days in August: An Interim Report on the 2011 English Riots, London: HMSO, http://www.5daysinaugust.co.uk/PDF/interactive/Interim-Report-UK-Riots/index.html [accessed 20.03.2012].Google Scholar
Rochester, C. (2007) ‘One size does not fit all: four models of involving volunteers in voluntary organizations’, in Davis Smith, J., and Locke, M., (eds.), Volunteering and the Test of Time: Essays for Policy, Organization and Research, London: Institute for Volunteering Research, pp. 47–59.Google Scholar
Rogowski, S. (2011) ‘Social work with children and families: challenges and possibilities in the neo-liberal world’, British Journal of Social Work, doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcr129.Google Scholar
Sider, R. J. and Unruh, H. R. (2001) ‘Evangelism and church–state partnerships’, Journal of Church and State, 43, 2, 267–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, G. (2002) ‘Religion, and the rise of social capitalism: the faith communities in community development and urban regeneration in England’, Community Development Journal, 37, 2, 167–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, N. (1997) Anti-Discriminatory Practice, Basingstoke: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Thompson, N. (2002) ‘Social movements, social work and social justice’, British Journal of Social Work, 32, 6, 711–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timms, N. (1983), Social Work Value: An Enquiry, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar