Computers in Social Work Practice

Abstract

The previous chapter described the computer system of one social services department. It was called a ‘Management Information System’, and in its early phase operated as such; but it gradually expanded its accessibility so that it became physically available to social workers, and at the same time began to offer useful functions for front-line staff. This chapter looks further at computer uses among social workers and others in direct contact with clients. It excludes future uses (which are considered in Chapter 8) and confines itself to schemes already in operation, albeit in some cases experimentally. One assumption made in this chapter is that if a function is available to social workers the equipment needed to take advantage of it is also there and usable. In practice this is not always the case, especially where the agency is dependent on sharing someone else’s computer. In Hampshire, for example, the files are not available at weekends to the emergency duty staff because the computer is closed down. In most local authorities outposted and sub-office workers are unlikely to be able to use a computer or terminal without the inconvenience of travelling to it. It is an important difference between management and front-line staff that the latter tend to be much more dispersed.