Social networks and support in social work

Following the recommendations of the Barclay Report for a move on the part of social work towards supporting helping networks in the community, it is necessary to look more closely at the components of social support’ and to be clearer about which social networks social workers are being asked to support. It is suggested that sociology, although criticised for its remoteness from the daily experience of the social worker, could offer through social network analysis some useful measures of the support networks of social work clients.