Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Mental health legislation
- Section I The admission of patients to mental hospitals
- Chapter 2 Social workers and applications
- Chapter 3 Medical recommendations and compulsory admissions
- Chapter 4 Detention of the mentally disordered in the community
- Section II Control of patients in the hospital and community
- Section III Patients' rights
- Section IV Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
Chapter 2 - Social workers and applications
from Section I - The admission of patients to mental hospitals
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1 Mental health legislation
- Section I The admission of patients to mental hospitals
- Chapter 2 Social workers and applications
- Chapter 3 Medical recommendations and compulsory admissions
- Chapter 4 Detention of the mentally disordered in the community
- Section II Control of patients in the hospital and community
- Section III Patients' rights
- Section IV Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
Summary
The status and power of the modern social worker have increased greatly over the last 30 years or so. Then as mental welfare officers, and before that as duly authorised officers under the 1890 Lunacy Act, and before that as Poor Law relieving officers they were regarded as lowly beings, occasionally patronised and often misunderstood. Evidence to the Percy Commission illustrates the point.
Chairman. I confess the name (Duly Authorised Officer) puzzles me. For half the time he is a mere transporter, and that is how he is usually thought of. He is duly authorised to transport a mental patient who has been properly certified. On the other hand he has certain independent duties to watch over the safety of the public … and the two functions do not fit together.
Medical Officer of Health. He does other things: he prepares the documents. He gets the documents ready on behalf of the relatives in certain cases. I think one feels a little doubtful about it but the only thing one can say is that they do their work well on the whole. They are quite an intelligent crowd of people. They take their work seriously and are seldom if ever complained about.
HMSO (1954–7), Day 4.This exchange is interesting. On the one hand it provides a useful summary of the duties of social workers under the 1959 Act and, to some extent, under the 1983 Act too; that is as transporter, as protector of the public, as the person who prepares documents (sometimes on behalf of the relatives) and who helps the relatives generally.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Mental Disorder and Legal Control , pp. 17 - 34Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1986