A Close and Practical Association with the Medical Profession: Scottish Medical Social Workers and Social Medicine, 1940–1975

Abstract

This study is concerned with the development of the profession of almoner (renamed medical social worker in the 1960s) in Scotland in the period from the outbreak of the Second World War until the mid-1970s. In addition to primary and secondary documentary sources, it is based on extended interviews with practitioners of different generations, the collected personal records of individuals, and a witness seminar which involved medical social workers, members of parallel professions, and those who carried political responsibility for social work both at the Scottish Office and within the local authorities during the critical years.