Radical Movements in the Social Services: A Theoretical Framework

Abstract

This article, based on research of a population of radical social workers active in the last decades, develops a theoretical framework for assessing radical movements among social service workers. In comparing these recent movements with those of the 1930s and 1940s, the author suggests a three-stage progression in which social unrest led by client groups stimulates groups of social service workers to ally with protesters; a second period characterized as "militant professionalism" in which radical social workers develop strong critiques of professional leadership; and finally a period of "absorbed" radicalism in which relative peace is established with the mainstream of the profession. The author emphasizes key social and economic factors related to the rise and fall of social worker radicalism.