William Jordan – författare

First published in 1972, The Social Worker in Family Situations sets out to provide a theoretical basis for the practice of the family casework approach. William Jordan studies those families whose members flee from emotional involvement with each other, stressing their individual autonomy and the dangers of close family ties. He concentrates on the problems of working with these ‘centrifugal’ families, examining the implications of their patterns of interaction not only within the nuclear family group, but also in the extended family, the neighbourhood and the community.

The book will be of great interest to all social workers, including those who have practised the family casework approach for many years but have hitherto lacked the benefit of any helpful written guidance.

First published in 1972, The Social Worker in Family Situations sets out to provide a theoretical basis for the practice of the family casework approach. William Jordan studies those families whose members flee from emotional involvement with each other, stressing their individual autonomy and the dangers of close family ties. He concentrates on the problems of working with these ‘centrifugal’ families, examining the implications of their patterns of interaction not only within the nuclear family group, but also in the extended family, the neighbourhood and the community.

The book will be of great interest to all social workers, including those who have practised the family casework approach for many years but have hitherto lacked the benefit of any helpful written guidance.

First published in 1970, Client-Worker Transactions challenges some aspects of current thinking about the client-worker relationship in social work. Traditionally, the worker’s treatment of the client’s social problems has been seen as something like a doctor’s treatment of a patient''s illness. William Jordan argues that clients’ social problems often consist in their ability to affect the way other people behave towards them, and that this is frequently expressed in their relationship with the worker. In taking up the social work agency’s offer of help, they enter into an emotional transaction in which they hand over to the worker a part of themselves which they find hard to bear.

The book looks at examples of such transactions, their influence on the worker’s actions, and the ways in which they can be analysed in psychological and social work theory. It suggests that a defensive system against the transactional process is not the best basis for social work practice. This is an interesting historical reference work for the students of social work.

First published in 1970, Client-Worker Transactions challenges some aspects of current thinking about the client-worker relationship in social work. Traditionally, the worker’s treatment of the client’s social problems has been seen as something like a doctor’s treatment of a patient''s illness. William Jordan argues that clients’ social problems often consist in their ability to affect the way other people behave towards them, and that this is frequently expressed in their relationship with the worker. In taking up the social work agency’s offer of help, they enter into an emotional transaction in which they hand over to the worker a part of themselves which they find hard to bear.

The book looks at examples of such transactions, their influence on the worker’s actions, and the ways in which they can be analysed in psychological and social work theory. It suggests that a defensive system against the transactional process is not the best basis for social work practice. This is an interesting historical reference work for the students of social work.