“A distinction may be drawn between social work law, which includes those powers and duties that expressly mandate social work activity, and social welfare law, comprising statutes with which social workers must be familiar if they are to respond appropriately to service users needs, but which do not permit or require specific actions by them” (Preston-Shoot et al.,1998a, cited in Social Work Themes, Issues and Critical Debates).

It is essential for social workers to have knowledge of the relevant statutes and laws so that they know what powers they have available to them within the legal framework.

“If practitioners do not know where they stand legally they cannot begin to do their job properly” (workbook p18).

For example, any social worker working with children must be aware of the Children Act 1989. The aim of the act is to simplify the law relating to children, making the law more appropriate by making it child centred. It promotes a “no order principle” in that it is deemed to be in the children’s best interests for matters to be agreed between parties rather than to involve the courts. However, there are a variety of orders contained within the act and the courts will make an order when it is satisfied that making one is better for the child than not making such an order. All child protection work must be carried out within the context of the Children’s Act 1989 and it is imperative that social workers involved in this field have sound knowledge of the orders it contains to be able to practice more effectively and within the law. The Children Act 1989 has areas which correlate to both ‘public’ and ‘private’ law. Private law covers issues such as divorce or disputes over which parent a child should reside with. Public law sets duties for the local authority to provide services for a child ‘in need’ or ‘at risk’.