Bryan Glastonbury

Who becomes homeless? Why? What stresses and strains do these people face? Does losing a home provoke other problems or is it a sequel to them? How far do government policies and provisions go towards meeting the needs of the homeless? What changes would be desirable? To what extent is homelessness due to housing shortages? Originally published in 1971, these and other questions are tackled in this study of the development of services for the homeless. It is based on detailed investigation of provisions in South Wales and the West Country and is a study of the lives of over 500 families who, at some stage since 1963, had lost their homes. Hitherto studies of homelessness had been restricted to London or other big urban centres. The questions posed and answered here are much more general, and relevant to all parts of the country at the time. Information for the survey came from the records kept in Local Authority Welfare, Children’s Health and Housing Departments, the Probation and After-Care Service, local offices of the Department of Health and Social Security, and many voluntary organizations. The findings suggest that, in the areas studied, homelessness was worse than anticipated, and that its demands on the social services were similar in range but different in order of priority from those in the metropolis. Poor housing conditions remain an important feature, reinforced by unhelpful attitudes in housing management. Housing shortages are important for large families and those who cannot be self-dependent – more so than for others. Looming over the whole picture is homelessness resulting from broken marriages and family disputes, with the attendant difficulties of unsupported motherhood, poverty, sickness and unemployment.

Who becomes homeless? Why? What stresses and strains do these people face? Does losing a home provoke other problems or is it a sequel to them? How far do government policies and provisions go towards meeting the needs of the homeless? What changes would be desirable? To what extent is homelessness due to housing shortages? Originally published in 1971, these and other questions are tackled in this study of the development of services for the homeless. It is based on detailed investigation of provisions in South Wales and the West Country and is a study of the lives of over 500 families who, at some stage since 1963, had lost their homes. Hitherto studies of homelessness had been restricted to London or other big urban centres. The questions posed and answered here are much more general, and relevant to all parts of the country at the time. Information for the survey came from the records kept in Local Authority Welfare, Children’s Health and Housing Departments, the Probation and After-Care Service, local offices of the Department of Health and Social Security, and many voluntary organizations. The findings suggest that, in the areas studied, homelessness was worse than anticipated, and that its demands on the social services were similar in range but different in order of priority from those in the metropolis. Poor housing conditions remain an important feature, reinforced by unhelpful attitudes in housing management. Housing shortages are important for large families and those who cannot be self-dependent – more so than for others. Looming over the whole picture is homelessness resulting from broken marriages and family disputes, with the attendant difficulties of unsupported motherhood, poverty, sickness and unemployment.

The book argues that care management could create fundamental changes in the operation of British social services departments, but that it also has embodied in it the basic values of the social work profession. It explores how the job of the front line social worker and line manager in social service departments might be changed by the implementation of care management. In doing this it highlights the need from the outset for basic workload strategies to ensure that care really is managed effectively.

This book examines the effect of Information Technology on our lives, illustrating how a lack of proper social control over IT has led to a scene of technological wizardry and real everyday gains, contaminated by discrimination, deprivation and unacceptable ethical standards. The book states the case, analyses the mistakes, hits hard at those responsible for these, offers ways of ensuring that we all get the benefits of IT, and argues the need to put some integrity into technology.