This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.A literature review showed that social services departments use the traditional bureaucratic
methods of formalisation and centralisation to control their social workers, and that social
workers report this as a source of dissatisfaction. Organisation theorists identify the
professional bureaucracy as an alternative organisational model, but there is no study of a social
services department operating in this way.
A department was found where the social workers stated that there were few rules or
procedures governing their practice, and where they expressed satisfaction with their decision
making powers. A research programme was designed in order to examine the department's
organisation in more detail.
Interviews were conducted with 27 social workers and 23 managers, up to and including the
director. Detailed transcriptions were prepared and validated by the respondents as an accurate
record of their views about their practice and the workings of the department.
Analysis of these transcriptions revealed that the department was a variant of the professional
bureaucracy model. The thesis explores the practice of the social workers and managers in
detail. Whilst the social workers expressed considerable satisfaction with their freedom from
rules and procedures and with their decision making powers, a number of concerns about the
model are highlighted and discussed.
The thesis also examines how a department organised on these professional lines dealt with the
issue of accountability, and shows that there is no inevitable conflict between professional
discretion and the need for accountability