Policy impact on information technology programming in the social services

Policy is the product of a group struggle between contending factions who constantly strive to weight policy creation and decision making in their favor. Within social service settings, resource policies promoted by management compete with service policies of social workers. Management familiarity with information technology (IT) rewards operational advantage in resource application at the expense of social work personnel. Within the Israeli Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs this has enhanced the position of the manager. Social workers failed to incorporate IT within the natural systems approach resulting in a state of disempowerment vis à vis IT itself. The social worker will be able to avail himself of IT only consequent to redefinition of social services organization policy based on social work concepts such as social change, involvement, informal organization and empowerment. His current interest is the knowledge base of social work. He has written widely on social work and the personal social services, with particular reference to dependency, empowerment and new technology.