Editorial: Resilient, Steadfast and Forward-Looking: The Story of Social Work in the UK Told through 50 Years of the British Journal of Social Work

The late 1960s and early 1970s was a remarkable period in the history of social work in the UK. The 12th of June 1970 was a particularly historic moment which marked the formal recognition of the emerging profession itself. Seven professional associations (the Association of Child Care Officers, the Association of Family Case Workers, the Association of Psychiatric Social Workers, the Association of Social Workers, the Institute of Medical Social Workers, the Moral Welfare Workers’ Association and the Society of Mental Welfare Officers) came together to establish The British Association of Social Workers (BASW). Social work research and social work education were not far behind. Early in 1971, the first issue of the British Journal of Social Work (BJSW) was published, and a few years later, the new Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) discharged its first qualified workers into newly created, unified Social Services (Social Work in Scotland) Departments. A new profession with an ambitious brief was born, eager to claim its place on a public service landscape dominated by other long-established occupations.