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1 J. Soc. Welfare & Fam. L. 1 (1978)

handle is hein.journals/jnlosclwl1 and id is 1 raw text is: Editorial Why another law journal? Why another social work journal? We hope to show that this one is different. It is not only written by and for both social workers and lawyers. And this is not only because social workers are interested in social welfare and lawyers are interested in law. The two professions meet across a common client. Both are equally committed to his interests. But each sees those interests differently and responds to them in a different way. The traditional role of the lawyer has been to protect his client against the invasion of certain clearly defined interests, whether by other individuals or by the state. This has usually involved claiming cash compensation for loss and damage or protecting him against threats to his personal freedom. The traditional role of the social worker, indeed of any operator of the welfare state, has been to provide his client with services or benefits to meet his needs. Many lawyers now see the claim to such services or benefits in the same light as other legal claims. And social workers know that what they provide involves some invasion of the client's interests, even a threat to his personal freedom. An obvious example, touched on by David May in this issue, is the way in which a treatment ideology for juvenile offenders can obscure both the compulsory nature of the intervention and society's justification for imposing it, technically the offence itself and whether it was committed. The lawyerwill seek to serve his client's interests by avoiding such treatment, while the social worker is sure that it is what his client needs. The Journal hopes to explore these conflicts and to help both professions towards a greater understanding of each other's concerns and contributions. The decision to aim at both markets is not simply a useful publishing device. Social welfare law is principally, although not exclusively, about the relationship between the operators of the welfare state and those whom it seeks to benefit. We see the ex- ploration of the differing perspectives of lawyers and social workers as an integral part of examining and improving the services and benefits which the welfare state has to offer. This may lead contributors of either profession to challenge the con- cept of the welfare state itself. Traditional lawyers may have more in common with radical social workers than either of them think. And it is radical lawyers who have increasingly challenged some of the safer assumptions upon which traditional social work is based. This then is a new journal setting out to cover an enormous field for readers with widely differing views and needs. In this issue, we have tried to indicate something of the scope of the subject and of possible approaches to it, by publish- ing articles in each of the three main areas usually identified as social welfare law, by pointing to some significant recent developments in statute and case law, and by flying some individual kites. The direction which any journal takes is bound to be influenced by the interests, in several senses of the word, of its editorial staff. These have been carefully balanced between lawyers and social workers, practitioners and academics, welfare rights and personal social services. But we also hope to stimulate reactions from readers. Contributions, whether shorter or

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