Service Trends in a Conservative Era: Social Workers Rediscover the Past

In the face of declining support for social welfare programs, social workers have emphasized practice methods that are in harmony with the current conservative era. Although described as innovative, some of the recent trends in social work are modern variations of traditional service delivery methods. This article examines four methods of service delivery—case management, social support, self-help, and voluntarism—in the context of present attitudes toward social programs. The authors argue that these useful but modest service delivery methods are not substitutes for bold solutions to social problems.