I began my career in residential child care a long time ago. I had the official title of 'residential child care officer' (RCCO), but was also often referred to as a 'residential social worker'. These days in the UK we have protection of title, so only people who are registered with the appropriate care council can legally refer to themselves as such. This has been a very positive move as previously anyone who did anything vaguely charitable could call themselves a social worker: 'I'm a social worker; I do fundraising for my church group'. However, it raises the question of whether residential child care is part of social work, when the vast majority of such workers are not registered (except in Wales where the picture is significantly different from the rest of the UK).

I have always thought of residential child care as not only part of social work, but also a very important part of social work. However, I am aware that there are many people, both within the sector and outside it, who would disagree with me. How do we judge what is social work and what is not?