In Scandinavia the ombudsman has long been respected as a mediator who protects the rights of individual citizens and works to assure governmental agencies' fairness in dealing with them. This article examines the concept and considers various ombudsman roles for social workers in the United States. (Author)

The author describes six emerging social action roles that provide an opportunity for the joint development by clients and professionals of new participatory institutions. (Author)

The authors offer a new definition of the role of the school social worker with two focuses that have broader perspectives and potentials for greater impact: (1) effecting change in factors in the school system that cause individual and systemic malperformance and (2) serving as a liaison between school and community. (Author)

Discusses the goals and functions of differential supervision and describes and contrasts six supervisory models used by the Chicago Child Care Society. (Author/NJ)

Game theory can be used to reveal certain supervisory problems and the ways that supervisors frequently cope with them. This article describes the games and plays that supervisors may resort to in an effort to resolve their problems concerning authority. (Author)

Two major trends mark the transformation of industrial society into postindustrial society--increased social complexity and rapid social change. This article projects an image of social work in the future by describing some major problems people may face and presenting a model of an agency that might deal with them. (Author)

Controversial proposals to establish health organizations could drastically change the delivery of health services. Understanding the issues in this controversy can help professionals in the human services see what is needed in health reform and legislation. (Author)

The concern of social workers with social issues and the equal treatment of all human beings might suggest that discrimination against women would not be found in the social work profession. Research demonstrates, however, that discrimination does exist and that changes must be made in the profession's organizations and educational system. (Author)

Despite the profession's code of ethics that opposes discrimination because of sex, the knowledge base on which social work is built is permeated by bias. In this review of the literature, the author identifies trends that illustrate this dilemma. (Author)