2014 – Volume 23, Issue 3, pp. 26–43
URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-116390
ISSN: 1876-8830
URL: http://www.journalsi.org
Publisher: Igitur publishing, in cooperation with
Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of
Society and Law
Copyright: this work has been published under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works 3.0 Netherlands License
zorgonderzoek en consultancy, KU Leuven. Zijn
onderzoeksinteresses zijn sociaal werk theorie,
evaluatieonderzoek, dakloosheid en jeugdhulp.
Correspondence to: Centrum voor Sociologisch
Onderzoek – KU Leuven, Koen Hermans, Parkstraat
45, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
E-mail: koen.hermans@soc.kuleuven.be
Received: 15 June 2013
Accepted: 15 July 2014
Category: Theory
Koen HermanS
D e S I G n a a L F U n C T I e e n
S T r U C T U r e e L S o C I a a L W e r K
Koen Hermans is deeltijd docent bij het Centrum
voor Sociologisch Onderzoek van de KU Leuven
A B S T R A C T
The signal function and structural social work
Based on the Dutch and Belgian social work profiles, signalling is considered as one of the main
tasks of social workers. However, it remains unclear which underlying assumptions guide this
task and how social workers do it in practice. This paper focuses on the first aspect and asks
the question if structural social work can guide as an underlying perspective. It starts from a
historical perspective concerning structural social work, by highlighting the diversity of structural
approaches. Based on the literature review, we distinguish between three types of structural
social work: radical social work, critical social work and policy practice. In the last part, we
analyze which insights from the literature review are relevant to ground the signal function
theoretically. We conclude with a plea for a public professional who takes part in the public
debate.