The Changing Face of Social Administration

This article explores the changing nature of the discipline of Social Administration in the post-1945 era. The vigorous challenge to Traditional Social Administration in the 1970s and 1980s did not lead, as some had feared, to the demise of the subject's applied, problem-solving, ethos. Within the broader discipline of Social Policy, the Social Administration perspective adapted and evolved. While retaining some elements of Traditional Social Administration namely, empiricism and a problem focus, the emergence of Contemporary Social Administration represents a significant and distinctive change in this sphere of academic enquiry.