3 Review(s)

Assuming that "marginal" citizens cannot govern their own lives, proponents of the therapeutic state urge casework intervention to reshape the attitudes and behaviour of those who live outside the social mainstream. Thus, the victims of poverty, delinquency, family violence and other problems are to be "normalized". But "normalize", to Andrew Polsky, is a term that "jars the ear". Here, he investigates the broad network of public agencies that adopt the casework approach.