The decline of the welfare state in Western Europe has led to an increasing role both for citizen-led initiatives and for philanthropy in easing, solving or preventing social problems. Helping and care are moving into the hands of strangers - people driven by enthusiasm and commitment but unfamiliar with the pitfalls of social intervention.The aim of this book is to review and assess the development of research on social intervention over the past twenty-five years and to set out a new theoretical framework for a number of basic principles which play a role in social intervention at the individual level (social work/casework, counseling and coaching), at group level (advising organizations, consultancy) and at societal level (community work/social development). The authors take Simmel's ideas of the stranger or third element as inspiration. They highlight the positive role that the stranger can play and argue that it is important to reflect on the role and significance of this third element - the adviser, the consultant, the social worker, the middle-manager - when analyzing and improving the methods used in social intervention.This book is for academics, researchers, practitioners, students and policymakers who are interested in the how, why and wherefore of social intervention.

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