Out of hours duty officer sign

           a n i   m u r r

I followed my father into mental health social work, though I am now in social work education rather than direct practice.

I chose Out of hours duty officer sign because …

… it reminds me of my late father and because it tells me something about changes in technology and thinking.

My father was a social worker in the valleys of south Wales. In the 1960s a wooden sign such as this was displayed outside of office hours to identify the on-call duty social worker and give his or her contact details – in those days their home ’phone number. I learned from a very early age to answer our ’phone at home very formally in case it was a work call for my dad. If my dad went out in the evening (whether he was on call or not) he left a note by the telephone of where he was. I remember once as a teenager being very fed up about yet another ’phone call from the police asking for my dad and me saying that I did not know his whereabouts. I knew full well that he was across at the allotment. I was in a bit of trouble for that one.

Imagine responses today to using a personal ’phone number for work. There would be talk of poor personal boundaries and (un)professionalism. It makes me think about what we have lost and what we have gained through technology – much longer ’phone numbers for a start!

Perhaps as a metaphor of my musing, I have blanked out two numbers on the sign. With the technological development of the internet has come an openness to participate together in on-line communities (for example, this ‘40 Objects’ project and campaigning and/or consciousness raising communities for people who use and people who offer social services). But there is also a cautiousness for privacy.