“A microcosm of every other issue”: How Social Workers Recognized and Responded to the Needs of HIV-affected Families with Children in Britain, 1981-1997

Abstract This article tracks the emergence of specific social work policies and practices designed to meet the needs of HIV-affected families with children. The article outlines the tense atmosphere into which HIV-related family social work emerged. It then describes how HIV-affected children and their families were first recognized as a specific client group with a unique constellation of needs, outlining the scramble to assess the statutory services’ obligation to this emerging group, and the work to create new information, policies, and texts to meet these responsibilities. These texts envisioned the social workers’ roles as that of carer, mediator, collaborator, information provider, and advocate, offering guidance on the medical and social dimensions of HIV and AIDS, alongside warnings about the emotional toll this work took on workers and the pitfalls of prejudice. The final section of the article examines how social workers met the needs of HIV-affected families with children on the ground, looking at how the needs of parents and children in Edinburgh were met through collaborative work between statutory and voluntary workers, alongside those living with HIV.