Professional helpers in social work have been facing profound changes for some time now. Decreasing social budgets, increasing work intensity, and high pressure from work and responsibilities present them with a choice: either compromise on the quality of their work or become overwhelmed by total work overload. In this book, Marie-Luise Conen presents a third way: that of thoughtful, planned disobedience against a social bureaucracy that is more concerned with administration than with the progress of its clients. Ultimately, however, a much more serious argument is convincing: the follow-up costs of an unchecked reduction in quality standards in social work would be severe. This circumstance makes the book not only a survival guide for professional helpers but also a provocative and highly political statement on the issue.