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Title: Managing risk and uncertainty in social work
Description: MA Social Work. Presentation notes on how to manage risk and uncertainty in Social Work. Literature review on 2003 article by Kristen Stalker. Covers origins of risk and uncertainty and how it pertains to social work and social service users.
Description: MA Social Work. Presentation notes on how to manage risk and uncertainty in Social Work. Literature review on 2003 article by Kristen Stalker. Covers origins of risk and uncertainty and how it pertains to social work and social service users.
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Managing Risk and Uncertainty in Social Work (Kirsten Stalker; 2003) Literature Review
The aim of this review is to explore the literature on managing risk and uncertainty in social
work, highlighting key findings, issues and arguments, and discussing points of consensus and
dissent
...
Definition of ‘risk’:
According to Jaeger et al (2001), the idea of risk management can be traced back to the 18th
century BC code of Hammurabi
...
According to Douglas (1992) and Parton (1996), the concept of ‘risk’ emerged in the 17 th
century in the context of gambling: here it referred to the probability of an event occuring and
the size of the associated gains and losses
...
Definitions of ‘risk assessment’ and ‘risk management’:
A working definition of risk management is ‘the process devised by organisations to minimise
negative outcomes which can arise in the delivery of welfare services
...
’
•
IMPORTANT POINT: Management or Assessment cannot completely prevent risk
...
However, it was part of a wider model, comprising various elements, including strengths, which
were factors likely to reduce dangerous outcomes
...
Carson (1995)
•
•
•
•
Argues that social work has focused on risk assessment at the expense of risk
management
...
Too much of a focus on ‘task and process’, following too rigid procedures
...
Risk in relation to social work:
When working with:
- Older people or those with learning difficulties --> social workers equate risk with
vulnerability
...
However Link and Cullen (1986) suggest an inverse relationship between contact with people
with mental health problems and their perceived dangerousness
...
Risk in relation to the law:
Risk itself is not a discrete legal concept, unlike negligence and recklessness (Carson 1996)
...
What counts as significant harm, however, depends on the age and condition of the individual
as well as current social norms
...
Thus social
workers are constantly working with uncertainty (Parsloe 1999)
...
Lupton notes that ‘risk
and uncertainty tend to be treated as conceptually the same thing’ (1999), the earlier the
distinction regarding the calculation of probability having disappeared
...
Culpability of risk now lies with individuals rather than cooperate bodies but not when it comes
to social workers in the mass media
...
Gurney (2000) suggests that risk management moves along a continuum between control,
legitimate authority and empowerment
...
(Manthorpe 2000)
‘a state of emergency is being introduced
...
’ (1998)
...
(1999)
“The fear of being held responsible for an adverse outcome acts as a strong discentive for risk
taking
...
” (Tanner 1998)
No well-developed social model of risk leads to tension between empowerment and control for
social workers and service users and makes questions arise such as:
•
•
•
•
Are the risks concerning individuals behaviour? Or wider, social, economical,
environmental, or political factors?
Who is responsible for risk-taking and who is allocated blame when things go wrong?
What role do social structures play?
All lead to ambiguity and uncertainty in the role of social worker
...
Risk management can be described as a process designed to minimize negative risk outcomes
and maximize potential benefits
...
Another perspective is that social work inevitably deals with ambiguity and uncertainty
...
Rather than try to calculate the incalculable, social workers need to regain their former status
as experts in uncertainty
...
Critiques/Problems with the article
•
•
•
Assuming risk can even BE managed? Stalker herself admits throughout the article that
it is NOT an exact science, it is incalculable, it is odds and probability and things can go
wrong
...
Impossible to avoid, especially in
social work
...
•
Stalker tries to tie up the strings of knowledge and research but as she readily admits
herself, more research is needed into a definitive social model, but tricky due to vast
nature of the concept of ‘risk’
Title: Managing risk and uncertainty in social work
Description: MA Social Work. Presentation notes on how to manage risk and uncertainty in Social Work. Literature review on 2003 article by Kristen Stalker. Covers origins of risk and uncertainty and how it pertains to social work and social service users.
Description: MA Social Work. Presentation notes on how to manage risk and uncertainty in Social Work. Literature review on 2003 article by Kristen Stalker. Covers origins of risk and uncertainty and how it pertains to social work and social service users.