Risk Assessment in Social Care and Social Work outlines the theoretical issues behind the decisions, processes and organizations involved in risk assessment. Written by leading academics and experienced practitioners, it considers implications for future policy, drawing on a full range of perspectives in the most recent research. It considers the following themes: the concepts of risk and dangerousness, and ethical questions which arise when assessments of risk are made; the wider context of social policy and legislation, and the interaction between rehabilitation and the distribution of risk; social services staff and the risks they pose on their clients -- issues of selection, supervision and accountability; and risks to practitioners themselves.
Individual chapters describe and compare methods of risk assessment with different client groups, including older people, children, people with mental health problems, and sex offenders. This book will ensure that practitioners, mangers and policy makers deepen and coordinate their understanding of the key issues involved in both the initial choices made about the extent of risk, and the stable and productive management of the outcomes of those decisions.
1. Introduction, Phyllida Parsloe, Emeritus Professor, University of Bristol.2. Rehabilitation and the Distribution of Risk, Brian Caddick and David Watson, University of Bristol. 3. Social Services Staff: Risks they Face and their Dangerousness to Others, Peter Burke, University of Hull. 4. Perceptions of Risk, K.I. Macdonald, Nuffield College, University of Oxford and G.M. Macdonald, University of Bristol. 5. Risk Assessment and Prediction Research, Bill Beaumont, University of Bristol. 6. Assessing Risk from Offenders, Bill Beaumont, University of Bristol. 7. Assessing Risk in Mental Health, Joan Logan, University of Bristol. 8. Risks for Children and Families, Kay Sargent, University of East Anglia. 9. Old People at Risk, Olive Stevenson, Emeritus Professor, University of Nottingham. 10. Training Professionals in Risk Assessment, Mike Titterton, Consultant, Edinburgh. Index.
Risk Assessment in Social Care and Social Work makes a timely contribution to this area by reviewing key professional debates about risk, its assessment and management. The book will therefore be of interest to practitioners, managers and policy makers whose work entails a review of the decisions involved in working with vulnerable populations. The main strength of the book is the well-resourced analysis of research into risk from and to different groups.
