Working with ‘risk’: It’s more than just an assessment idea

Abstract

Social work practice invariably means attention to ‘risk’ and its multiple and at times contested meanings. This article reports on a series of workshops, held in New Zealand and London, with social workers and their supervisors, where we considered how the language of risk acts as a powerful influence in and through our practice. A central idea in each work-shop is that there is much to be gained in learning from families about what they define as risky and how they manage risks in their lives. A more ‘family led’ way of learning about risk from the families themselves can teach us a great deal about what they see as risky, what they define as ‘high risk’ and what risks they may need to manage that could adversely affect their children or vulnerable family members. There is applicability here for all areas of social work because risk is now so embedded in contemporary practice. The message here is that a critical engagement with discourses of risk will assist us work toward risk management that should be an empowering practice for society’s most vulnerable. Considered in this way ‘risk’ is certainly more than just an assessment idea.