Sn Stanford

Taking a stand or playing it safe?: resisting the moral conservatism of risk in social work practice

An emergent critical social work risk literature positions risk as a morally conservative construct that has repressive effects in direct social work practice. In this literature it is argued that how risk is defined and operationalised in social work reflects the political dominance of neo-liberalism as an ethos of government within the context of the social and cultural conditions of the risk society. This narrative is fast becoming a dominant perspective in the social work literature. However, this perspective in effect creates a ‘catastrophe story’ where there is little room to envisage an alternative social work practice that is able to resist the conservative effects of risk. In addition there is little empirical evidence to support the relevance of this pessimistic view to the embodied aspects of social work interventions. This paper presents initial findings of a study undertaken in Australia that has explored whether risk is necessarily as totalising of our professional identities, and in turn our practices, as is suggested by this literature. The findings indicate that whilst practitioners were interpellated within conservative contexts in their front-line practice, ethical, moral and value standpoints assisted practitioners to resolve the moral dilemmas posed by risk.

Welfare Dependence or Enforced Deprivation? A Critical Examination of White Neoliberal Welfare and Risk

Abstract Social policy, service delivery, and professional practice in social work and human services have been increasingly enacted in contexts where welfare and welfare dependency are characterised as significant and persistent social problems in Australia. In this paper, we theoretically and critically examine the “problem” of welfare and propose an alternative framework for progressing understanding and action. We consider how Whiteness theory, neoinstitutional theory and risk theory can be used to examine how welfare dependency is framed as an entrenched problem within the Australian context. Our analysis elucidates how the social, economic, political, and cultural privileges pertaining to Whiteness, and the social, economic, political, and cultural deprivations of those who are seen to most clearly embody the “problem” of welfare dependency, are reinforced through neoliberal welfare risk rationalities. Implications of this theoretical exposition are considered, as well as possible research directions. Such work promises an alternative and hopeful analytical framework for understanding and responding to “the problem of welfare” in Australia.

Trust and the Dilemmas of Suicide Risk Assessment in Non-government Mental Health Services

ABSTRACT Reducing suicide rates is a national mental health priority as over 2,200 people die from suicide each year in Australia. Increasingly, nongovernment organisations (NGOs) provide services to people experiencing severe and persistent mental illnesses—a significant cohort at risk of suicide. While clinical services are generally seen as the arbiters of risk, little is known of how suicide risk assessments are undertaken in NGOs. This article reports the findings of a survey-based pilot study of 44 frontline workers in mental health-focused NGOs in Tasmania, Australia, with the aim of sketching a preliminary picture of this under-studied terrain. We identified the assessment practices utilised by workers, and the challenges and dilemmas they experienced in navigating issues of trust in suicide risk assessment in contexts where they often felt vulnerable and under-prepared. We argue that these early findings demonstrate the need for organisations to foster cultures of trust to facilitate both the activities of relationship building between practitioners and clients, and those of monitoring risk.

Beyond the Risk Paradigm in Mental Health Policy and Practice

Modern society is increasingly preoccupied with fears for the future and the idea of preventing ‘the worst’. The result is a focus on attempting to calculate the probabilities of adverse events occurring – in other words, on measuring risk. Since the 1990s, the idea of risk has come to dominate policy and practice in mental health across the USA, Australasia and Europe.In this timely new text, a group of international experts examines the ways in which the narrow focus on specific kinds of risk, such as violence towards others, perpetuates the social disadvantages experienced by mental health service users whilst, at the same time, ignoring the vast array of risks experienced by the service users themselves. Benefitting from the authors’ extensive practice experience, the book considers how the dominance of the risk paradigm generates dilemmas for mental health organizations, as well as within leadership and direct practice roles, and offers practical resolutions to these dilemmas that both satisfy professional ethics and improve the experience of the service user.

Mental Health Social Work: Perspectives on Risk, Regulation, and Therapeutic Interventions

As we write this editorial, the Australian Government has launched a major reform of the Australian mental health system. According to Professor Ian Hickie, one of the National Mental Health Commis...

Undoing Privilege: Unearned Advantage in a Divided World

foundation of this inclusive perspective on the topic, the author provides a selective discussion of international issues of concern for social work including refugees, asylum seekers, human trafficking, natural disasters, poverty alleviation, and indigenous peoples. The international effort to address these and other concerns related to the development of human society, through the United Nations Millennium Goals, and the connections and implications for social work are succinctly explored. A particular emphasis is placed on the importance of avoiding the dichotomy of micro or macro solutions and of understanding the underpinning influence of neocolonialism, racism and oppression. This analysis has significant implications for the way in which social work is defined, a topical debate given the recent work to review the international definition of social work undertaken by the International Association of Schools of Social Work and the International Federation of Social Workers. Hugman suggests that an inclusive and pluralistic approach to understanding social work, perhaps using social development as a unifying concept for therapeutic and social action perspectives, is the way forward. The implications of this debate about identity for international agencies, education and training, and ethical practice are all considered in detail. Debates about the adaptation of theories and practice to make them relevant to local contexts and the development of truly authentic indigenous models are also explored, concluding that a pragmatic yet critical approach is required. Hugman’s writing style, use of frequent examples, balanced critique, and consideration of a range of academic perspectives ensure that this book is an excellent introduction for students or practitioners interested in developing their understanding of the global nature of social work practice. I have found it a particularly useful text for Bachelor of Social Work students because it links them to a broad range of perspectives from other literature and encourages the development of critical thinking. The book concludes with an important challenge for practitioners in the global north: to develop a more self-critical stance in relation to knowledge and values and to lift our localised gaze to become more open to learn from other contexts.