Social Work in a Risk Society Social and Cultural Perspectives

by Webb, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780333963616
• ISBN10: 033396361X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-17
• Publisher: Red Globe Pr

Summary

This text constructs a new way of thinking about social work based on contemporary social theory and taking into account recent changes in social work. Working in a counter-tradition that is suspicious of a number of governing ideas and practices in social work, it draws on themes in the work of theorists such as Beck, Giddens,#xA0;and Rose. It looks at risk, trust, regulation, identity, and governmentality to explore the impact of risk society and neoliberalism on social work.

Author Biography

Stephen Webb is Lecturer in Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Bradford.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	x
Setting the Scene	1	(1)
Dimensions of Risk Society	2	(2)
Re-thinking Social Work in a Risk Society	4	(1)
The Governance of Risk	4	(4)
Aims of the Book	8	(4)
Glossary of Key Concepts	12	(11)
Social Work, Risk Society and Modernity	23	(26)
Introduction	23	(3)
What Is Modernity?	26	(1)
Theorising Modernity	27	(2)
Modernity as a Way of Life	29	(4)
Morality and Modernity	33	(1)
Reflexive Modernity and Risk Society	34	(1)
Reflexive Selves and Social Systems	35	(3)
Neo-liberalism -- the Politics of Risk Society	38	(1)
Regulation and Security in Social Work	39	(2)
The Rationality of Regulation	41	(1)
The Rationality of Security	42	(5)
Conclusion	47	(2)
Risk, Regulation and Neo-liberalism	49	(30)
Introduction	49	(1)
Mapping the Social: Social Work and State Welfare	50	(2)
The Crisis of the Keynesian Welfare State	52	(1)
The Rise of Neo-liberal Welfare	53	(4)
Neo-liberalism and Empowerment	57	(1)
Neo-liberal Regulatory Regimes	58	(1)
Privatised Risk, Social Exclusion and the Urban Underclass	59	(6)
Risk Regulation and Social Governance	65	(2)
Social Work as Regulated	67	(3)
Social Work as Regulating	70	(1)
Risk Management and Risk Assessment	71	(6)
Conclusion	77	(2)
Security, Trust and Care Pathways	79	(30)
Introduction	79	(1)
Social Work and Ontological Security	79	(4)
The Logic of Security in Social Work	83	(2)
Security as a Metaphor for Social Work	85	(2)
Social Work, Security and the Home	87	(2)
Security, Social Proximity and Residential Care	89	(1)
Pin-down as Insecurity and Social Abuse	90	(4)
Life Planning and Reflexive Governance	94	(2)
The Growth of Care Planning	96	(4)
Trust and Social Work	100	(2)
Coding Trust in Social Work	102	(2)
Trust and Confidence in Social Work	104	(2)
Trust and Voluntary Welfare Agencies	106	(1)
Conclusion	107	(2)
Direct Work, Knowledge and Intervention	109	(32)
Introduction	109	(2)
Adventures on the Road to Understanding	111	(10)
Risk, Short-termism and the Empirical Movement	121	(6)
What You See Is Not What You Get	127	(2)
Heuristics and Social Work Practice	129	(5)
The Rise of Actuarialism in Social Work	134	(5)
Conclusion	139	(2)
Technologies of Care	141	(29)
Introduction	141	(2)
De-skilling Social Work Practice	143	(3)
Care Management	146	(5)
Risk Assessment and Evaluation	151	(3)
Making Risky Decisions	154	(2)
Evidence-based Practice	156	(5)
Decision Pathway Analysis	161	(3)
Networked Information Technologies	164	(4)
Conclusion	168	(2)
Management and Organisation of Social Work	170	(30)
Introduction	170	(2)
New Public Sector Management	172	(3)
Organisational Change in Social Work	175	(3)
Modernisation and Best Value Policy	178	(2)
Performance Management and Audit Culture	180	(7)
Risk Management Policy Making	187	(3)
Wicked Problems, Silo Effects in Social Work	190	(7)
Conclusion	197	(3)
The Practice of Value	200	(35)
Introduction	200	(1)
Putting Values First	201	(2)
The Self and the Good	203	(7)
The Ethics of Care	210	(6)
Ethics of Recognition -- Having a Sense of Ourselves	216	(3)
Virtue Ethics and Good Judgement	219	(2)
Ties that Bind -- Generating Social Capital	221	(7)
Life as a Planned Project	228	(4)
What Is to Be Done?	232	(3)
Bibliography	235	(33)
Index	268