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

Abstract

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.

Transforming positive risk-taking practices: the possibilities of creativity and resilience in learning disability contexts

“…One way forward is through the potential role of conceptual frameworks in linking talk to practice, which in turn might inform professional judgement. Arguing against the 'moral conservatism' of risk, Stanford (2008) talks about the need to harness both vision and courage.…”

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“…The usefulness and existence of such a "professionalized morality" also comes forth in Stanford's analysis of child protection workers' interpretations of risk [50]. Her study shows that these workers ascribed a moral status to both clients and practitioners who are a risk or are at risk.…”

“…This is not a necessarily conservative position, because the tensions between the various risk identities enable the practitioners to take a moral stand. As Stanford shows, child protection workers often take a stand for their clients rather than take the "safest" option ( [50], p. 215). Risk is shown to be a moral construct.…”

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“…Kiekvienam naujoviškam sprendimui reikia drąsos, nes veiksmų pasekmės ne visada yra prognozuojamos. Deja, kaip minėta, teigiamas požiūris į riziką dažnai prieštarauja socialinių paslaugų sistemos logikai (Stalker, 2003;Webb, 2006;Stanford, 2008).…”