Introduction

As we saw in Chapter 2, academics from sociology, social policy and social work argue that risk has come to be a driving force within social work practice (Douglas and Wildavsky, 1982; Foucault, 1991; Beck, 1992; Webb, 2006; Kemshall, 2010). Several theories have been proposed to explain how concerns about risk affect society and social work. These theories are valuable, but it is important to understand how professionals understand and apply risk practices ‘on the ground’ (Horlick-Jones, 2005). Brown and Gale's (2018a, 2018b) model is a useful way to analyse how professionals work with risk in their day-to-day practice. The model encourages researchers to focus on the ‘three core features of client-facing risk work – risk knowledge, interventions, social relations – the ways these relate to each other … and the tensions which may emerge around these’ (Brown and Gale, 2018a, p 2).

My examination of previous adult safeguarding research through the risk work framework in the previous chapter revealed several things. Social workers’ risk knowledge is informed by law and policy, although legal terms and measures are often used subjectively (Stevenson and Taylor, 2017; Stevens et al, 2018). Law and policy also impact on social work interventions. Research prior to the introduction of the Care Act 2014 showed that several intervention models had evolved within local authorities. These included models where (a) safeguarding specialists were based in centralised teams or were specialists in locality social work teams, (b) safeguarding specialists were used where high risks were identified or where there were concerns within a locality, and (c) safeguarding was viewed as a task which should be done by all social workers (Graham et al, 2017). In addition, local authority practice has been shaped by the Making Safeguarding Personal initiative promoted by the LGA and ADASS (Cooper et al, 2016; Briggs and Cooper, 2018; Cooper et al, 2018). Research also indicates that social workers adopt a variety of positions when assessing risk and intervening, ranging from defensive practice to positive risk taking (McCreadie et al, 2008; Ash, 2013; Stevenson and Taylor, 2017; Cooper et al, 2018). Both the risk knowledge and interventions used influence social relations, with previous research highlighting tensions between professional groups and within social work teams (McCreadie et al, 2008; Warner and Gabe, 2008; Braye et al, 2014; Robb and McCarthy, 2023).