Understanding Care And Risk In Social Work

This assessment requires you to engage on a regular basis with students and the Unit Chair in the online teaching environment. Students are encouraged to provide online participation in the four sessions via CloudDeakin and BlackboardCollaborate as stated in the Unit timelines (approximately every two to three weeks). In addition a reflective piece of work is to be submitted of 250 words per session. These will not be graded nor will formal feedback be provided however they are an important part of your learning.

Session 1: Care, Risk and Social Work in late modernity

The terms 'risk' and 'care' are very integral to the field of social work, as a dichotomy of these terms is found in social policy that has led to several debates on their meanings and implications. Care has always been a part of social work as the whole idea of social work has been developed to provide care to the needy people, group, and communities. The main task of social work is to indulge in care and provide better societies to its members by helping them and caring for them in a righteous manner. However, care has been often critiqued as it is important to realize that the kind of care that is being given is what is being required. As a matter of fact, care can hide the dimension of control, which is found in social work. Other than care, social work also comprises of risk, and the profession always has some kind of risk over it. The risk of providing the right care, the risk of fulfilling the duties and the risk of working for the betterment of society have been found in the field of social work. Therefore, while providing with care, the social workers should be able to assess their practice to decrease the risk of people in need. It is important to manage and control the risk since what needs to be cared of, is also at risk from other communities or elements. Hence, social workers should always follow the quality care and good practice guides to ensure proper care and risk management (Black, T., 2000). 

Session 2: Risk Assessment and Risk Management

Risk, as mentioned above, is a very important concept in the field of social work. With time, the risk in societies has increased, such as the risk on children from harmful parents, or risk to nationalism from terrorism. Therefore, the social workers need to constantly assess the risk and manage it before it harms individuals or communities. Risk assessment is usually integrated into social work practice as it helps to evaluate and estimate the risk over an element of work. Two types of risk assessment have been identified by scholars. The first risk assessment is the risk-taking a model, which is regarded as a positive framework. The second type is the risk-minimizing model. However, the risk assessment has its own limits as it can only identify the possibility of harm and it does not necessarily manage the risk or prevent it from taking place. In this context, the role of risk assessment tools becomes important because only they can reduce risks and help to manage them, but not completely prevent them. The risk assessment tools are presently used by social workers in all the cases to evaluate risks and prevent them from taking place by managing the risks properly (Girden, E., 2001). While working on risk assessment tools, it is important for the social workers to realize that risk assessment tools and parameters are different for different cases. For instance, while working for children, the risk assessment tools are different from working for people affected by natural calamities. 

Week 3: Diversity, Inclusivity/Exclusivity, and Intersectionality

Yes, my agency is set to serve people from a range of diverse backgrounds and with a range of differences due to the fact that we as students are imbibed with the thinking that the notion of ethnocentrism is incorrect to follow in the field of social work. No culture of opinion is held powerful or right from another and to work with a prejudiced mind is unethical in the working of a social worker. Therefore, it is important to realize that one should not have preconceived notions while serving people from different communities, ethnicity or ideologies as it may hamper our position as a social worker. It is important to consider people only as humans and they should not be attached with values or dispositions. In fact, it is better to have objectivity in the field of social work and neutral values to take proper care of the society. This is also important when working for human rights as social workers (Levitas, R., 2009). As a social worker, it is important to understand different ideas and concepts of diversity, inclusivity, and exclusivity and how these different fields encompass each other in various scenarios. A better understanding of society will only increase the impact of social work and reduce risks by managing them properly. Many times social workers are challenged by these concepts that may impact their working as well. However, it is important to realize one’s goals and work in an ethical manner to reduce risks and achieving the targets (Ward, C. Bochner, S., & Furnham, A., 2001).