The Sage Handbook of Decision Making, Assessment and Risk in Social Work
- Brian J. Taylor
- John D. Fluke - University of Colorado School of Medicine, Colorado, USA
- J. Christopher Graham - Washington State Department of Children, USA
- Emily Keddell
- Campbell Killick
- Aron Shlonsky - Monash University, School of Primary and Allied Care, Australia
- Andrew Whittaker
The Sage Handbook of Decision Making, Assessment and Risk in Social Work provides a comprehensive overview of key strands of research and theoretical concepts in this increasingly important field.
With 49 chapters and four section summaries, this Handbook describes the ‘state of the art’; discusses key debates and issues; and gives pointers on future directions for practice, research, teaching, management of services, and development of theoretical understandings.
A key aim of this Handbook is to support the development of sound, applied knowledge and values to underpin reasoned professional judgement and decision making by social workers in practice and those in management and regulatory roles.
With contributions from a global interdisciplinary body of leading and emerging scholars from a wide variety of roles, this handbook has been designed to be internationally generalisable and applicable to all major areas of social work.
This Handbook provides a field-defining account of decision making, assessment and risk in social work which is unrivalled for its diversity and strength of coverage, and will be of value to social work researchers, teachers and practitioners, as well as to those in allied fields such as health care.
Section 1: Professional Judgement
Section 2: Assessment, Risk and Decision Processes
Section 3: Assessment Tools and Approaches
Section 4: Developing and Managing Practice
Section 5: Concluding Section / Afterword
Expert yet accessible, this Handbook interweaves research learning with experience. While tuned to the social work profession, the authors' knowledge of assessment, decision making and risk will be of wider interest to other professionals and those supporting them. With contributions from 20 different countries the relevance of the subjects is clearly global. Drawing on a wide range of disciplines, this Handbook looks set to inspire new thinking and practice innovations.
Trevor Spratt opens the first chapter of The Sage Handbook of Decision Making, Assessment and Risk in Social Work with the phrase of being somewhat in awe of social workers decision-making abilities. I'm somewhat in awe too. Every day, social workers face challenges in decision-making by evaluating a complex interplay of risks and protective factors while lacking information for many of them. In this complex environment, humans are prone to using shortcuts and rules of thumb. Consequently, the authors of this Handbook not only present evidence on good practice, but also on biases and errors – combined with strategies to overcome these shortcomings.
This impressive, well-structured, and extensively researched Handbook, edited by leading academics in the field, is a ‘must have’. The individual chapter contributions, written by key academics, researchers, practitioners, and professionals from wide-ranging backgrounds, explore current theories, research, and practice in an accessible and thought-provoking way. The lead editor, with a highly regarded reputation for agenda setting in this area, has succeeded in bringing into one volume an authoritative account of contemporary issues regarding risk, assessment and decision making in social work. Essential for students, academics and people in practice, the Handbook is guaranteed to stimulate new ways of understanding, thinking, and doing.
