Claim, blame, shame: how risk undermines authenticity in social work
Claim, blame, shame: how risk undermines authenticity in social work
Mark Hardy, author of this chapter, argues that the highly charged context in which practice occurs means that because of unrealistic expectations of infallibility social work decision-making has taken on an existential character. He elaborates on why this is so, accounting for how risk, blame and shame intersect both practically and emotionally, as well as the value of existential thinking in enabling practitioners to preserve the authenticity of their practice. Social workers themselves practice in a risk-averse climate, very much aware that ‘poor judgement’ can and does lead to disciplinary action, with all that this entails in terms of professional repute, social standing and continued employment. The author suggests some potential responses to questions regarding how practitioners might cope with the expectations organisations and service users have of them.
Keywords: shame, blame, risk-averse climate, disciplinary action
Policy Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
