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Abstract
The critical contribution of social work to the multidisciplinary team in forensic psychiatry is not always adequately recognized. For some the social work role is to find placements in the community so that beds do not get blocked. Welfare rights may be added for good measure. In fact, the social worker needs to be involved at every stage of assessment and treatment, from decisions about admissions, through intervention in treatment programmes, to discharge planning and follow-up in the community.
The social work contribution is to ensure that the medical model is modified by an awareness of the social contexts of clients and their behaviour. Although worrying behaviour may be associated with mental disorder, it is often social factors which trigger its emergence and so social workers can make a major contribution to the assessment of risk. A multicausal model of understanding behaviour is also valuable because the clients of these services are more likely to suffer personality difficulties and severe social handicaps in addition to mental illness.