ABSTRACT
This article considers the concept of risk by exploring the case of a young person, Bruce, 21, with whom I worked on a Through Care After Care (TCAC), social work placement. Bruce and I had developed an effective and caring working relationship. I question if this would have been if I had not demonstrated trust and compassion. I propose that modern-day social work practice falls foul to the relationship being reduced or replaced by a narrow ideological form of professional conduct. In doing so, I draw on concepts of dual relationships/boundary crossing and care ethics, highlighting the susceptibility of these being degraded in a neoliberal climate, which constructs some service users as a risk whilst simultaneously creating social conditions that are inimical to realising social work values. I contest that to affect long-term change, social workers must negotiate both the managerial imperatives of risk assessment processes whilst prioritising the actual needs of service users.
Notes on contributor
Claire Ferrier At the time of writing, I was in the first year of an MSc Social Work course at the University of Dundee, Scotland. I did my undergraduate degree in Community Learning and Development and have worked as a social work assistant for a statutory adult social work team for over four years.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.