Analytic dimensions of decision making in social work

The demands on social workers to make decisions grows ever more pressing as social welfare systems move towards greater state intervention to protect the most vulnerable from abuse and neglect, and as the development of social... [ view full abstract ]

The demands on social workers to make decisions grows ever more pressing as social welfare systems move towards greater state intervention to protect the most vulnerable from abuse and neglect, and as the development of social care services requires clearer prioritisation of those most in need. Such decision making in the complexities of social work involves analytic, moral and emotional dimensions.

Within the Symposium this presentation on analytic dimensions of decision making will consider the need for people (‘social workers’) who will act on behalf of society or charitable bodies within it with both confidence and compassion to protect the vulnerable and to prioritise the allocation of social care services. This task, it is argued, is expected to be carried out with knowledge and skill, thus justifying qualifying training programmes; giving credibility to the role; and justifying the support of society.

The application of a knowledge base to professional judgement in social work will be considered particularly in the context of threshold decisions. The concept of a ‘threshold’ is the link between the knowledge base and decision making, the point at which the evidence is regarded as changing the outcome from one alternative to the other. This is a critical issue in the judgement process involved in deciding, on behalf of society, to intervene to protect a vulnerable child or adult, or to provide public or charitable services.

This paper within the Symposium will outline and discuss an analytic approach to decision making in social work. It will use as an example material from a review of models of decision making within published research on child protection threshold judgements. This paper will draw on research on decision making and risk undertaken at the University of Ulster Social Work Research Cluster on Decision, Assessment, Risk and Evidence Studies (www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk/irss/decisionmakinginsocialwork.html)