Non-linear perspectives of risk in social care: using complexity theory and social geography to move the focus from individual pathology to the complex human environment

Abstract

Risk and risk assessment have come to dominate the discourse of social work. Increasingly, social work and social care practitioners operate under an umbrella of fearfulness and a reliance on procedures, structured risk assessment or actuarial risk tools that leave little room for professional judgement. This article argues that such notions are antithetical to good risk practice. The authors put forward an alternative paradigm based on complexity theory and social geography. This paradigm argues for a more dynamic approach to risk assessment and sets out to demonstrate the fallacy of existing risk assessment processes. The authors argue that children and adults at risk belong to complex adaptive systems that must be considered when looking to assess risk in such cases. Concepts from complexity theory such as emergence, fractals and self-organisation will be explored, along with concepts from social geography such as space, place and time. By seeing risk through the lenses of other disciplines, it is argued that a more realistic approach may be taken to risk assessment and combating the blame culture in social work.

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